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Live Lobsters


lackadaisi

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I am craving a simple lobster dipped in butter. Does anyone know of a good source of live lobsters, either local or mail order?
Haven't been there in a long time, but Franks Seafood in Jessup used to be the best. Anyone been there recently?
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There is a group of people who go to Maine every few months and bring back great lobster - and other stuff (clams, shrimp). Go to Finestkind.com, they deliver to some high school in fairfax. It's darn good lobster. Other than that, sometimes Safeway or Giant has em. They are fine. Balducci's has them. I heard a rumor that Whole Foods would begin carrying them again but I have not confirmed that my own self. Sooo Gooood.

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Definitely buy from the guys at Salt River Lobster. We've bought from them for years. They have the freshest lobster and best prices. I usually just show up on Friday morning and get what I want, but you can also call ahead and reserve what you need. Check out the web site.

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My dad constantly asks for spiny lobster, but I keep telling him that I doubt you can find it in the area. Is that mainly a west coast thing or are we both completely confused? And if not, can it be procured via mail order or what have you.

Spiny lobster is the common name for both a California lobster and a tropical lobster but not the same lobster (same genus, different species). Neither have the big claws that Maine lobster have. You can order the California version online from these folks. We had a taste test comparing these to the Florida species and Maine lobster. My preference was Maine, Florida, California. Not surprising first choice as I grew up eating Maine lobster so it is my benchmark. But I also think the person steaming the California bugs did a subpar job.

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My dad constantly asks for spiny lobster, but I keep telling him that I doubt you can find it in the area. Is that mainly a west coast thing or are we both completely confused? And if not, can it be procured via mail order or what have you.
The widely available "lobster tails" (which are generally frozen or previously frozen) are from spiny lobsters, are they not?
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The widely available "lobster tails" (which are generally frozen or previously frozen) are from spiny lobsters, are they not?

Not necessarily. They aren't Maine lobsters (or other of the 30 species in the genus Homarus) because why waste the claw? But they can be any of the 45 spiny lobster species, tropical or cold water which have distinct flavors or they can be slipper, stony, rock (yes, there really is a rock lobster), or slipper lobsters.

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they can be slipper, stony, rock (yes, there really is a rock lobster), or slipper lobsters.
(Of lobster tails) That's interesting. Are they ever labeled as such? I've frankly never heard of stony or slipper lobsters, but I thought "rock lobster" was merely a synonym for spiny lobster.
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(Of lobster tails) That's interesting. Are they ever labeled as such? I've frankly never heard of stony or slipper lobsters, but I thought "rock lobster" was merely a synonym for spiny lobster.
Ever? Probably somewhere. More often, you see them labelled by where they are caught. I was horrified to see Maine lobster listed as Boston lobster at a restaurant in another country -- partly because the famous association is with Maine and partly because I liked the Maine lobstermen I was working with at the time. :o
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Apprently the prices of lobster have fallen a lot. Saw it NBC nightly news tonight. Have this translated into drop in local lobster prices and have you seen any good bargains around town?

Soup

Spoke to my parents today who said they got Lobsters at H-Mart yesterday for $5.99/lb. They also said they had trouble choosing what to get as H-Mart also had large blue crabs for $.99/lb. (this was at the store in Wheaton)

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Today at the H-Mart in Annandale, lobsters were $4.99/lb. They had mainly small ones, albeit quite lively, and I ended up buying about 4.5 pounds of lobsters for a third less than I used to pay for 3 lbs of lobsters at H-Mart and Great Wall a year ago. This is my birthday tradition, and I'm revelling in it tonight!

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Today at the H-Mart in Annandale, lobsters were $4.99/lb. They had mainly small ones, albeit quite lively, and I ended up buying about 4.5 pounds of lobsters for a third less than I used to pay for 3 lbs of lobsters at H-Mart and Great Wall a year ago. This is my birthday tradition, and I'm revelling in it tonight!
Lobsters still $4.99/lb at the H-Mart. Four feisty 1 lb lobsters for $21, cooked according to the recent recipe in the NYTimes. Since they were only 1 lb each, cooked for seven minutes each.

*Burp.*

(No, I did not eat four pounds of lobster, only two. Even so, *burp* and yum.)

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We bought a gang of lobsters at Great Wall the other day, served them on pasta in a sherry sauce, and then rendered the shells into a bisque for Christmas dinner. At these prices, it's crazy not to buy lobsters every week.

(Waitman on Mrs. B's computer)

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We bought a gang of lobsters at Great Wall the other day, served them on pasta in a sherry sauce, and then rendered the shells into a bisque for Christmas dinner. At these prices, it's crazy not to buy lobsters every week.

(Waitman on Mrs. B's computer)

What/where is Great Wall? Anyone have any tips on where to buy within DC or closer in VA suburbs?

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I've spoken to a few of my Maine lobstermen friends and their communities are really hurting. There is a pretty big ripple effect --- gas, bait, repairs are the ones you would expect, but also some of the community services they support. After school programs, soup kitchens, and apprenticeships for the next generation are all getting hit. A lot of guys are trying to go without a sternman to cut costs but that has a big safety impact, especially in winter. For all of you who like to support small farms, this is the equivalent. Around here the chix are about $4.99/lb and the selects are $6.99/lb. Most of the groceries will steam them for you while you shop making it super easy to enjoy a good lobster. I had lobster risotto for New Year's Eve dinner and a lobster roll today for lunch.

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Went to super H on Sunday just to pick up a few things but the good prices on seafood caught my eye.

99cent/lb on female crabs. Bought a dozen for maybe $4. They were kind of small but lively. Not sure I'd receommend. But the lobsters were great. Really fresh. They were trashing a lot. $5.99/lb. I bought 5 lobster each just over a pound.

I'd highly recommend the lobsters.

Soup

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What/where is Great Wall? Anyone have any tips on where to buy within DC or closer in VA suburbs?

So yeah, where do you buy a live lobster in the city? I used to go to Sutton Place/Balducci's, and Whole Foods used to have them, but where now? I don't know where to go or whom to trust on Maine Ave., and that's pretty far out of my orbit anyway, and I don't know anywhere else to go. I want a lobster for Thanksgiving, and my tearing around shopping time is going to be severely limited.
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H-Mart in Merrifield consistently has lobsters at $5.99 a pound. They are always on the smaller side, but are delicious. They also often have blue crabs for $1.49 a pound. I'm philosophically opposed to eating female crabs, so I tend not to take a second glance at those. Their fish counter is outstanding and extremely fresh and clean. They also had whole beef tenderloin for $4.99/lb a few weeks ago. Not a big deal for those of us who can butcher one up. This one was extremely lean, too, with only a small handful of scraps. Made for a very tasty and very economical surf 'n turf night.

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This weekend I'm looking to get my hands on some lobsters (maybe 10 1.5 lb crustaceans) for a little birthday celebration I'm throwing. As there haven't been any recent responses within this thread, anyone have any options that they'd recommend? Location doesn't much matter.

As an aside, anyone know where I can get a full lobster pot/turkey fryer rig (I did already check the lobster pot thread and would rather not trek out to wegmans) in the area?

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This weekend I'm looking to get my hands on some lobsters (maybe 10 1.5 lb crustaceans) for a little birthday celebration I'm throwing. As there haven't been any recent responses within this thread, anyone have any options that they'd recommend? Location doesn't much matter.

As an aside, anyone know where I can get a full lobster pot/turkey fryer rig (I did already check the lobster pot thread and would rather not trek out to wegmans) in the area?

Not sure in what area you are. Wegmans in Fairfax generally has good lobsters, reasonably priced. My go-to place is H-Mart in Annandale, and I've gotten good ones at Great Wall in Merrifield, also.

For the pot, I would check out a really good hardware store, such as Fischers in Springfield, which has a very well-appointed kitchen section.

HTH!

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When I was looking for live lobsters in DC for Thanksgiving last year (upthread) I ended up going to Cannon's on 31st St. in Georgetown. Not cheap, but I only wanted two. I don't remember the price, which probably changes all the time anyway, but the lobsters proved more than satisfactory. Their fate was to be Maine-style lobster rolls, served for Thanksgiving day lunch. If you want ten lobsters, I'd advise calling ahead.

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Is there a reliable source for live lobsters in central DC? Stick a map pin in, say, Logan Circle and limit to 10-15 minute (non-rush hour) drive. Do the Harris Teeters in Kalorama or NoMa have tanks? Georgetown Safeway?

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I've gotten them from one of the the Maine Avenue fish markets (one of the bigger places, whose name escapes me, but it's the first one you come to on the right of the main pier). They usually have both Canada and US banded ones in the tank for the same price. Not especially cheap, but not horrible (~$10/lb a little while ago).

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Is there a reliable source for live lobsters in central DC? Stick a map pin in, say, Logan Circle and limit to 10-15 minute (non-rush hour) drive. Do the Harris Teeters in Kalorama or NoMa have tanks? Georgetown Safeway?

Cannon's Fish Market, as I mentioned in the post just above yours, has live lobsters. Their store on 31st Street in the block south of M Street in Georgetown is easily reachable by car in less than fifteen minutes from Logan Circle. I've always found it a pleasure doing business with them.

While Harris Teeter has a store located on Kalorama Road, it's in Adams Morgan, not Kalorama. I don't shop there very often, but I can't remember seeing any live lobsters there, nor any at the Social Safeway either.

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Yeah, I know about Cannon's, but "driveable" and "Georgetown" don't mix in my book pretty much any time of day. I don't considerable Georgetown to be driveable from within Georgetown :). Should have specified..

Maine Ave might actually be the best bet, but the NoMa Harris Teeter is most convenient to me. The KaloMorgan one slightly less so. I may start there in a widening concentric search. Thanks

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Yeah, I know about Cannon's, but "driveable" and "Georgetown" don't mix in my book pretty much any time of day. I don't considerable Georgetown to be driveable from within Georgetown :). Should have specified..

Maine Ave might actually be the best bet, but the NoMa Harris Teeter is most convenient to me. The KaloMorgan one slightly less so. I may start there in a widening concentric search. Thanks

The AdMo HT doesn't have a lobster tank. However, the Columbia Heights Giant does and sells them for $11.99/lb.

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