As readers of my blog know, I spend an inordinate amount of time in my kitchen. One of the luxuries of life in retirement is to have time to spend creating dishes when you want for as long as you want, and I take full advantage of this. It is not just a hobby, but a way of life for us. It also facilitates a lot of content for the Rockettman blog.
But on holiday, we prioritize dining out as part of the travel experience. We also try to immerse ourselves in the gastronomy to understand the culture of the destination. On a recent visit to New England we knew that would involve the prospect of ‘Death by Lobster’. Over the course of ten days, we tried as many dishes as possible containing lobster. A few of these are highlighted in this blog post, beginning with the most impressive of these.
We decided our tour of Boston would comprise a progressive dining experience while meandering key neighborhoods and attractions, culminating with a stop at Legal Seafood, which for me is the most emblematic seafood restaurant of Boston. The main event was their lobster mac and cheese, describe on the menu as “one whole Gulf of Maine lobster, Vermont cheddar, buttered crumbs”. We anticipated that this would be served in the ubiquitous round white porcelain dish, but to our delight, the mac and cheese was served heaped into the actual lobster carcass!
As lobster dining experiences go, the most impactful was a stop at Fox’s Lobster House near Ogunquit, Maine. We decided on this as a side trip from Portsmouth, and after a very enjoyable lobstering cruise with Finestkind Cruises, we stopped at one of Maine’s most photographed lighthouses – the Cape Neddick Nubble Lighthouse and enjoyed the view from the second floor of the restaurant over a lunch of local beer and lobster rolls.
For pure entertainment value, there is nothing better than dining on a whole lobster at one of Maine’s many lobster pounds. This is the designation given by Mainers to a roadside shack that cooks lobsters in large pots and serves them whole on a platter usually accompanied by clarified butter, cole slaw and half an ear of corn. After a visit to Acadia on a Sunday, we were returning to our hotel in Ellsworth and found most of the lobster pounds were closing, except for the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound that stayed open later, probably because it was across the street from a campground.
A quick lunch stop leaving Maine on the way to New Hampshire provided an opportunity to double-dip on the lobster fest. On the Naples Causeway, in southern Maine’s Lakes Region is a takeaway seafood shack called Beacon Bar & Bistro. The double-dip involved sharing an order of lobster popovers, which were a bit unusual and very messy, followed by a lobster BLT heaped with fresh, creamy lobster. The latter was definitely worth the stop, although I would not recommend the popovers.
Our lobster fest also included lobster bisque (at Row 34 in Portsmouth, NH) and lobster sliders (at The Colonel’s in Northeast Harbor, ME). But a word of caution - even though lobster is more reasonably priced in this part of the world, it is still a premium-priced item on any menu.
Bon Appetit!
Note: I am not being compensated for my mention of the various businesses or attractions in this post. I am simply a happy customer!
Comentarios