Ed’s Lobster Bar

On our third date, Chris took me to Pearl Oyster Bar for Rebecca Charles’ lobster rolls and clam chowder. Since then, we’ve been back many times to enjoy the lively atmosphere, the wonderful service, and of course, the amazing food. Pearl Oyster Bar quickly shot up to one of our favorite restaurants in the city and I always bring friends by when they visit. When it comes to lobster rolls, we’ve also tried Mary’s Fish Camp and two places in Martha’s Vineyard, but they don’t even compare to the amazing seafood that Pearl has. We wanted to give Ed’s Lobster Bar a chance; there was so much news coverage about Ed, Rebecca Charles’ former sous chef, replicating POB that we had to see what the fuss was about. We went with two friends, Felicia and Tom, on a Saturday night to compare lobster rolls.

When you walk in, Ed’s looks very similar to POB – same decorations and New England feel, but the people eating are definitely different. The crowd is much younger and European – on the night we went, it seemed like there were tons of out of town visitors. We decided to give Ed’s a fair chance and ordered a wide range of options from their menu. We started off with muddled lemonade (which was named by New York Mag as one of the best lemonades in the city):

The lemonade is supposed to be prepared in a similar way mojito’s are prepared to give it more of a fresh lemony flavor…I thought it tasted the exact same as regular lemonade (maybe it tasted better with vodka). I didn’t think it was anything special and it was really watered down. Chris thought it had a natural, unique flavor (but in my opinion, it tasted like tap water with a couple lemons squeezed in!!).

Next, Chris and I ordered clam chowder and mussels to share. The mussels came with a white wine sauce and a light mustard:

The sauce was way too thick and the mussels were all over-steamed, making them too chewy (Chris agreed). The sauce was also too heavy for the mussels and we couldn’t even finish our order because we were grossed out by the taste.

Chris’ clam chowder, unlike most clam chowders, came with ONE clam instead of many clam bits interspersed within the soup:

Is that even considered clam chowder? We were seriously disappointed with the soup; not enough clam flavor and it tasted like we were drinking a straight vat of cream. The chowder was also over-seasoned with salt and it was definitely nothing special…or even mediocre.

Oysters:

Tom ordered the oysters and seemed to enjoy all of them. I didn’t have any, so I can’t really comment on how they tasted.

So for our main course, Chris and I decided to both order the lobster roll. We were expecting something very similar to Pearl’s. Here’s Ed’s take on the lobster roll:

Well, to put it nicely, it’s not something I’d ever order again. And that’s me being NICE. The lobster was really stringy and didn’t have any flavor to it. Also, there wasn’t enough mayo (this coming from a person that absolutely despises mayo!). The lobster tasted like it was too chewy and there were just little scraps of lobster, no big chunks like the stuff they give you at Pearl Oyster Bar. The pickles were also disgusting (Ed’s own) and the fries tasted like regular fries (I think the cut was too big, too).

Felicia and Tom both ordered the lobster burger because Ed’s ran out of lobster pot pie. Ed’s lobster burger:

The lobster burger is actually more expensive than the lobster roll (I think $30 vs. $26). The lobster all tasted second rate and I don’t think either of them finished the burger.

Initially, it seemed like a good idea to go to Ed’s and try it out to see what the fuss was about. After our terrible meal at Ed’s, I don’t want to go anywhere else but my beloved Pearl Oyster Bar.

I hate Ed’s Lobster Bar.