GutterGourmet — November 12, 2009

From ME to You

Sandwiched in between Caracas Arepa Bar and Caracas Arepa Bar To-Go on East 7th is Luke’s Lobster. No bigger than a shack with a small counter and eight stools, Luke’s mission is to make the lobster roll as accessible as the hot dog. With lines out the door, and very reasonable prices ($8/small lobster roll, $14/full roll), they may well succeed. Their slogan is “From ME (Maine) to You,” literally. The lobster meat is vacuum-sealed from when it leaves Maine to the time that it hits your roll.

The ‘A Taste of Maine’ consists of a small lobster roll, a small crab roll and a small shrimp roll with a pair of tiny Empress Crab Claws. Unlike the ones on ice at the holiday party, which taste like Sarimi and require a thorough dunking in cocktail sauce, these claws are so sweet that they are reminiscent of their larger Floridian Stone Crab cousins. The crab roll was more of the fresh crab. The shrimp was sweet like Ama Ebi. The lobster roll was all claw and knuckle meat—among the best New York has to offer. All the rolls contained soft, toasty, top-split hot dog buns. If there was any mayo or filler, we did not see or taste it. A bag of potato chips and your choice of six organic Maine Root sodas (Blueberry, Ginger Brew, Sarsaparilla, Root Beer, Orange or Lemon Lime) to wash it down— all for 20 bucks.