Lobstah on a Roll

"We are the ambassadors of lobster rolls, we're the gateway to the lobster roll family."

Meet Joe Marcus: the self proclaimed king of all crustacean.

David Spinney: a sultan of shellfish.

And back in the kitchen you'll find Chef Ken Dupree: a lord when it comes to lobster.

"The experience here, it's over the top. They can't get over what we give them even in our standard roll."

And whether you go for the portions fit for prince or pauper, you're going to want to get some Lobstah on a Roll.  

Located on Columbus Ave in Boston's South End, Lobstah on a Roll is a small shop serving some of the best lobster rolls in all of New England.  It's the brainchild of three partners, who decided to take that quintessential New England favorite and really amp it up.   

"It's a nostalgia thing, they remember growing up and having a lobster roll whether it was from Woodmans or Kelly's, they remember that. What they don't remember is something like ours. We're over the top.  We don't want to be like everybody else. We want to set the standard."

It all starts with the bread. 

"To have a good lobster roll you have to start with fresh lobster meat and great bread. Instead of doing the traditional split top hot dog roll we use a challah roll here that's custom made for us. 

 Our challah has a bit of honey in it. When you toast it up it actually smells like a chocolate cake that's cooking. So when we open up the oven the smell of the sweet bread is fantastic, it's intoxicating. You just want to eat every sandwich we have. "

"When you bite into the roll, you notice that you're tasting the lobster meat and the lettuce, but then you notice the sweetness of the roll that brings all the flavors together that just make it an incredible experience. It's something that you just want to eat, eat over and over again."

Ken always starts his day by cooking up the lobsters.  

"So we cook our lobster a little differently. Normally it's steamed, occasionally you have to boil. The tail doesn't get overcooked, the claw itself is very, very tender, the knuckle meat's incredibly tender. 

"We time our lobster meat to pull it out so we take it out when it's just done so it's not overcooked and that's the key to having the really good lobster rolls is having fresh meat cooked perfectly.  So the idea is to keep it cooked just at the right level so it's soft and it's fresh and delicious when you bite into it."

"As soon as our lobster is cooked we immediately immerse it into an ice bath, stops the cooking process. And people are amazed with that because they're expecting it to be chewy and it's not."  

Depending upon your appetite, you can order your roll in a few ways- from the standard 6 inch roll, to a foot long- to something called the double deuce that will have you seeing double.   But if you really want to wow your friends, you've got to pre-order a sandwich called The Monstah- by far the biggest lobster roll Phantom has ever encountered.   

"We do make one of the biggest lobster rolls you've ever seen. We have a 5 foot, probably about 8-10 inch wide, beautiful braided challah roll lobster roll. It has over 14 pounds of lobster meat in it. We don't dress it until after the fact."

"It's certainly a sight to see. It's 14 and half pounds of lobster meat is something more than most people have seen in one place at a time. They are kind of overwhelmed by it."

Pretty much everyone reacts in one way.

"Wow"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

"Wow"

"And then we get to ring the bell." 

"This is the wow bell.  When everybody sees their lobster roll, and how much lobster is actually in that roll, they all say wow.  You get to ring the bell"

"Wow!"

Other "wow worthy" dishes include chowder overloaded with clams.

"Our clam chowder, it is so good. It's like eating a vanilla ice cream cone. It is to die for. Tons of clams, thick, tasty, buttery, it is tremendous."

And since they're always cooking lobster, it's no surprise they make a beautiful bisque as well- overloaded with all of that fresh meat.  

"You scoop, as you scoop it up you're pulling lobster meat off the bottom of the bowl. Usually they get bisque and there's maybe a couple small little pieces of lobster. There's actual pieces of claw and knuckle and pieces of tail in the bisque itself."

There's a tasty grilled shrimp po' boy topped with a tangy Creole Remoulade, and a craveworthy crab cake sandwich loaded up with lots and lots of lump crab.  

"Crab cake is jumbo lump crab meat, very little filler, just a little bit of bread crumb. Other than that it's 6 ounces of just lump crab, lightly seasoned, pan seared crispy and brown on the outside and soft, warm in the middle."

If seafood's not your thing, there are a selection of sandwiches with meats all carved in house- like the slow roasted pastrami with provolone, or a prime rib a sandwich so special, it's only available on the weekend.  

"We usually roast it on a Thursday and we have it for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It melts in your mouth. You don't, you can cut it with a plastic knife, you don't even have to, there's no work involved." 

"Your teeth sink into this, it's like biting into a slab of butter it is so tender.  It's roasted for about.four hours on a low heat. It is so juicy, it's a tremendous sandwich. " 

And while the place itself may not be big, the flavors and passion coming out of the kitchen more than make up for it. 

"This is a passion. You can tell in my voice. This is a passion for all of us. We want to give you the best experience you've ever had in your life coming into our restaurant. We treat you like a queen, we treat you like a king, we treat you like an ambassador from another country, this is your experience. We're used to our experience. This is your experience."