McLobster in Maine and the Maritime Providences

Just made the trip through the Maritime Providences and Maine. McDonalds is selling lobster rolls. I had one and it doesn't compare with most of the ones that I have had in that area, but its a hell of a lot cheaper. I think I have seen them in New Hampshire. They definately ain't in Knoxville, TN

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I heard on the news this morning that McDonalds is opening a cajun style restaurant in New Orleans! The horror!

I was warned by the locals in Maine about those rolls, could've had one---I suppose---but we had to make a second trip to the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport! Heaven on a bun!

quote:

Originally posted by stanpnepa

I was warned by the locals in Maine about those rolls, could've had one---I suppose---but we had to make a second trip to the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport! Heaven on a bun!

I was driving back from Gloucester and passed the Clam Shack. I looked attractive and I stopped and got a box of clams. They were wonderful and I wish I had bought some other things they listed.

I was not making a recco for McD's Lobster Roll, but it was not bad for the price.

I saw where another poster indicated the McD's was opening a Cajun joint in NO. I saw the same story on Headline News by CNN. They would have had to have bought the concept.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

McRib is back on the menu again here in Kentuciana.

I bought a McRib several years ago when they first came out. I thought they were pretty tasty then. Seems like I recall a lot of onions. Maybe that was what it taste good. Seems like it was a synthetic rib

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

As I posted elsewhere on this site, McD's is selling crabcakes in some of their places on MD's eastern shore. They've been doing this for a couple of years.

McDonald's hasn't tried selling cheesesteaks here in the Philly area. The Roy Rogers chain sold them in their restaurants when they had locations in the area and they weren't all that bad. I think they're still on the menu where Roy Rogers are (NJ, NY, MD).

I live in Nova Scotia. I thought it was a joke when I first saw a sign for the McLobster Roll. Like, you gotta be kidding! But no. It's real. I haven't tried it and probably won't. I know someone who did and she wasn't dissatisfied, but not completely and deliciously sated either. McDonald's just opened its first downtown Halifax location very recently. I know the cost can be high for lobster rolls (cause they're made outta lobster!) but if you think of it as a special occasion thing then you can get a really good one without the anono-bun.

I love lobster. Mmmm.

McDonald's also sells lobster rolls in some of their Connecticut and Massachusetts locations. I believe they started about two or three years ago. They're actually not bad for the price.

I'm pretty sure that McDonald's sells their lobster rolls throughout New England - at least I've seen them in MA and RI during the past several summers. I suppose it makes sense from a marketing viewpoint; they may not be as good as the real thing, but they're cheaper, probably often easier to obtain (get one on your lunch break without heading through beach traffic and the like) and there are plenty of people who have lobster on their mind this time of year.

JL

Are those McLobster rolls with butter or mayo or ketchup/mustard and pickle?

...or special sauce??

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

Are those McLobster rolls with butter or mayo or ketchup/mustard and pickle?

Next thing you know, they'll be selling Rippers and Cremators in North Jersey! Yikes!!!

I was just on the droning Connecticut Turnpike this past weekend, returning from Boston. Sure enough, on the rest stops on that road, McDonalds was offering Lobster Rolls. Previously, they were only offered in a McD's I saw in Machias Maine, which I think holds the distinction of being the eastern most McDonalds in the US. I will tell you all that there was no way I could order one, regardless of how good they looked. Try Red's in Wiscasset Maine instead! That's the real deal.

quote:

Originally posted by CheeseWit

McDonald's hasn't tried selling cheesesteaks here in the Philly area.

Jack in the Box put them on the menu here, complete with ad of a guy going to Philly as a nerd and coming back as a "dese and dose" stud. I haven't tried them---------just doesn't seem to be the right atmosphere to enjoy one of the world's great sandwiches.

EdSails: that's how I feel about all of these "local specialties" that McDonald's is adding to menus. Mickey D's needs to concentrate on their own specialties and make them the best they can be. Hey, they tried doing their version of a Burger King Whopper, and that failed.

I was at the McD's at Innsbruck Austria and I was surprised that they sold wine and beer.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Poutine (Fries, cheese curds, and gravy) is sold in McD's in Quebec, as well as McPizza.
DaveM

DaveM: You know, I saw Poutine in Nova Scotia last week and did not know what it was. Now I know. I saw it several places after that.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

I was at the McD's at Innsbruck Austria and I was surprised that they sold wine and beer.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I could have sworn that back in the 1970's, some California McDonald's sold wine and beer. I do know that out there, some Pizza Hut's do. We (of course) don't have that option in New Jersey!

We just returned from Maine and were shocked to find lobster rolls at McDonald's near Freeport. My son even took a picture of the poster in the window so that people at home (N.Y. and Pa.) would believe it. We decided to try one and found it rather small but acceptable. It's hard to ruin lobster!

Don't be so shocked and horrified by the fact that McDonald's is selling lobster rolls. For one thing, it's not bad lobster, and more importantly, it's the exact same lobster you'll be served at probably over 90% of the places that serve lobster rolls in New England. (Unless there's an old man in a yellow rainslicker tending a large aluminum pot on the dock out back, the lobster roll you order anywhere is going to be made with the exact same lobster chunks that are processed and packaged at a plant somewhere on the Maine coast or in Nova Scotia. It ain't fresh lobster, but there's nothing wrong with it.) It's not substandard lobster, it's just less expensive because of the bulk ordering that McDonald's is able to do because of their size.

Furthermore, New England tradition holds that the only right, just and proper vehicle for said lobster chunks is a J.J. Nissen frankfurter roll, the same ones you buy at the supermarket bread aisle for your backyard cookouts at $1.50 a pack. People who get snooty about the rolls, or claim that lobster rolls are best on big, fluffy "homemade" bakery-style rolls, are secretly laughed at behind their backs. So if it's the same lobster and the same rolls...what exactly is so laughable about McDonalds lobster rolls?

I just read a New Orleans Times-Picayune review of Mickey D's offering in the Cajun line. After reading it I realized that the article described an insipid mass-produced-for-the-masses pseudo-Coonass menu.

Think Guiness Stout Lite!

I remember visiting Seattle back in the late 1980's. This was back in the days when I didn't know any better. I went into a McDonald's there and they had fish and chips on their menu! When I moved there in the early 90's seattle was no longer the salty dog town it used to be so they took fish n chips off the menu and added espresso and lattes since Seattle was now chic, trendy and happening!

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Don't be so shocked and horrified by the fact that McDonald's is selling lobster rolls. For one thing, it's not bad lobster, and more importantly, it's the exact same lobster you'll be served at probably over 90% of the places that serve lobster rolls in New England. (Unless there's an old man in a yellow rainslicker tending a large aluminum pot on the dock out back, the lobster roll you order anywhere is going to be made with the exact same lobster chunks that are processed and packaged at a plant somewhere on the Maine coast or in Nova Scotia. It ain't fresh lobster, but there's nothing wrong with it.) It's not substandard lobster, it's just less expensive because of the bulk ordering that McDonald's is able to do because of their size.

Furthermore, New England tradition holds that the only right, just and proper vehicle for said lobster chunks is a J.J. Nissen frankfurter roll, the same ones you buy at the supermarket bread aisle for your backyard cookouts at $1.50 a pack. People who get snooty about the rolls, or claim that lobster rolls are best on big, fluffy "homemade" bakery-style rolls, are secretly laughed at behind their backs. So if it's the same lobster and the same rolls...what exactly is so laughable about McDonalds lobster rolls?

LuckyBishop:

Let me ask you, why then is Lobster Roll offered only in New England area locations, if they are able to order in bulk, and thus save money, why then are they not offered nationally? Given what you just said, if there were lobster rolls offered in a south Jersey McD's, I would actually consider trying it, once! I suspect many others nationally would follow my lead. It is probably my all time favorite delicacy!

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Don't be so shocked and horrified by the fact that McDonald's is selling lobster rolls. For one thing, it's not bad lobster, and more importantly, it's the exact same lobster you'll be served at probably over 90% of the places that serve lobster rolls in New England. (Unless there's an old man in a yellow rainslicker tending a large aluminum pot on the dock out back, the lobster roll you order anywhere is going to be made with the exact same lobster chunks that are processed and packaged at a plant somewhere on the Maine coast or in Nova Scotia. It ain't fresh lobster, but there's nothing wrong with it.) It's not substandard lobster, it's just less expensive because of the bulk ordering that McDonald's is able to do because of their size.

Furthermore, New England tradition holds that the only right, just and proper vehicle for said lobster chunks is a J.J. Nissen frankfurter roll, the same ones you buy at the supermarket bread aisle for your backyard cookouts at $1.50 a pack. People who get snooty about the rolls, or claim that lobster rolls are best on big, fluffy "homemade" bakery-style rolls, are secretly laughed at behind their backs. So if it's the same lobster and the same rolls...what exactly is so laughable about McDonalds lobster rolls?

Well, Laughing Bishop, I guess I don't mind being snooty when it comes to McDonald's because there are other options. Where I live, (Nova Scotia), you often do get to eat fresh lobster. You sometimes even get to meet your food first. I like the idea of eating food close to the source. McDonald's is certainly not going to suffer from me not being a customer, or even deriding it. My question is: why must they ape local customs? I guess the answer, as usual, is $$. I don't mind giving money to people making a livelihood, but I don't like to feed behemoths. They can fend for themselves.

I agree that cheap white rolls are good to hold lobster. They have to sort of dissolve from all the butter too. I don't mind rolls made by human beings and not machines.

cheers.

Fortunately there are those remaining 10% (according to Laughing Bishop) of places in NE where they serve REAL lobster meat in their rolls.....not processed or packaged or frozen. By now everyone should know that the lobster meat in that roll came from dead lobsters found in the tanks every morning and hopefully cooked that day. No lobster company in their right mind would take a perfectly good alive 'n kickin' bug and cook it up for meat for a sangwich! So you can only hope for meat that was not dead too long and cooked up properly. As for the roll.....a grilled Stop-N-Shop brand does quite nicely. One of the few places in New England that hand-picks their own lobster AND crab meat.....Yankee Lobster on Northern Ave. in Boston. The crab is even better than the lobster if you can believe it.

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

Don't be so shocked and horrified by the fact that McDonald's is selling lobster rolls. For one thing, it's not bad lobster, and more importantly, it's the exact same lobster you'll be served at probably over 90% of the places that serve lobster rolls in New England. (Unless there's an old man in a yellow rainslicker tending a large aluminum pot on the dock out back, the lobster roll you order anywhere is going to be made with the exact same lobster chunks that are processed and packaged at a plant somewhere on the Maine coast or in Nova Scotia. It ain't fresh lobster, but there's nothing wrong with it.) It's not substandard lobster, it's just less expensive because of the bulk ordering that McDonald's is able to do because of their size.

Furthermore, New England tradition holds that the only right, just and proper vehicle for said lobster chunks is a J.J. Nissen frankfurter roll, the same ones you buy at the supermarket bread aisle for your backyard cookouts at $1.50 a pack. People who get snooty about the rolls, or claim that lobster rolls are best on big, fluffy "homemade" bakery-style rolls, are secretly laughed at behind their backs. So if it's the same lobster and the same rolls...what exactly is so laughable about McDonalds lobster rolls?

I think 90% is an exaggeration. I had several family members work at a tiny 6 table seafood shack in mid-coast Maine (New Harbor), and my cousin spent a lot of time handpicking meat out of fresh boiled lobsters for the rolls. If that place, which was great, but tiny, uses fresh meat, then I have to believe that more than 10% of the places along the coast do.

quote:

Originally posted by tamandmik

Let me ask you, why then is Lobster Roll offered only in New England area locations, if they are able to order in bulk, and thus save money, why then are they not offered nationally?

For the same reason they only have green chile cheeseburgers on the menu at McDonalds in New Mexico: it's a regional thing. Sure, there are people outside of New England who know what lobster rolls are and like them, but those people are a small minority. They wouldn't sell enough of them outside of New England to make it worthwhile!