Portlan Lobster

BY DIANE BAIR & PAMELA WRIGHT

In search for the perfect lobster? try Portalan , Maine

WHERE THE BOUYS ARE

Tourists who visit Maine are truly lobster-obsessed.

How else to explain the proliferation of lobster-themed everything in local gift shops, from hats to handbags, T-shirts to toilet paper?

If you would rather eat this luscious crustacean than decorate with it, Maine is still the place to be. Known for the icy cold North Atlantic waters that make lobsters sweet and succulent, Maine supplies 75% of the country’s lobster. Many agree that it tastes better in Maine, where the tang of salt air enhances its flavor and the weathered buoys that decorate the restaurants are the real deal. Toss a lobster cracker into the air nearly anyplace on coastal Maine, and you’ll probably hit someone wearing a lobster bib, with butter dripping from his or her chin.

If you would rather eat this luscious crustacean than decorate with it, Maine is still the place to be. Known for the icy cold North Atlantic waters that make lobsters sweet and succulent, Maine supplies 75% of the country’s lobster. Many agree that it tastes better in Maine, where the tang of salt air enhances its flavor and the weathered buoys that decorate the restaurants are the real deal. Toss a lobster cracker into the air nearly anyplace on coastal Maine, and you’ll probably hit someone wearing a lobster bib, with butter dripping from his or her chin.

The city of Portland is Lobster Central. Get your tail to the Old Port district, the city’s revitalized waterfront, where fishermen hawk their catch and lobster-crazed diners enjoy their favorite crustacean every way possible. Call it nirvana for lobstah lovers. There’s your classic steamed lobster, “lazy” lobster swimming in butter and sherry, lobster stew, lobster bisque, baked stuff ed lobster, deep-fried lobster tails, lobster risotto, lobster pie, lobster cocktail, lobster Benedict, lobster quesadillas, and lobster stuff ed with… lobster. And who can argue with the appeal of the classic lobster roll, properly mixed with just a smidgen of mayo and presented on a grilled hotdog roll? In search of the perfect lobster, we strolled the streets of Portland’s Old Port district. For the sake of brevity—and your wallet—we narrowed our search to places where lobster is always on the menu and you can satisfy that crustacean craving for $25 or less. Here’s what we found:

Bull Feeeney’s LOBSTER-WITH-A-VIEW

If you’ve just rolled into town, add some water views to complement your dinner. Head to Commercial Street, where the Fore River meets Casco Bay (and you can’t go any farther without a boat). Look for steam rising behind a rickety white building called Portland Lobster Co. (www.portlandlobstercompany.com), where a giant tangle of lobsters is cooking in a big pot of seaweed and water. “The trick is the seaweed—that really keeps the flavor in,” says David Parker, innkeeper of Portland’s Morrill Mansion Bed & Breakfast (and former lobster pound co-owner) and a fan of the no-frills lobster joint. Tables are set up along the wharf for a real eat-in-the-rough experience. If you’re hankering for a basic boiled lobster, it doesn’t get any better than this. A short jaunt down Commercial Street, but a big step up in the ambience department, is family-owned DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant (www.dimillos.com). It definitely has a touristy vibe, but you have to give DiMillo’s props for recycling: It’s a converted car ferry docked on Long Wharf. Every table has a view, and you enter the restaurant via a gangplank, which adds to the festive feel. And if you can do it to lobster, they do it here. It’s served baked-stuff ed, steamed, lazy (the lobster meat is taken out of the shell for you and sautéed in butter and sherry) and in a pie. With a nod to their Italian heritage, the DiMillos off er a tasty fra diavolo-style casserole, with lobster chunks in a spicy tomato sauce, served over linguine. They even deep-fry lobster tails.

Eve’s Lobster Stew LOBSTER WITH THE LOCALS

Almost next door to DiMillo’s is J’s Oyster (207- 772-4828), a pleasantly seedy little place that serves a killer lobster roll for just $10.50. They don’t muck up that delicately flavored lobster meat with mayonnaise or spices; in fact, the mayo is on the side. Other lobster-themed entrées include lobster Pernod over linguine and lobster scampi. But, the lobster roll rocks, especially when accompanied by a half dozen “raw and nude” oysters. Gilbert’s Chowder House (207-871-5636), also located on Commercial Street, prepares a fine—if pricey— $13.95 lobster roll, but its real claim to fame is the award-winning chowder. They make six variations, but lobster lovers will warm up to the lobster stew or “super seafood,” a creamy bowl (or bread bowl) packed with Maine shrimp, scallops, clams, fish and, yes, lobster. They also serve tons of steamed lobsters, with fries and slaw on the side, and the waitresses are likely to call you “Honey.” Gilbert’s is definitely “Old Maine,” triumphantly un-trendy, but plenty rambunctious at summertime, when tables are set up on the pier, crowds roll in from the comedy club next door and the party boat docks at the wharf. (Revelers gotta eat, too.)

LOBSTER AS PUB GRUB

Forget hot wings. In Portland, you’ll graze on lobster quesadillas as you knock back a local brew. The one at Bull Feeney’s (www.bullfeeneys.com) is good, and the version at the Sebago Brewing Company’s (www.sebagobrewing.com) is fantastic. Sebago’s quesadillas off er a nice balance of lobster meat, Monterey Jack cheese and scallions, cooked ’til gooey in a golden-brown flour tortilla. The wait staff recommends the Northern Light Ale as an accompanying beverage, the lightest ale they serve, so not to “overwhelm the lobster.” Get an order to share, and you’ll fight for the last wedge. But, save some room for the lobstergoat cheese ravioli entrée. If you want an Old World accompaniment to your beer, try the lobster salad sandwich on a buttered baguette with a side of bangers and rashersat Ri Ra Irish Pub (www.rira.com), a local favorite. An Irish lass at a local shop called their lobster dinner “just gorgeous.”

LOBSTER GOES UPTOWN

If you would like your lobster served with a side order of class, consider Eve’s at the Portland Harbor Hotel (www.portlandharborhotel.com). Lobster dishes include a sinfully rich lobster stew, where lobster chunks swim in a cream base with a touch of sherry and a sprinkle of chives, and a lobster salad served with strips of fennel, orange slices, and white truffle vinaigrette. Chef Jeff Landry’s version of a lobster roll is uptown all the way: a slab of buttery brioche stuff ed with St. Andre cheese and lobster meat. Meanwhile, at Walter’s Café (www.walterscafe.com), a brick-walled bistro with great food and zero attitude, diners rhapsodize about the Angel Lobster, a heavenly medley of lobster, pancetta, crimini mushrooms, spinach and silk onions in a marsalaparmesan cream sauce over capellini.

LOBSTER WORTH A (SHORT) TRIP

The prettiest spot in the state to eat lobster may well be The Lobster Shack (www.lobstershack-twolights.com), open seasonally in nearby Cape Elizabeth. Set on the rocks at the end of Two Lights Road, with views of the Casco Bay all around, The Lobster Shack off ers lobster dinners, plus Maine’s best desserts—whoopie pies and blueberry pie.

Sea rat?

Sure, the general public considers Maine lobster a delicacy, but this wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1600s and 1700s, these prized crustaceans were so plentiful that one could literally pick them up off the coast. Mainers called them “sea rats,” and used them as fertilizer and pig food, according to Carrie Karl, a ranger at Acadia National Park. “You never find the shell of a lobster in Native American shell mounds,” Karl says. “Native people ate clams and mussels, never lobster.” Later, Mainers who ate lobster would bury the shells in their backyards rather than put them in the trash, “because it would mean they were too poor to eat anything else,” Karl says. So what caused the sea-change in our lobster-eating habits? Lobster became fashionable in the mid-1800s and then really took off in 1894, when a Parisian restaurant called Marie’s introduced a dish called Lobster Thermidor. Thanks to this elegant dish, the humble lobster went posh. Try not to think about the fact that lobsters are related to scorpions.

WHERE TO STAY

There are plenty of hotels in town, but if you like the personal touch of a bed and breakfast, try Morrill Mansion at 249 Vaughn St. in Portland’s West End. This 1800s Italianate town house is immaculate, comfy and wired with Wi-Fi. Plus, tea-time treats include whoopee pies.
www.morrillmansion.com