I was talking to someone after church on the Fourth of July and we were reminiscing about our enjoyment of seafood in Rhode Island. We talked about how great the food is, especially things like lobster rolls, and how it is not so easy to find anything comparable here. Sam’s Chowder House was mentioned for their chowder and other seafood that is close to a New England taste. Then this individual tells me about a hole in the wall place that they couldn’t remember the name of that is located in Redwood City. They said that they loved their lobster roll but that is a bit pricey. Seems like they were holding out on me. Not really. We just never talked about seafood that way.
So, I had to search out restaurants in Redwood City on the web. After some diligent searching I came up with Old Port Lobster Shack located in a strip mall in Redwood City. It seems that this place has had many good write-ups, some not so great, but the majority very good. I decided to take the family out to lobster roll sandwiches. I had this craving going that I needed to satisfy and I figured that they probably had some decent chowder. What better to have for a mid-week dinner than chowder and lobster roll sandwiches.
What we discovered was outstanding. We all had their Rhode Island Red Steamer “Chowdah,” the Double Play Lobster Roll, one naked and one baked, and a single Lobster Roll, baked. The naked lobster was just that, naked. It had mayo and melted butter on the side giving you the choice of how much you put on your sandwich. The baked version already had mayo and green onions. The flavors really reminder me of my Rhode Island upbringing and all of the wonderful smells and tastes of New England. The chowdah (yeah, we really do pronounce it that way) was delicious. It had lots of flavor and steamers aplenty. The lobster rolls came with french fries and coleslaw. I later discovered that we could have substituted sweet potato fries for the regular fries. I guess we’ll have to do that on a subsequent visit.
Speaking of subsequent visits, I think we are going to have a tough time trying all of the different menu items since what we ate was so good. We will try our best though. At any rate, we were not able to save room for any of their desserts. That will be a tough task as well.
The service was excellent. Everyone was very pleasant and cheerful. They all made you feel welcome and right at home.
As some of the reviews that I read indicated the prices are a tad bit high. I figure that since we were having lobster it wouldn’t be cheap. Yes, it was pricey but I felt like it was well worth the price for what we received. Their was an ample amount of lobster in the lobster roll sandwiches and they were very tasty.
I will definitely be returning to the Old Port Lobster Shack.
