Although Toronto has a pretty good lobster restaurant, I miss living in Boston, a city that has seemingly way more options when it comes to lobster dishes. As I was writing my first food-related post in Boston, I noticed how many dishes I love have lobster in it. Since lobster is one of my absolute favourite things in the world, it obviously deserves a post all on its own! Here are the following places I go to get my lobster craving satisfied.
1) Legal Seafood – Lobster Bisque
Several locations around Boston
https://www.legalseafoods.com
When I wrote about the post on the best snack places in Boston, I was going to put this soup on that list. After thinking about it, I’m not sure if I consider lobster bisque a snack. In the past, I’ve definitely had lobster bisque with crackers and called it a meal. The soup itself can be quite heavy so I decided it belongs on this list instead.
Legal Seafood is a chain restaurant in Boston and has quite a few locations. My favourite dish from there is the lobster bisque. I would say their lobster bisque is, on average, a bit sweeter than the average lobster bisque but that’s why I like it. Winters in Boston can be quite cold so drinking lobster bisque on a cold day is heaven to me. There are also several locations around the city so it’s easy for me to find a Legal Seafood restaurant.
I want to add a side note here. Clam Chowder is another famous soup dish in Boston and Legal Seafood makes a pretty good one. Although I’m not the biggest fan, my friends and family tend to like clam chowder more than lobster bisque. If this is your first time trying either or, I would recommend getting a cup each. If you want a larger portion, you can get a bowl but I always get a cup because it’s smaller. With smaller portions, you can also try other dishes at the restaurant.
2) Eventide – Lobster Roll
1321 Boylston Street
https://www.eventideoysterco.com/eventide-fenway
For those who don’t know, there are two types of lobster rolls: Maine style or Connecticut style. Maine style lobster roll is usually cold and mixed with mayonnaise. Depending on the restaurant, they also add lettuce and chives, making it more of a lobster salad roll. Then, we have the Connecticut style lobster roll aka my favourite. The Connecticut style lobster roll is usually hot and sautéed with butter. I like this style better because I prefer my lobster roll to be hot. I’m also not a fan of lettuce and too often, Maine style lobster roll is more like a lobster salad roll. I’ll pass on that, thanks. In general, I think lobster just goes well with butter compared to mayonnaise.
Now knowing my preference, the places I always go to are the Connecticut style. Boston has tons of places that make lobster rolls but my two favourite ones are from Eventide and Pauli’s (which I’m going to talk about next).
Eventide is located in the heart of Boston: Fenway. Since there’s a Target in Fenway and I like going there (I mean, who doesn’t love Target?), I would always grab a lobster roll while I’m in the area. The dish is simple and delicious. I can taste the lobster. I don’t like places where they put too much butter on the lobster to the point where it’s overwhelming. They put in the right amount of butter so when you take a bite, it’s practically melting in your mouth.
Lobster rolls ain’t cheap and this one is $23. It’s a bit disappointing because the bun is smaller than I expected. I wish the lobster roll is bigger but I get that lobsters are expensive. I do want to point out that there are good chunks of lobster so you’ll feel like you got your money’s worth. Eventide picked a good location since there are always a lot of people at Fenway (hello, Boston Red Sox). I don’t have to go far out of my way to eat a really good lobster roll when I crave one due to its convenient location.
3) Pauli’s – Lobster Roll
65 Salem Street
https://paulisnorthend.com/
North End is Boston’s Little Italy. It’s more out of the way compared to Fenway but I really like their lobster rolls here too. I can’t tell you the exact price because their lobster rolls sell at market price.
I like that people have the option to choose a Maine style or Connecticut style lobster roll here. You don’t have a choice at Eventide. It’s only the Connecticut style. I can’t comment on the Maine style lobster roll at Pauli’s because I’ve never had one. A Connecticut style lobster roll actually costs $2 more. For lobster lovers, they have other lobster dishes here as well, like lobster grilled cheese.
If you’re wondering which restaurant has a better lobster roll, I will straight up say don’t ask me to pick one. I can’t. I will admit though since I lived closer to Fenway, I eat Eventide’s lobster roll more. Not because I like it a lot better than Pauli’s but for convenience purposes.
4) Yard House – Lobster Garlic Noodles
126 Brookline Avenue
https://www.yardhouse.com/locations/ma/boston/boston-fenway-fenway-triangle/8336
Yard House is another restaurant at Fenway. Fenway has some really good restaurants. What can I say? I discovered Yard House one day while walking around. Out of curiosity, I looked at their menu and saw they had a dish called lobster garlic noodles. I tried it once and ever since then, I never looked back. Before that, I’ve never even heard of this place! Have you? Yard House is a chain restaurant that is all over the country. I was surprised when I found that out. I asked my international friends living in the US and most of them have never heard of it as well. Maybe it’s the type of restaurant that only Americans know about.
The visible ingredients to make this include noodles, lobsters, parmesan, mushroom and spinach. I love all those ingredients so it’s practically a perfect dish for me. The combination is bomb. However, I will admit the dish is a little on the saltier side. I also wish there was more lobster. There are usually two or three pieces of what looks like to be lobster claws. The rest are lobster strips mixed in with the dish. More lobster would be great. I can never say no to more lobster.
When I went to Chicago last year (pre-covid. What was that even like?), my friend and I looked on Google to see whether or not there was a Yard House in the city. Thankfully, they did so we ended up going there twice to eat their lobster garlic noodles despite only being in the city for three days. More proof on how much I love their noodles.
If you have a chance, I would really recommend going to one of these, if not, all, of these restaurants. The food in Boston is so great that I will have one more post on my favourite restaurants coming soon! Love seafood? You’re going to want to read the next post.
Xoxo,
Nicole