Old Port Lobster Shack: Get your roll on

I’ve fallen behind on my blogging.  Work has been super hectic and I’ve spent a grand total of 5 days in Los Angeles over the past 4 weeks, so it’s been keeping me away from my computer.  I have the content, just not the time to write it!  Oh, but once things calm down in a few days, I’ll be able to release the gates and let a flow of backlogged entries out.

A few weeks ago, I was up in the Bay Area for a business trip and had a hankering for seafood.  Not willing to drive all the way up to San Francisco to chow down at the famous Fisherman’s Wharf, I looked for other options in the south bay area.  I happened to remember an entry a friend of mine wrote in his blog about a seafood joint called Old Port Lobster Shack that closed its doors in San Francisco to his dismay.  Despite the tragedy, its counterpart in Redwood City was spared so that Bay Areans could still get a 5 inch sandwich stuffed whole of pure, succulent lobster meat.

Coming here with my foodie friend Julie, we agreed to share an order of The Double Play.  You have two options for lobster rolls here: the Maine Roll, which features lobster meat mixed with mayo, green onion, and seasoning, and the Naked Roll, served up plain with mayo and butter on the side.  Ordering the double play allowed us to get a taste of both for $35 (each roll is about $19, so it saves to double up).  These are extremely pricey in sandwich terms, but if you think about it in lobster terms, you’re getting a lobster meal for two for less than $40.  Sorry about the price tag, Julie, I know you just graduated college, but thanks for indulging with me.  Fries and coleslaw aren’t anything worthy of writing about (or getting two orders of in this case), so I highly recommend going this route if you’re with someone to share with.

This is the Maine roll, glued together with the mayo sauce.  I normally like my seafood to be simple and fresh, so I assumed I would prefer the Naked roll.  The condiments in this case actually make the sandwich taste better and really glues the lobster together.  Since it’s not the freshest of Lobster (being that Maine is 3000+ miles away), it probably also masks out a bit of the thawed lobster taste.  If you like dipping your lobster in butter, then you’ll have to get the Naked roll.  Either way, these things are just packed with lobster meat and if you put one down during lunchtime you can expect to be in a food coma until 4pm.

If you order an entree, you can add a chowder for $3.  It pays to get a complete meal here since the chowders are six bucks normally.  I can’t say it’s the best chowder I’ve ever had (I like them chunky and this one left a lot to be desired of), but if you think a seafood meal isn’t complete without it… you’ll be satisfied here.  I just noticed in this picture that it says Napa Valley on the cup, which is… very confusing.

I never visited the location in San Francisco, but the location of this OP Lobster Shack in Redwood City is very odd.  I’ve never seen a New England style seafood restaurant in a strip mall before.  It’s next door to some office buildings and a Supercuts.  In fact, we were sitting outside to enjoy the weather, but our table was about 6 feet away from the parked cars in front of the restaurant.  Not exactly a wharf with seagulls flying overhead and horns being blown in the distance.

If you want one of the most amazing lobster sammiches out there, you must visit Old Port Lobster Shack and get your lobster roll on.

Old Port Lobster Shack
851 Veterans Boulevard
Redwood City CA 94063