Luke's Lobster

Address: 93 E 7th Street, New York, NY

http://www.lukeslobster.com

Phone: 212-387-8487

Seems like lately New Yorkers are crazy about Lobster rolls, again. It used to be that Pearl Oyster Bar, Mary Fish Camp and Mermaid Inn are the few good places in the city to grab good lobster rolls. But nowadays, you can go to Ed's Lobster Bar, Lure Fishbar and Ditch Plains for excellent seafood and lobster rolls. I haven't been to Lure Fishbar and Ditch Plains but Chef Paul Liebrandt from Corton gave those two places pretty good scores during his lobster roll tasting tour and his favorite was the one from Mary Fish Camp.

Gan and I definitely prefer Ed's Lobster Bar more than any other places; our friend Yao Hua brought us to Ed's a few years ago and we never went to other places for lobster rolls ever since (plus the wait at Ed's is shorter). We like Ed's Lobster roll because the lobster is fresh and well seasoned, and the roll is always nicely toasted. We also like that the lobster roll is light and refreshing but still satisfying.

At $27-$30 per lobster roll, we can't go to Ed's anytime we want. So I was especially excited when I found out there's a new lobster place in town that promises fresh lobster from Maine at affordable prices ($8/$14). The verdict? Luke's lobster rolls is definitely cheaper, but we were abit underwhelmed. We thought it was a little under seasoned and did not have enough mayo (maybe because "butter, mayo and seasoning are optional"?). But we like the bread alot, it was one of the better lobster roll's bread out there.

Since the restaurant is sandwiched in between caracas arepa and caracas arepa take out store, the space is tiny and there's not much dining-in space. It's definitely not a place for big groups. Although the best thing about Luke's (at least to me) is that the place is open till 1am on Friday and Saturday! Another place for me to pick up midnight snacks in the city!