Cold Maine lobster meat (claws, knuckles and tails picked the morning of) tossed with mayo, salt and lemon, piled onto a buttered and griddled top-split New England roll. Soft-shell season runs late May to September.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
The lobster roll is widely credited to Perry's Restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, in the 1920s, when chef Harry Perry put hot buttered lobster meat onto a long bun for a travelling salesman. The Maine-style cold-mayo version evolved separately along the Maine coast through the 1930s and 1940s at shore-side lobster shacks. The top-split bun, baked by J J Nissen Baking Company starting in the 1940s, became the structural canon: flat sides griddle in butter like a panini. Eventide Oyster Co's brown-butter lobster roll on a steamed Bao bun (2012, from Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor) reset the modern interpretation. Today both styles run at Portland lobster pounds and tasting menus alike.
Common allergens: Shellfish, Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. Use cold lobster, never warm; warm lobster wilts the buttery bun. Picking the meat the morning of is the canonical Maine routine.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Eventide Oyster Co on Middle Street opened 2012 from Big Tree Hospitality, rebuilding the Maine oyster bar around a brown-butter lobster roll on a bao.
Signature: Brown butter lobster roll, Oysters on the half shell, Smoked bluefish pate
Order: The brown butter lobster roll on a Bao bun, plus a dozen oysters from the granite bar.
Tip: Walk-up only for the bar; tables open online via Resy 30 days ahead.
Scales on Maine Wharf, since March 2016 from Sam Hayward, Dana Street and Victor Leon (the Fore Street team), with whole local fish and a raw bar.
Signature: Maine lobster roll, Whole local fish, Raw bar oysters
Order: The Maine lobster roll, then a half dozen Glidden Point oysters.
Tip: Lunch from 11:30, dinner from 17:00. Resy reservations recommended; the bar takes walk-ins.
Boone's Fish House on Custom House Wharf reopened 2014 on the 1898 Boone's site from the Harding Lee Smith group, with lobster rolls, halibut and chowder.
Signature: Lobster roll, Pan-roasted halibut, Fish chowder
Order: The Maine lobster roll on a New England top-split bun, plus fish chowder.
Tip: Daily lunch and dinner; the deck fills early summer evenings.
Bite Into Maine runs its lobster-roll truck and counter at the Allagash Brewing taproom on Industrial Way, Connecticut-style warm butter on a top-split bun.
Try: Maine lobster roll, Connecticut-style with warm butter
Tip: Seasonal April through October. Original Bite Into Maine truck is at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth.
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