Red’s Lobster Pot

Gar and Esth challenged Twoin and I to a round of golf for dinner yesterday, way down at Eagle Ridge in Lakewood, NJ. The only reason for picking a course way down there is because Gar wanted to check out a seafood restaurant called Red’s Lobster Pot at Pt. Pleasant Beach. Gar shot an amazing 74 with an unbelievable 33 back nine, but somehow Twoin played well enough to carry my sorry butt to the victory and we were on our way to Red’s for a free dinner.

Traffic was miserable on Rt. 35, but we eventually got to the restaurant, right on the waterfront, and had a choice of dining inside or out. Since the outside was self-service, I opted to be seated in the little air conditioned dining room instead. Good thing too, since there was a specials board inside with items I doubt you could get at the self-service counter outside. Red’s Lobster Pot is also BYOB which we made the most of by bringing 4 inexpensive bottles of white- a Vouvray, a Pinot Grigio, a Chard and a Riesling. We started out with a Vouvray because I figured we wanted something a little sweet as a refresher while we awaited our apps after our long hot round of golf. We didn’t have to wait long however, as the dozen clams on the halfshell we ordered arrived within minutes of the waitress taking the order. And let me tell you, those clams were off the hook. Beautiful plump littlenecks with a crisp chew to them and all that oceany sweetness you want in great clams. Awesome.

Our second app was off of the specials board, something that looked like a big burrito with a reddish-orange sauce over it. It contained beautiful lobster meat, mainly claw meat, along with buttery mushrooms. The sauce turned out to be something like lobster bisque, only much thicker. The flavor was rich and deep, and the bisque sauce made for a delicious dressing when spooned over the little mound of greens served with it. A great dish.

The third app was a Manhattan clam chowder. It was the only miss of the night. Not usually a Manhattan clam chowder fan to begin with, this version’s broth was even more muted than normal. It lacked the bright tomato flavor I expected, especially given how good the previous app was. The chunks of clam in the soup were great though, so I can’t say it sucked, but it sure wasn’t up to par with the rest of the meal.

For entrees, Gar and Twoin went simple and just ordered the steamed lobsters and Esth didn’t stray much further opting for the twin lobster tails. I went straight for something off the specials board- a filet of salmon topped with a delicious stuffing of crab meat and bleu cheese and sauced with a lovely beurre blanc. A truly sublime combination. It was a mild bleu cheese which made the stuffing taste like an amazing crab dip and it really worked with the perfectly cooked salmon. And the beurre blanc to top it all off, I mean how can you really go wrong with that. And if that wasn’t enough, it was served with a tomato basil risotto. Admittedly the risotto was a little overcooked, but it sure made up for it in flavor. Big bright tomatoey flavor, as if they had stolen the good tomatoes from the chowder in order to make the risotto, with a gentle accent of basil. Man, that whole dish was absolutely killer and way more upscale than I expected from a little seafood shack like this. Great stuff.

For dessert, we sampled the key lime pie, tiramisu, and cheesecake. All were very good and in fact I polished off my key lime pie in a matter of seconds, but they were all relatively simple with nothing to really wow the palate. But sometimes after a good meal you don’t need to be dazzled, and you find that conservatively executed renditions of the classics are enough to satisfy. That was certainly the case here. A pleasant finish to a nice meal down at Pt. Pleasant Beach. If you ever find yourself in the area, I definitely recommend it.

One thought on “Red’s Lobster Pot

  1. sounds like you guys had fun. i used to go to pt. pleasant as a kid during my summers.
    we missed you this weekend.
    we were at Robert Moses Beach with KenZo and ate Korean in Flushing.

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