Dining Out, Dinner, East Village, Late Night, Lunch, Manhattan, TakeoutKerry Alaric CheeseboroMarch 04, 2010BBQ, bun, chips, east, les, lobster, lower, pickle, potato, roll, sandwich, sarsaparilla, seafood, side, soda, village4 Comments

Luke's Is On A Roll

Luke's Lobster | 93 E 7th St. (bet. 1st Ave. & Ave. A) | 212.387.8487 | www.lukeslobster.com

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OKAY, I CAN TAKE A HINT. A friend of mine of Facebook posted a picture of a lobster roll on her "wall" that looked scrumptious, and less that an hour later, a Flickr friend of mine posted a similar picture of a lobster roll she had just enjoyed in one of the many food related pools on Flickr.

They both happened to be from same place, Luke's Lobster down on 7th Street. I took that as a reminder that I still had to try the place out. But when I got the weekly menu update from one of my website clients—a menu featuring a lobster ravioli lunch special—I felt impelled to wait no longer and make the quick trip downtown this afternoon on the 6 train and finally sample this signature dish for myself.

Arriving there by about 1 p.m., I did a speedy survey of the typical-for-this-neighborhood small space, perusing its menu, and capturing the decor and patrons with my camera.

Their menu offered a likewise small choice of options, although they are known to excel at all of them. Although tempted by these other choices—such as crab rolls and crab claws—I elected to dive into the initial inspiration for my visit, the lobster roll, which I ordered in the larger of two options,with a side of BBQ potato chips and a bottle of sarsaparilla soda.

I was first impressed with the impact of genuine Maine lobster flavor, even with it seeming to be minimally seasoned, though seasoned quite properly. The tail and claw meat chunks were firm yet tender, moist, and were well served by an evenly and lightly toasted bun, and an extra dash (after a few bites) of their "secret" seasoning, cutely contained in a lobster claw-shaped dispenser.

Making a meal of it, I enjoyed the sweet, crisp, punchy pickle,as well as the subtly-spiced, crunchy potato chips,and the smooth, cream soda flavor of the sarsaparilla soda.

I was worried that, for almost twenty bucks, that one simple roll might not fill me up; turns out I was wrong for doing so. They are not stingy with the lobster meat—enjoying several pieces at once with every bite—and, although usually enjoyed as a "specialty" meal, one usually reserved for spoiling oneself, I cold definitely understand why many of its customers admitted to me that they happily enjoy any of the menu items on a regular basis.

And considering that there are scant few other places that actually lobster rolls as well—and fewer still nearly as well—I couldn't help but think that finding this place would save me the trouble of figuring out, from now on, where I could gladly sate my lobster roll "jones" in the near future.

I get it, and will look forward now to getting this lobster roll often!