Luke's Lobster

Great lobster roll - and I mean that "great"! A generous amount of meat with light mayo, a bit of butter and then a sprinkling of seasoning; I skip the seasoning because I find celery salt overwhelms the sweetness of the meat. The price of the large roll ($14) is EXTREMELY reasonable compared with every other lobster roll I know, and the schooner for $16 includes the large roll plus soda, chips and pickle. And that pickle is a great pickle. They're happy to alter the amounts of dressing on it; the bun is sweet, fresh and lightly toasted; the lobster is excellent. I don't know how one can expect better, particularly for the price.

I was excited to check out this new place, since I had been reading such rave reviews from different sources. Unfortunately, found the lobster roll to be tasteless and a ripoff at $14. If you are going to charge that much then add a free side or something. Left hungry and disappointed...won't be back. The pumpkin soda was interesting, though!

I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviews. Let's start with the food: Lobster roll: The lobster was chilled but not freezing. They put it in hot, just toasted bun which has a light coating of mayo in the bottom, the lobster is coated with butter and herb flavoring, which is just divine. I much prefer this to the traditional lobster salad slathered in mayonnaise. In Luke's preparation the fresh lobster flavor really comes out. It's a decent portion of lobster for $14 (regular size). Shrimp roll: also very yummy and you get a lot of shrimp in the regular size roll. The preparation is essentially the same. The atmosphere is definitely no-nonsense, which was refreshing. The counter service was extremely friendly and patient. Luke's offers a frequent buyer card. I'll have to restrain myself from filling it too quickly. My only critique is that I wish they'd use fresh baked rolls from a local bakery here in the city.

Well, here it is, a mixed review! I want to like this place, it has a no frills vibe, and the counter staff are friendly enough. The main deal here is the Lobester Roll, which seems promising with a couple of tweaks, in my humble opinion. First, the lobster meat may be pre-weighed but the mix is inconsistent from roll to roll, some with lots of actual claws and some with few. Second, the meat is ice cold, the roll not really toasted enough, mayo on the bottom and a squirt of something yellow on top, that didn't taste like butter, and a sprinkle of some awful tasting, salty stuff. I got my fingers crossed because maybe these guys will read this review, and rethink the actual flavor potential of what they got going. Butter the rolls with real butter and toast them, keep the lobster cool but not icy, and skip the sprinkle of whatever that awful salty stuff is. I'll be back to try again, for $14 for a 4oz roll, it's worth it if they tweak the taste a bit....