For a dish that contains only a handful of ingredients and is a prime example of the KISS acronym (“Keep it simple, stupid!”), it’s shocking that restaurants could screw up a lobster roll. Yet they do. Mayo overload, cold bun, shoddy quality lobster, lobster diced too small, too much filler, watery filling… a lobster roll can go wrong in numerous ways, and the more you eat them, the more you take note of variations in quality.
Tackle Box is new to Cleveland Park; Luke’s Lobster, by way of NYC, is new to Penn Quarter. I’ve been casing both places since they opened, eager to get my hands on their versions of the lobster roll. I ended up trying both within days of one another, leading to inevitable comparisons between the two.
With the impressions still fresh in my mind, let’s break down the two rolls according to various criteria.
SIZE
Tackle Box: A longish roll, I’d say about eight inches in length.
Luke’s Lobster: Shorter than Tackle Box’s, but packed with arguably more lobster, which evens things out.
Winner: Draw
BUN
Tackle Box: Superb. Buttered and toasted, it was more substantial than a typical hot dog bun, and had more bite. An excellent vehicle for lobster.
Luke’s Lobster: Traditional hot dog bun. Toasted and came out nice and warm. Possibly buttered, but I didn’t taste it as much as in the Tackle Box bun.
Winner: Tackle Box
LOBSTER
Tackle Box: Chunky, but I wanted it even chunkier. Appeared to be knuckle meat? Lightly dressed with mayo, and sprinkled with some sort of seasoning. Could have used more lobster. The lobster only reached halfway up the bun; to me a proper lobster roll should be almost at the point of overflowing.
Luke’s Lobster: Beautiful. Succulent, sweet claw meat in large pieces, like they’d just been pulled out of the shell. Meat was piled high in the bun, to the point where I accidentally dropped one piece on the ground. Dammit! went my internal monologue, and I briefly considered enacting the two-second rule. The point is, there was a lot of lobster. Very light dressing of mayo — mostly smeared along the bun. A sprinkling of lemon butter, and like Tackle Box, a dash of spices on top.
Winner: Luke’s Lobster
TASTE
Tackle Box: Good harmony of bun and lobster, and the bun really was delicious. But again, I felt like the entire thing could have been more substantial. The lobster appeared small in the bun. A few big bites and it was all gone.
Luke’s Lobster: Spot on. Sweet, sweet lobster. Big pieces. A simple roll, with a few flourishes like the lemon butter which elevated it.
Winner: Luke’s Lobster
VALUE
Tackle Box: $19, which includes an ample serving of piping hot french fries. $19 is certainly pushing it on price, but the fries were very good.
Luke’s Lobster: An a la carte roll for $16. Sea salt chips are available for an extra $1, but no fries.
Winner: Draw
CONCLUSION
While I appreciated both rolls for their merits, in the end, Luke’s just looked and tasted more like the quintessential lobster roll. Tackle Box rocked the bun, both mastered the mayo distribution, and I enjoyed the respective dashes of spices… but it was the piled high, sweet claw meat of Luke’s that won me over. It’s the sort of lobster roll you’d want to eat at a roadside stand in Cape Cod or Maine. Or, in downtown DC.
OVERALL WINNER: Luke’s Lobster
Tackle Box
3407 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
202-450-6875
Luke’s Lobster
624 E St NW
Washington, DC
202-347-3355
Lobster Rolls: Tackle Box vs. Luke’s Lobster
For a dish that contains only a handful of ingredients and is a prime example of the KISS acronym (“Keep it simple, stupid!”), it’s shocking that restaurants could screw up a lobster roll. Yet they do. Mayo overload, cold bun, shoddy quality lobster, lobster diced too small, too much filler, watery filling… a lobster roll can go wrong in numerous ways, and the more you eat them, the more you take note of variations in quality.
Tackle Box is new to Cleveland Park; Luke’s Lobster, by way of NYC, is new to Penn Quarter. I’ve been casing both places since they opened, eager to get my hands on their versions of the lobster roll. I ended up trying both within days of one another, leading to inevitable comparisons between the two.
With the impressions still fresh in my mind, let’s break down the two rolls according to various criteria.
SIZE
Tackle Box: A longish roll, I’d say about eight inches in length.
Luke’s Lobster: Shorter than Tackle Box’s, but packed with arguably more lobster, which evens things out.
Winner: Draw
BUN
Tackle Box: Superb. Buttered and toasted, it was more substantial than a typical hot dog bun, and had more bite. An excellent vehicle for lobster.
Luke’s Lobster: Traditional hot dog bun. Toasted and came out nice and warm. Possibly buttered, but I didn’t taste it as much as in the Tackle Box bun.
Winner: Tackle Box
LOBSTER
Tackle Box: Chunky, but I wanted it even chunkier. Appeared to be knuckle meat? Lightly dressed with mayo, and sprinkled with some sort of seasoning. Could have used more lobster. The lobster only reached halfway up the bun; to me a proper lobster roll should be almost at the point of overflowing.
Luke’s Lobster: Beautiful. Succulent, sweet claw meat in large pieces, like they’d just been pulled out of the shell. Meat was piled high in the bun, to the point where I accidentally dropped one piece on the ground. Dammit! went my internal monologue, and I briefly considered enacting the two-second rule. The point is, there was a lot of lobster. Very light dressing of mayo — mostly smeared along the bun. A sprinkling of lemon butter, and like Tackle Box, a dash of spices on top.
Winner: Luke’s Lobster
TASTE
Tackle Box: Good harmony of bun and lobster, and the bun really was delicious. But again, I felt like the entire thing could have been more substantial. The lobster appeared small in the bun. A few big bites and it was all gone.
Luke’s Lobster: Spot on. Sweet, sweet lobster. Big pieces. A simple roll, with a few flourishes like the lemon butter which elevated it.
Winner: Luke’s Lobster
VALUE
Tackle Box: $19, which includes an ample serving of piping hot french fries. $19 is certainly pushing it on price, but the fries were very good.
Luke’s Lobster: An a la carte roll for $16. Sea salt chips are available for an extra $1, but no fries.
Winner: Draw
CONCLUSION
While I appreciated both rolls for their merits, in the end, Luke’s just looked and tasted more like the quintessential lobster roll. Tackle Box rocked the bun, both mastered the mayo distribution, and I enjoyed the respective dashes of spices… but it was the piled high, sweet claw meat of Luke’s that won me over. It’s the sort of lobster roll you’d want to eat at a roadside stand in Cape Cod or Maine. Or, in downtown DC.
OVERALL WINNER: Luke’s Lobster
Tackle Box
3407 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
202-450-6875
Luke’s Lobster
624 E St NW
Washington, DC
202-347-3355