You can’t visit Maine in the fall and NOT have a fabulous lobster meal! This time around, we didn’t bother to drive all the way North to the Lobster Shack at Cape Elizabeth, and opted instead for a place in Kittery, Maine, just 15 minutes or so from the outlet malls… :) Ranked as one of the Top 10 places to eat lobster in Maine, the Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier also happens to be the closest to Massachusetts.
A lobster meal seems quintessentially American. Something about the informality of the setting (usually picnic tables, seaside, brightly colored (why, I have no idea), the hands on eating and delicious simplicity of the food make this a must-do activity whenever you are near the Maine coastline. The restaurant was set up “creek side” along a tributary that fed into the ocean, I gather. A large wooden deck had several brightly colored picnic tables and benches that could have easily accommodated 100+ people. It was a cool, rainy day when we visited, and only a few other tables were occupied.
We started of by inspecting the lobster tanks, several shallow cement tanks filled with sea water and lobsters of varying sizes and aerated to keep the lobsters happy. In case you are wondering about the sign, “chickens” refer to smaller sized or lighter weight lobsters…
Our initial goal to down a few lobster rolls quickly escalated to perhaps savoring a freshly boiled lobster as well, so we decided to choose the poor critter that was about to get plunged into boiling filtered sea water for a few minutes… Using sea water to boil the lobsters in is traditional, and the salty water helps to bring out the best flavor of the lobsters.
We could have had this monster, at 4.5 pounds, with massive claws, but decided on a roughly 1.5-1.75 pound lobster instead.
At $15.95 a pound for the boiled and served lobster, it was roughly 2-2.5x the price of lobsters at the wholesale markets, a fair mark-up, I thought. The deck was spacious and extremely pleasant, and apparently you were free to bring your own food as long as you didn’t bring anything they sold in the restaurant. And you ordered something from their menu…
The picnic tables were painted in bright colors, and numbered for easy delivery of orders.
Standard paraphernalia for a whole lobster order… a bib, napkins, crackers, moist towelettes, picks and a fork.
Fishing nets and buoys hanging from the ceiling.
Large breaded and deep-fried onion rings… sinfully delicious!
Our lobster, with some potato salad and clarified butter in the background.
A lobster “roll” but served in a hamburger bun… It tasted brilliant, but the missing top-sliced hotdog bun was missed. There was easily the meat of half a 1-1.5 pound lobster in this sandwich. The first one was gone in just a few bites, so we ordered another one. :)
Mrs. MM ordered some New England clam chowder that was very good, the saltine oyster crackers floating on the thick chowder…
The paprika-dusted potato salad wasn’t memorable, but it just seemed like we needed some starch with the lobster…
…so we also placed an order for a freshly boiled corn on the cob. This was SIMPLY SUPERB; freshly picked, the two toned white and yellow ear of corn was perfectly cooked (which means NOT overcooked) and it was juicy and intensely sweet.
The dock right next door where the lobster boats bring their produce directly to the restaurant.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering… if you fly home from Logan airport in Boston (or any other nearby airport for that matter), you can purchase lobsters at the airport packed for carry on baggage or you can check them into the hold.
18 Responses
My mother used to say that lobsters were God’s way of apologizing for creating something as complicated as a crab. LOL
Yum! Call it sacrilege, but I would love to dip that lobster in pinakurat!
ykmd, I sometimes eat lobsters with good vinegar… nothing wrong with that! :)
I like squids, crabs, prawns, fish, all kinds of seafoods. Yet I don’t recall eating lobsters before but I think I will like it too. Aren’t they just crabs in a slightly different form of exoskeleton?
Chicken’s. With an apostrophe. I’m somehow relieved that it’s not just us, ehehe!
I want those onion rings and the lobster bun/roll, though. Your pics made me hungry again, MM. :)
titabuds, you beat me to the comment on “chicken’s”. MM, do you eat the lobster tomalley(aligue)? A lot of people discard the head, but that’s where the best stuff is. It tastes like foie gras, only better, to my rural tongue. p.s. the whole set-up is so pretty it looks like a movie set for a Julia Roberts rom-com.
I am loving the tattoo of the one who’s holding the lobster…I’m thinking of getting one….:-)
Those lobster rolls looks sinfully delicious……
This brings back memories! Although the last time I was at Chauncey Creek some twenty years ago, the benches were drab and weathered, and there were no cloth napkins. They’ve gussied up!
I’m just curious about how the famous Maine lobster (rock lobster) compares with our Pinoy (spiny) lobster in terms of taste? Personally I find our local lobsters rather bland–like watered-down crab meat.
Hi! MM,
It is our family tradition to go to Bar Harbor maine every summer. We tried almost all the lobster restaurants in Bar Harbor including the one where the Obamas dined at but nothing can beat the Trenton lobster shack which is almost just like the one where you had yours, nothing fancy but the best lobsters and the family that runs it are so nice.We also order from them during special occasions and they deliver overnight with the lobsters still alive.
They also allow you to bring anything you want with your lobster. My husband and I bring cut up ripe tomatoes and kamayan bagoong and lots of rice then we eat it with the aligue sooo good!!!! I eat them with my bare hand. We usually order more to take home on our way out of the island and if you want to order just the head or they call it the body , they are so cheap because most people dont eat that part. The last time I bought it for $1.50 for a big bag of lobster heads and there was 15 heads in, it almost a giveaway.
Their website is Trentonbridgelobsterpound.com
WOW!! what a meal—Lookie, just the heads??????that’s my favorite part..and the “Chicken’s” also jumped at me..hehe
PLEASE tell me you brought some “Old Bay” back with you :D
The first photo is funny—reminds me of Pinoy “crabs” Ha!ha!ha!
It’s been a very long time time since I’ve had American lobsters. I almost forgot what it taste like! The clam chowder looks so thick and rich!
Nakakagutom! That corn! Looks sweet and juicy just from the picture.
Once ate lobsters in Boston that were overcooked. What a waste of something that could have been so good. :(
MM,
No shot of you wearing the plastic bib/apron? If you are still in the Northeast, you should try to go to Springfield MA for the “Big E”. It is the Eastern States exposition featuring New England food and culture. It runs until October 2.
chowdah! can’t go to the new england area without having a good bowl of chowdah and lobster. one combo that i miss when we were still living in the states – and is, unfortunately, not found here in germany… sigh.
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Mr. Z – Old Bay is from Maryland. but i hope they have some
Yum!!!! The chowder looks especially delish. But everything looks delectable as well!