Had Lobster a couple of times recently, including just tonight at ee-usk in Oban.

Not really sure what the fuss is about, it’s like chewy, overdone, slightly bitter white fish both times when I’ve had it . (The other fish/seafood at ee-usk was fantastic by the way)

I assume that this is because it has been cooked previously, then heated and served. Does anywhere cook them from fresh (alive?), or will it be like this everywhere Lobster is served in a restaurant?

cooked previously, then heated and served.

Sounds revolting, and unlikely.

“The four most overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”
Christopher Hitchens

I don’t agree 100%, picnics are great.

cooked previously, then heated and served.

Sounds revolting, and unlikely.[/quote]

My only clue to this was that it was also available on the menu served cold.

I’ve had half lobsters both times at different, reputable places, they’ve looked like they were cut in half by a band saw… also a clue?

It’s my understanding that Lobster do not stay fresh for long at all when they are dead, hence me thinking they’re pre-cooked

If they are generally cooked from fresh then I’m steering clear in future. No wonder they were once on regarded as only being fit for prisoners!

Leave the lobsters for people that like them, and waste your money in other ways.

Leave the lobsters for people that like them, and waste your money in other ways.

Do you like them? I’m a bit of a foodie so if I’ve been wrongly done by them I’m keen to try again elsewhere…

“The four most overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”
Christopher Hitchens

……… Decided to delete my reply to that!!

Lobster Thermidor is one of my favourite dishes.

I quite like it grilled (or barbecued) with a bit of garlic butter.

Mrs doesn’t get it either…

I thought Lobster would be like the biggest, juiciest king prawn… seems I’m wrong. Langoustines are pretty much the same too 🙁

Still, open to trying again somewhere else

Sounds like you’ve had crap lobster as it’s not chewy if cooked right. It’s lovely and yeah kind of like a huge prawn, odd that.

Sounds like you’ve had crap lobster as it’s not chewy if cooked right

Sounds like overcooked. I’ve had razor clams I’ve caught myself and cooked, lovely. Had them in reputable seafood restaurants, like chewing a rubber.

Exactly.

Ee-Usk rocks though.

I used to go a lot to the old one when my folks lived in Connel. Callum, the owner, and his eccentric trumpet whistling used to crack me up. The new one is a bit more popular/expensive/mainly for tourists but the view is great.

I really miss Oban.

I think the perfectly split half lobster is pre-cooked, they’re a bit rubbery and not nearly as nice as those cooked fresh. However, I’d suggest that white crab meat is superior.

You’ve not had them cooked properly. They should be killed and cooked immediately after.* yours sound re heated and/or over cooked.

Either boiled or bbq. They’re a richer tasting prawn. Slightly chewier but slightly stronger flavour. The stronger flavour means it can take a sauce such as in termador, which would overpower prawns etc.

I had lobster a few months ago where they were picked out of a tank ands grilled in front of you. Delicious, BUT over rated. Good prawns, crayfish or beautiful brown crab beats it hands down IMO.

You said you’re a foodie so make sure you eat them done very well once. Don’t build them up too much though.

*not boiled alive!

I once gave a friend a bottle of champagne and a live lobster for her birthday.
I’d caught it a couple of days before whilst diving – take them home and put them in the salad box at the bottom of the fridge until you are ready to cook them.

Chewy and bitter sounds wrong, I’d have complained enquired as to whether they thought the lobster was presented correctly…

Lobster is nice, but is poor value for money. We holidayed in Staithes near Whitby this year and because of the strikes at Calais a lot of the lobster that normally goes to the French market was being sold cheap in the area (whole lobster for £5). It’s a nice meat, but for the price in a restaurant I would rarely choose it.

Wouldn’t pay what it costs. My dad runs some creels though so I get the odd one for free. Can’t beat fresh, free lobster.

Definitely shouldn’t be bitter BTW, should be firm but buttery. Mmmmmmmm.

I catch them in summer.
Catch it, cook it, eat it.
In a roll with a drop of Mayo and some green stuff.
Prefer the tail meat to the claws.
Small (legal sized) ones taste better than big ones.

brown crab beats it hands down IMO.

This ^^

But Hommarus gammarus (European Lobster) is much nicer than Panulirus interruptus (Spiny lobster) they tend to serve in Mediterranean countries.

From Lobster: A Global History by Elisabeth Townsend. page 34:

Throughout New England these enormous shellfish were an easy supply of protein, but they were not valued. ‘Their plenty makes them little esteemed and seldom eaten’, wrote William Wood in New England’s Prospect, 1634. Abundance bred contempt, so the colonists often only used lobster to fend off hunger and as cheap food for indentured servants and slaves. They fed it to pigs and used it as fertilizer and fish bait. There’s one indignity that didn’t befall the undervalued lobster: ‘One of the most persistent and oft repeated food myths’, wrote food historian Kathleen Curtin, is ‘about laws being enacted to protect prisoners/servants from eating lobster more than three times a week – it never happened. [There is] not a shred of documentation.’

which is a pity as I rather liked the sound of that last myth.

I worked as a chef in a seafood restaurant when doing postgrad stuff at university. We tended to get a lot of Nova Scotia lobsters which had massive claws and not much tail meat, so although they were quite hefty on the scales, there wasn’t much of the good stuff.

Normal punters have no clue though, they’re just sat there congratulating themselves that they were eating lobster and taking pictures of it and then, like the OP, wondering what the fuss is all about.

I like lobster tail mind you, it goes well in certain dishes, but there’s no way I’d order a £40 lump of tail and claw on a plate.

This chap does a mean lobster, barbequed on the beach:
http://rileysfishshack.com/

I’m with the “rather have crab” crowd though.

Agreed on the claw v’s tail bit. Also as above, lobster shouldn’t be bitter or chewy. There’s a reasonable chance it was pre cooked.
The best place I’ve had it in the UK was the Oyster Shack in Bigbury, Devon. Properly nice, particularly as a thermidor. However, I’d actually far prefer a bucket of beer battered prawns and a a bowl of moule frites with extra buttered bread to mop up the liquor, eating with juice running down my chin cave man style!

I’ve had it a few times when eating out for work (I wouldn’t pay for it myself!). I thought it had a pretty unique taste / texture combination. Sweet and soft with a mild sea-food flavour. It’s the absolute devastation that occurs when eating that puts me off. It’s like something that should be done in a workshop with safety glasses.

It’s not great value when there are loads of cheaper things that cross over with it taste / texture wise. Crab, rock lobsters, cray fish etc.

“The four most overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”

All four at the same time is pretty good. Although the lobster preferred your normal, run of the mill vaginal sex…

It was never really going to work. Plus I couldn’t breathe underwater. Nice eyes though. On stalks…

The four most overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.

Depends how much you have to pay for them I suppose.

I pretty much lived on lobster when travelling in Belize.

3 day boat trip from the Cayes back to the mainland and it was literally catch it, cook it, eat it.

Some of the best food experiences I have ever had.

Conch on the other hand can **** off

I once gave a friend a bottle of champagne and a live lobster for her birthday

And a card that said, “Happy Christopher Hitchens day!! xox”?

+1 for ee-usk and Callum!

Leave the lobsters for people that like them, and waste your money in other ways.

Quite! I bloody love it – a meatier, more flavoursome prawn really. Undoubtedly it’s poor VFM, but you could say that about eating out generally.

The best I’ve had was on the Ayrshire coast: http://fencebay.co.uk/

Not sure what’s the big deal about lobster coz it is just like eating a large prawn really. In the far east I have eaten prawn in sweet chili sauce almost the size or lobster.

Yes, if you overcooked it you get rubbery prawn … 😆

convert – Member

Ee-Usk rocks though.

My trip there was a let down too, was decidedly average rather than poor. The Waterfront Fishouse was much better on the other hand

I’ve had absolutely spanking fresh langoustines and they were wonderful. I’ve also had rubbish ones which tasted seriously “wrong”. I too fail to be impressed by lobster. Picnics are usually ruined by ants and wasps, anal sex is a pain in the arse. Love champagne though.

Lobsters, always coming round ‘ere and giving it all that

I will continue looking for good lobster…. might just buy one and cook it myself!

Regarding restaurants in Oban, Ee-Usk wasn’t bad at all, just the lobster a let down. Mussels, scallops, fish all great. Had lunch and dinner there. However also had lunch and dinner at Oban Fish and Chips (it’s further north up George St and not to be confused with George St Fish and Chips by west coast motors) which beat ee-Usk hands down. It has fantastic honest seafood and they don’t just do fish and chips.

A lobster makes my day, but anal sex makes my hole weak

I pretty much lived on lobster when travelling in Belize.

3 day boat trip from the Cayes back to the mainland and it was literally catch it, cook it, eat it.

Some of the best food experiences I have ever had.

Conch on the other hand can **** off

Really? I’ve only had Conch in Belize but it was fantastic – better than Lobster IMO

st overrated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”
Christopher Hitchens

Obviously he wasn’t doing them right.

also had lunch and dinner at Oban Fish and Chips (it’s further north up George St and not to be confused with George St Fish and Chips by west coast motors) which beat ee-Usk hands down. It has fantastic honest seafood and they don’t just do fish and chips.

Cheers for that, leaving for Oban in the next hour or so – camanachd cup final