claw your way to luke’s lobster

i never heard of luke’s lobster until i saw this week’s episode of food network’s new show, food feud on seafood. michael symon made a decision on who had the best lobster roll between ed’s lobster bar and luke’s lobster. so m & i went to luke’s lobster to try their lobster rolls to make our on decision on which place WE think has the best lobster roll.

luke’s lobster is a cute little place in the upper east side, decorated with seafood catching equipment. their menu focuses on three seafood rolls: lobster roll, crab roll and shrimp roll, and combinations of the three. we ordered one order of the lobster roll as well as a combo: “a taste of maine” which had half rolls of the lobster roll, crab roll and shrimp roll, and a lobster claw.

i won’t give away who michael symon chose as the lobster roll winner but i will share what he learned were the differences between the two lobster rolls: ed’s lobster bar uses all parts of the lobster – claws, elbows and tail, and is flavored with mayo and celery – while – luke’s lobster uses only claws and butter.

i got the whole lobster roll. in one bite, you can taste the freshness of the lobster, which are shipped from his dad’s seafood business in maine. one of the things luke’s lobster pride themselves on is that they don’t drown their lobster rolls with too much mayo or celery – and they don’t.but to me, they drowned it in butter. to some, this is not a problem but to me, it overtook the flavor of lobster.

since m got the “taste of maine” combo, i also tried a bite of the crab and shrimp rolls. the shrimp roll was good but the crab roll blew me away. tons of crab, light mayo flavor, buttered toasted roll – it was amazing!

my verdict? i would definitely go back for the crab roll but for the lobster roll, i’d go back to ed’s lobster bar. but if you are a butter person and love lobsters, this is the place for you! who do you think michael symon chose?

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eat at Luke’s Lobster in new york, ny

* yes, i’ve been to Ed’s Lobster Bar!