Mainely Lobster Rolls

Maine is a great place for a quick trip, mixing breathtaking coastlines, lush forests, and of course LOBSTER!!!!  I’ll get to the lobster later.

Wanting to pack in Portland, Bar Harbor, and Acadia National Park into a three day vacation, we probably spent 2/3rd of our trip traveling.  If you’ve never been to Maine and plan on visiting, plan on spending a ton of time on Rt. 1.  One highway from Portland to Bar Harbor could be fine…if it wasn’t one lane for much of the trip and if it didn’t go through small towns.  But you do experience the small town feel of Maine and see the coastline, which makes the trip pleasant.

Maine Acadia National Park

Maine Acadia National Park

Maine Acadia National Park

Maine Acadia National Park Sand Beach

EAGLE at Maine Acadia National Park

Maine Acadia National Park

Portland, Maine

Maine

FOOD

As for the lobster?  You may have seen lobster prices are down this year, prompting Maine to take advantage and ramp up its marketing effort.  Yes, prices of lobster were around $3.79-$3.99/lb (which you can actually get down here in NYC), but you’d never know it if you ordered lobster at restaurants.  Lobster dinners were still around $18 for a lobster, corn, and clams, while lobster rolls were still at least $14.

Getting lobster for just about every meal was a no brainer, as you can’t get any fresher lobster than from Maine.  Of course you can get lobster any way you want it, but I chose to try lobster rolls from all different places to compare them.  The following are in order from my favorite to least favorite:

Sprague’s Lobster

22 Main St

Wiscasset, Maine

http://www.yelp.com/biz/spragues-lobster-wiscasset

Sprague’s Lobster

Red’s, which is right across the street, is famous and was on tv but the wait mid-day is an hr and half. We decided to walk across the street and check out Sprague’s, which ended up being a great decision.  We waited 30 min and got a delicious lobster roll, with a full lobster, no mayo, and on a buttery toasted roll. Nice, clean and so good.  We also got a crab roll, which was covered in mayo.  I personally preferred the lobster roll, but others preferred the crab.  Also, make sure to get the Capt’s Eli’s BLUEBERRY POP – interesting and so good.

Sprague’s Lobster Roll

Sprague’s Crab Roll

Capt’s Eli’s BLUEBERRY POP

Red’s Eats

41 Main St

Wiscasset, ME

http://www.yelp.com/biz/reds-eats-wiscasset-2

Red’s Eats Maine

Red’s Eats Maine

Red’s Eats is extremely popular, and what happens when restaurants are this popular?  Extremely long lines.  If you go mid-day, especially around 1pm, expect waits of around an hour and half.  But if you want to try Red’s and have the opportunity to go at night, give it a try.  We went around 8pm and there was no wait at all.

The lobster rolls have huge pieces or lobster overflowing the toasted bun. They basically take out lobster meat and put it on a roll – No cutting, no dressing. The way it should be. I did prefer the roll at Sprague’s so if they could combine their roll with reds lobster meat that would be the ultimate lobster roll.

Red’s Eats Maine Lobster Roll

J’s Oysters

5 Portland Pier

Portland, ME

http://www.yelp.com/biz/js-oyster-portland

J’s Oysters offers nice outdoor seating right on a pier in Old Portland, but get there early.  We got there at 11:30am on a Sunday, and there was already a line.  J’s Oysters opens up at noon on Sundays…

The lobster roll came with pretty large pieces of lobster and wasn’t dressed with mayo, but the bun was basically a hotdog bun.

Jordan Pond House

1 Park Loop Road

Seal harbour, Maine

http://www.thejordanpondhouse.com/

Jordan Pond House Lobster Roll

Jordan Pond House is definitely a touristy spot, but it is the only restaurant in Acadia. Sit outside for a nice view of the pond and the mountains, and definitely make reservations. Lunch without a reservation is over an hour wait.

The best thing about Jordan Pond House are the popovers. You barely see them at restaurants, but they are rolls with a thin crust and mostly hollow except for some soft crepe like dough inside. They were so good with butter and strawberry jam.

The lobster roll was good, although the pieces were a little too cut up and had a little too much mayo for my liking. The lobster stew was also good and had big chunks of lobster, but it’s so thick and heavy that you could just get a cup instead of a bowl. I also recommend getting the baked Brie in phyllo appetizer.

Jordan Pond House Popover

West Street Cafe

76 West Street

Bar Harbor, Maine

http://www.weststreetcafe.com/

West Street Cafe Lobster Roll – Bar Harbor, Maine

There are a few options if you want to sit by the water in Bar Harbor, but the restaurants tend to be on the touristy side.  West Street Cafe is still a bit touristy, and it’s insanely crowded at night.  We sat down right away outside, but people waited an hour to sit inside.

The food at West Street Cafe was decent.  The best part of the meal was BY FAR the blueberry pie.  The pie was packed with fresh blueberries (Maine’s second specialty?  Blueberries.  Lobster and Blueberries, that’s what Maine does), and the pie crust was crispy on the outside and chewy inside.  And the huge scoop of ice cream only made it better.  I don’t even like pie, and I devoured this blueberry pie.

West Street Cafe Blueberry Pie – Bar Harbor, Maine

Duckfat

43 Middle Street

Portland, Maine

http://duckfat.com/

Duckfat Portland, Maine

One of my two non-lobster roll meals was at Duckfat in Portland.  The paninis are pretty tasty – I especially liked the duck confit panini better than the pork belly.  But you have to get the poutine with fries cooked in duck fat (How can it not be good???).  Duckfat is popular though and was even getting crowded at 11am when it opens.

Duckfat Panini

Duckfat Panini

Duckfat Poutine

Otto Pizza

576 Congress Street

Portland, Maine

http://ottoportland.com/

Otto serves up some great pizza similar to New York style pizza.  They have all kinds of specialty slices like mashed potato, spicy pork, tortilini then regulars like four cheese and sausage with vadalia onion. I’d consider Otto to be similar to Artichoke Pizza in NYC.

Otto Pizza

Otto PIzza

Otto PIzza