Our 23rd trip to Prince Edward Island. Reasons for coming are many, and even after 23 years, we seem to discover something completely new almost every time we come. These are things, mostly hidden in plain sight, that evoke reactions like “Why haven’t we done this, been here, eaten this, found this before?”
This year it was the “Lobster Supper”.
My reading tells me that lobster suppers are a time-honored tradition on Prince Edward Island and became opportunities for group fundraising, which finally distilled into commercial operations carrying forward traditional menu offerings that ought to comprise a “proper” lobster supper.
Sure, there are many restaurants to enjoy lobster on PEI, but for a proper lobster supper you must visit one of the two large establishments located in the central North Shore area. The one on Rustico is called “Fisherman’s Wharf Lobster Suppers,” and then just down the road in New Glasgow is the aptly named “New Glasgow Lobster Suppers.” We have driven past these for years, and as the supper hours come, we have always marveled at the number of tour buses and cars that seem to swirl in.
I will eat lobster – but it is not a favorite. Marcy’s view was that it is expensive, and since she wasn’t sure if she would like it, she didn’t want to take the chance. But to the price argument, this is the heart of lobster country, and I would expect it would be one of the most inexpensive places to find it. (Google says as low as $7.25 to $10.80 per pound here vs $17 – $22 at our “Shrimp Dock” back home in Farragut). For just a minute we, well, I anyway, considered going, but to choose another menu item. An online menu scan reported that you can get other entrees like ham, chicken, steak or even vegetarian. But what’s the point? We are talking about a LOBSTER supper hall – eat Lobster.
Of the two Lobster House choices, we settled on New Glasgow because its unadorned simplicity belied the number of cars and buses that surrounded the building, so we figured that there was some goodness behind the white clapboard siding, plus it was just a few minutes down the road from our place in Stanley Bridge.
At 5:45, we arrived already late for the party – and figured that with the many vehicles already there, we would either have a long wait or be turned away until the next day. But it turned out that the place was so huge that our wait was just three minutes until we were ushered in to a perfect table for two at a window, which was a blessing considering the vast array of tables and chairs filled with happy diners in the huge hall.
This was a place for eaters – big eaters. We started with proper warm dinner rolls, and then some clam chowder with the anticipation of unlimited mussels, but we learned that the starting serving was 4 pounds!. Sure, mussels are mostly about shells, but still, even a pound and a half of mussels is a lot of eating, so we settled on a half serving. A lobster supper staple is apparently potato salad, and we were offered unlimited servings of that along with green salad and coleslaw. After the salad course, we carefully studied our placemats, which were printed with numbered and illustrated instructions on the proper way to eat a lobster.
Being the overachievers that we are, we wondered if we might measure up against the other patrons, which included a table of 8 French-Canadian fellows who were having the time of their lives. They may have started their celebrating early. We did opt for the smaller one-pound lobster, figuring this would be a proper beginner’s serving (there were options for far larger ones).
We made it through unstained, with no trace of drawn butter on my shirt and jeans.
Now, apparently there are certain proper dessert pairings with a lobster supper. I picked coconut cream pie, and Marcy had the lemon meringue. Desserts are also all-you-can-eat, and when we asked about how much some people might eat, our server reported that she had one young man who tried all six dessert offerings. We were amazed, but she said the boy did not seem to be feeling too well when he left.
With that, we arose, thinking that we had enough lobster suppers for a while, and we zigzagged our way out past the remaining patrons into the waning light. “You should write about this”, Marcy called out as I made my way to the car behind her.
