Yup you read that right. Right now Red Lobster is serving up Lobster rolls on their menu.
I was scrolling through Facebook the other night when a yummy looking lobster roll showed up on my home page. Instantly I knew I needed one.
I called Red Lobster the next day as soon as I woke up to place a to go order. I couldn’t wait to see what the hype was all about.
I got to the restaurant and waited a ridiculous amount of time to pick up my food….but I guess that’s a whole different story.
I’m a weirdo and I feel strange going through my order while in the restaurant. So I did a quick peek inside the bag to make sure everything was there and then I ran to my car to really investigate.
Before I continue with the story here’s a picture from the Red Lobster website of the roll.
You get everything you see in the above picture for $10. The Lobster roll, French fries, a choice of soup or salad, and their biscuits. Not a bad deal for $10.
They describe their new menu item in the following way:
“The NEW! Lobster Roll features sweet Maine lobster meat tossed in lemon aioli on a toasted roll – split on the top, never on the side. ” – Red Lobster Press Release 3/6/17
Okay, so now that you have the official statement I can continue with the story.
As I opened up the bag in my car I noticed that the Lobster meat was piled onto the roll. I didn’t want to get to scrutinizing the food just yet and waited till I got home to really see what Red Lobster was working with.
I would like you to note, before I show you my photos, that I did nuke the food before I ate it. By the time I waited in line and got home the food was a bit on the cold side. This did make the bread wilt some, but for the most part I felt like the integrity of the food remained pretty much the same.
I wanted to take pictures from a few different angles so you could really grasp what I’m about to say.
As you can see from the photos the meat was legit just placed into the center of the bun. It looks like someone took an icecream scooper, portioned out some meat via the scooper, and then placed it directly on top of the bun. When Red Lobster stated that the meat was “on” a roll they really weren’t kidding. I guess next time I should be looking for the word “in” a roll.
I’m not sure if the meat placed directly in the middle was to give an illusion that there was more meat than there really was, but in all honesty it just looks like Lobster meat drowning in bun.
I was hoping for something that looked similar to the picture where the meat was “in” the bun and went from end to end. I guess that’s what you get when you trust an ad?
Okay, on to the taste part.
I believe I read from another site that the lemon aioli also has some basil in it. If you look back at my pictures there is some sort of green herb in it. Either way, it made the lobster taste strange. Before you ask, no im not one of those “basil tastes like soap” people. If you can see from the photo it’s not like the herb is even properly mixed in and the chop work looks like something I did while drunk. If the meat just had a healthy coat of butter it probably would’ve been way better. The bun was probably the best part of the concoction and then most filling. It tasted similar to a Hawaiian roll. The actual sandwich left me wanting more, but not in a good way. More so in a “I’m still hungry” type of thing.
The french fries were super basic and there’s really nothing to say about them.
The biscuits strangely tasted like someone sprinkled a ramen noodle seasoning packet on it. I normally like their biscuits, but the taste threw me off. I wasn’t sure if this is a new recipe they’re trying out or if my taste buds were just picky after the sad roll.
I ordered New England clam chowder as my soup and I figured you really couldn’t go wrong with this. Except it tasted like straight milk.
In my mind I see one chef saying to another, “our soup is almost out, you need to cut it. Cut it, cut it, cut it, cut it.”
Seriously, the one thing I was counting on was just a milky waste.
I’ve never been this disappointed with Red Lobster before. I would love to say, “hey for $10 not bad”, but I really can’t. It really wasn’t worth it.
I would rather go to McAllisters and grab a sandwich , a pickle, a side, and a piece of chocolate cake for $11.
Shoot, I would’ve even picked McDonalds over that. Yeah, that bad guys.
All in all, if you want to try it I hope you have a better experience than I did. The great thing about this blog though is that I’m always willing to try the latest menu items so that you don’t have to! If you have your eye on something and you want me try it, let me know in the comments!
-M
diamondsfromthedump 