Jaws Food Booth at Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando set up an area of the San Francisco section of the park celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws. At one of their food booths, I tried the Lobster Taiyaki. The waffle was shaped like a shark and was stuffed with lobster salad overflowing onto the plate. 

Boston Seafood (Boston Chowda Co & Beantown Pub)

I was told that while visiting Boston, the two foods that are absolute must eats while in the city were New England Clam Chowder and Lobster Rolls. The person behind the desk of where I was staying told me Boston Chowda Co was the best place to get these foods for affordable prices.

Boston Chowda Co:

Boston Chowda Co was is located in the Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall. This was basically a big food court in a historic building. It turned out lobster rolls were really expensive here compared to prices I saw elsewhere in the city. I guess the person who recommended this place was saying it was affordable because it was fast food.

I did have a cup of New England Clam Chowder. It was okay, but I would have expected a bit better from a place called Boston Chowda Co. The soup was creamy with lots of potato. It had a typical creamy flavor, but nothing really memorable. The clams were really chewy, so that was disappointing.

Beantown Pub:

In order to check the lobster roll off my list of Boston foods, I ended up at the Beantown Pub. Beantown Pub was a very busy place with very few open tables. Luckily I didn't need to wait too long. Something I noticed about Boston, including this restaurant, was that I felt underdressed. Almost everywhere I went, the majority of people in here were wearing business attire. Do people dress like this all the time in Boston?

The lobster roll here cost much less than Boston Chowda Co's. It also came with fries and coleslaw, while the more expensive roll came with nothing. I'm honestly not a lobster connoisseur, but I'd much rather eat the crustacean in sandwich form like this over plain lobster dipped in butter. The sandwich was tasty enough, as were the fries and coleslaw.

Nathan's in Coney Island, NY

Everyone knows Nathan's in Coney Island for their hot dogs. I've been there. I've tried their hot dogs. Hot dogs are boring. There's Nathan's franchises all over the country where you can pretty much get the same hot dogs. When I found myself at the Nathan's in Coney Island yet again, I decided to try something that couldn't be found in other locations, that being the seafood.

I started out with an order of the frog legs. The cashier said that they had never tried them and looked a bit disgusted about the thought of eating frog. Regardless, I split an order of them. The large frog legs were deep fried in an almost funnel cake-like batter. It was a bit different from the times I've tried the frog legs on Chinese buffets. The batter was the best and tastiest part. The meat tasted fine, but the veins and tendons in the meat got a bit chewy after the first leg. As of right now, amphibian isn't going to become a regular part of my diet. This was served with fries, cornbread, and coleslaw. Nathan's coleslaw was interesting. Instead of using normal cabbage, they made it from their sauerkraut. I really liked sauerkraut coleslaw. Frog legs being served at this Nathan's is interesting. I can't imagine they are a huge seller, but yet they are on the menu. I'm guessing they are a hold out from another time. Perhaps frog legs were a more accepted food for Americans in the past? Or were they a novelty food item then, and they have stuck around, still being a novelty food item for this Nathan's.

I also tried the Lobster Salad Sandwich. I had a choice between the plain lobster roll and the lobster salad. The lobster roll was served on a hamburger bun with no mayonnaise. The lobster salad sandwich came on a hot dog bun with mayonnaise and lettuce. I like foods with mayonnaise, so I went with the salad. It was pretty good. There was enough lobster in the salad where you could still see the pieces and taste the shellfish, but had a nice creamy flavor from the rest of the salad. Would have been better if it was served on a nicer bread than a hot dog bun.

JC's Lobster Pot in Deland, FL

I had dinner at JC's Lobster Pot in Deland. This seafood restaurant is located on 44, not far from the St. Johns River.

When I entered the restaurant, I noticed they had a rock shrimp special. It had been a while since I've eaten rock shrimp, so I decided to give that a try. The meal began with clam chowder and a side salad.

For the main course, I received a plate of just over a dozen large rock shrimp, butter dipping sauce, french fries, and hush puppies. The shrimp were very tasty, as shrimp dipped in butter should be. The hush puppies were good and the fries were okay but weren't a standout of the meal.

I never knew JC's Lobster Pot existed until I found it accidentally when my dinner plans at a nearby restaurant fell through. I'm glad I know about it now because I did enjoy my meal here!

Boston Lobster Feast in Orlando, FL

I visited Boston Lobster Feast on International Drive for a birthday. This restaurant is a seafood buffet that is definitely targeted towards tourists. They are way overpriced for buffet food, but that doesn't seem to stop the tourists from pouring in.

Boston Lobster Feast has three buffet tables set up inside the restaurant. The largest serves most of the hot seafood. Another is housed with much of the chilled food, and the third is filled with desserts.

My first trip to the buffet tables resulted in a plate filled with three different types of salmon. This included grilled salmon, smoked salmon, and cured salmon (lox). I also picked up corn on the cob and a biscuit.

Lobster bisque wasn't self-serve on the buffet, but I said yes when our server offered to bring some to the table. I didn't detect much lobster in here, but the creamy soup was tasty enough.

I tired some crab next. I sampled a whole blue crab and some snow crab legs. Somehow I know these crabs weren't as fresh as the crabs from the Maine Avenue Fish Market that I visited in DC earlier this year.

My next plate consisted of some seafood, but more filler items from the buffet. For the seafood, I had a tasty little crawfish, some fried shrimp, and a stuffed crab alongside rice and caesar salad. The crawfish was my favorite thing on this plate. Most everything on this plate was mediocre buffet food.

I was going to be done with the gorging after the last plate of food, but I then started thinking that I should probably get lobster from a place called Boston Lobster Feast. The problem is, I'm not the biggest lobster fan out there. It's an okay food, but I just don't understand the hype surrounding the crustaceans. I'd take crab over lobster any day. I got one of the lobsters here and it did not change my opinion. 

Boston Lobster Feast is mostly mediocre food on a very expensive buffet. I suppose if you want to pig out on as many lobsters as you please, then perhaps this place would be for you. The crab was good, but lots of local Chinese buffets also have crab at a quarter of the price. As for the rest of the seafood and other items, most of it was forgettable. Boston Lobster Feast is okay for what it is, but go in expecting typical buffet food and don't set your hopes too high...

The Lobster Place in Chelsea, NY

A recent visit to New York involved a visit to the Chelsea Market. This was my first visit to the Chelsea Market, regardless of all of the foodie press that it receives. I personally found all of the industrial remnants of the old Nabisco factory that once occupied the space as one of the most interesting aspects of the whole market. While there, we ate dinner at The Lobster Place.

The Lobster Place was a large seafood market with all kinds of sea life for sale. Lobsters were included in this selection, of course. The smallest lobsters that they had available while I was there started at about $25, and lobster honestly isn't my favorite marine crustacean, so I passed. Everyone else seemed to be gobbling them up though.

I went with a sandwich from what they called the Shack in the Back.

I ordered the Smoked Salmon Baguette, consisting of vodka dill smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese, and onion on a baguette. When I went back to pick up the food, I received this sandwich. My first thought was that toasted white bread definitely wasn't what I would call a baguette. Second thought after I saw that the salmon was mushed up into a salad and saw bacon on the sandwich was that I wasn't given the correct sandwich. Turned out I was given the Crab Club instead...

 I took it back and the guy behind the counter started arguing that I told him I wanted a Crab Club even though my receipt listed the proper sandwich. Begrudgingly, I eventually was given my proper sandwich which was much more to my liking. The sandwich had very tasty, thinly sliced, lox-style smoked salmon. The bread was nice and crusty and was much better than the Crab Club's bread. Chips, cole slaw, and a pickle were served on the side.

Someone else at the table ordered the Salmon Rillete Roll. This sandwich had a mix of fresh and smoked salmon in salad form. My sandwich was superior...

The Lobster Place was an experience. The huge selection of seafood for sale was very fun to look at, but the food itself was slightly forgettable. My sandwich was good, but any bagel place could serve something up just as good and out of the sandwiches I saw, mine looked like the best option. Plus, the whole sandwich mix-up and the employee arguing that it was my fault didn't exactly seem right...

Carnival Sensation Food

I went on a four day cruise out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas. The food was decent, although Royal Caribbean cruise ships definitely have better food. Here is a sampling of what I ate:

Lunch Buffet, Day 1:



Smoked Salmon Bagel:

Fried Food:

Sushi:



Cheesecake:

Dinner, Day 1:
Duck appetizer, cream of broccoli soup, and baby back ribs...



Melting Chocolate Cake:

Anchovies and Caper Pizza:


Breakfast Day 2:

Leaving the cruise ship, here is some Bahamian Ginger Ale bought from a roadside stand outside of Lucayan National Park on Grand Bahama...


Lunch Buffet, Day 2:




Dinner, Day 2:
Pumpkin Soup, Greek Salad, Lobster tail, Shrimp, and Black Forest Cake...





Breakfast, Day 3:

Tasty tropical fruit outside of Fort Fincastle in Nassau, Bahamas.

Lunch Buffet, Day 3:

Ice Cream from Atlantis in Nassau:

Midnight Mexican Buffet:

Lunch, Day 4

Dessert Sushi:

Ice Cream Swan:

More anchovy and caper pizza:

Chicken Tenders, beans, and nachos:

Another Smoked Salmon Sandwich:

Middle of the Night Sourkraut and Sloppy Joes:

And the very last Breakfast buffet: