Dan Devours: Chilled Lobster and Shrimp Rolls
Red Lobster Chilled Lobster and Shrimp Rolls Review
I love seafood, specifically all forms of shellfish, so I was more than happy to go to Red Lobster for lunch. This was another meal courtesy of a gift card we had received. I've had the lobster rolls from Red Lobster before and they're not bad. They aren't on the level of the seaside shacks I used to visit in Maine years ago, when my grandparents lived there, but they are worth ordering.The lobster and shrimp rolls have shrimp mixed in so there is obviously less lobster. Some may think the addition of shrimp is just filler, but the contrast in taste and texture was actually quite nice. The salad of lobster and shrimp is made with a mayonnaise based sauce similar to that of other salad sandwiches. A spring mix of lettuce lines the inside of the toasted New England style buns. It's a great sandwich construction trick to keep them from getting soggy. I'm thankful for that because the sauce was quite runny due to the salad being served warm, not chilled.
I don't mind a warm seafood salad but when it's described as chilled on the menu, I expect it to be cold like an egg or chicken salad. Seafood should be served as fresh as possible so I understand not making a batch of the lobster and shrimp salad a day ahead. However, what I was served had clearly just been made. The sauce had no time to set up and because of that, really took away from what could have been a good sandwich.
I appreciated that neither the lobster or shrimp were over cooked or chewy. There was a good mixture of claw and tail lobster meat that was soft and buttery. The shrimp tasted fresh and snapped slightly as I bit into them. Being a sucker for bread, I really enjoyed the butter toasted buns that were grilled to perfection. In fact, mine looked very similar to those in the picture above. Because they are toasted, the bread was warm but not so warm that it should have made the salad runny.
What I kept going back to while I was eating and as I though about this review, was how the salad was warm. It was really disappointing that this wasn't chilled as described. I wanted a cold salad served in a toasted bun. As far as seafood rolls go, the lobster and shrimp rolls from Red Lobster are fine and probably better when executed properly. Unfortunately, that's not what I received and what I got is what I have to review.
Score: 6.1 /10
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