Luke’s Lobster

Last Thursday, after a really fun night at a gdgt.com event, I headed to Luke’s Lobster to check out their lobster rolls. Surprisingly, I never had lobster rolls growing up; living in central Illinois does not bode well for fresh seafood. Everytime I had lobster, it was prepared in a traditional Chinese way (stir-fried with scallions, and garlic). However, once I moved to New York City, I discovered the greatness of the lobster roll and have enjoyed many since.

My favorite type of lobster roll has just enough mayonnaise and a very buttery (toasted) bun. I’ve had some pretty bad lobster rolls; Martha’s Vineyard sold some that were pretty terrible (the lobster just didn’t have any taste), and please do not get me started on the crap they serve at Ed’s.

When I arrived at Luke’s, I wasn’t expecting much. The restaurant is more like a take-out joint (they only have a couple bar stools) and it’s sandwiched between the Caracas Arepa’s Bars:

The place was quite packed when we got there and it looked like almost everyone was ordering the lobster roll. Luke’s also serves shrimp rolls and crab rolls (and even a combo of all three!!) The lunchbox is also a good choice and it includes an Empress Crab claw, a soda, and a bag of chips:

Here are the employees cheerfully preparing our lobster rolls:

The lobster is pre-packaged (each is 4 ounces and they cut it in half when you order a 2 ouncer). The shrimp and crab is also packed and stored in the fridge at the front of the shop:

Luke is from Maine, so the soda choices aren’t your usual Coke/Pepsi products – they’re soda’s from Maine that are extra tasty. A close up of the lobster:

And the shrimp:

Finally, the lobster roll I ordered:

Luke’s Lobster doesn’t really fit into the criteria for my kind of lobster roll; their lobster doesn’t have any mayonnaise on it and the seasonings on the lobster are very simple (salt, pepper, and celery salt). The bun has a squirt of mayo on it and THAT’S IT. Surprisingly, i actually REALLY loved it! The lobster was in HUGE chunks and it was some of the most tender lobster I’ve ever eaten. The only thing I didn’t like – the mayo was really unevenly spread, so some bites were extremely mayo-filled and some didn’t have any at all. I’d probably use a knife to spread the mayo more evenly in the future.

Luke’s was a great surprise and I definitely plan on returning very soon to fill up my frequent buyers card (buy 10 lobster rolls and you get one free!!) They’re $14 each, so it’s much cheaper than a lot of the stuff in the city AND they’re open until 2AM on the weekends.