When visiting Boston, most people who eat seafood seek out lobster rolls at least once. It is what you do. And while I think lobster is fine, I don't adore it, find it pretty overrated and $$$, and honestly prefer crab most of the time anyway. But hey, when in Rome ...
During my recent visit to Boston, I decided to actually go for the lobster. My first night, I had what turned out to be the best lobster roll of my life, no question, from Eventide Fenway, although it was a non-traditional style (brown butter lobster, steamed bun). It inspired me to actually get a second lobster roll on my final day in town, although this time, I decided to go traditional style, and chilled with mayo.
Of course, I had *many* choices of where to get said classic lobster roll. And if you ask locals, or consult the guides, they'll easily list off 15 or so very highly regarded places. Picking one was a bit difficult, but I finally settled on James Hook & Co, known for their ridiculously fresh lobster rolls, among other things. They did win the "Best of Boston" award for their version in 2020.
I was also drawn to James Hook because it is a no frills sort of place. I walked by once a few years ago to scope it out. It is not a fancy seafood restaurant. It is a fresh lobster shack, open only during the day, not dinner, and is a casual setting. Picnic tables outside. That sort of place. The menu does have other things, but, the menu isn't extensive, and lobster rolls are the highlights for most.
Lobster rolls at James Hook are available in two sizes (regular or large), hot with butter, or cold with mayo. The cheapest option is the regular with mayo at $27.99. The hot with butter version is strangely $7 more, $34.99. Some other places charge $1-2 more for butter, but $7 seemed excessive ... Strange also, the large with mayo is $7 more than the regular with mayo, while the large with butter is only $4 more. Odd pricing for sure. Anyway, prices were about what I'd expect, market rate for quality lobster, and lower than higher end fine dining offerings.
I ordered for delivery on DoorDash, which was quite easy, and my order arrived quickly.
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I was glad to try James Hook finally, but the lobster roll didn't turn out to be the star for me. That said, I absolutely plan to order from them again in the future, to get more of the insanely perfect clam chowder, and likely try other items, like the crab cakes.
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| 12 Ounce Clam Chowder. $9.99 |
"This award winning, two-time Boston Chowder Fest champion New England Clam Chowder is as good as it gets. A perfect blend of tender sweet whole clams, clam broth, cream, natural cut potatoes and roux that make this chowder an all time New England favorite."
Ok, it truly is the best clam chowder I've ever had. It takes rich and creamy to entirely new level. It is thick. It is creamy. It tastes like quality cream. It is truly loaded with clam, and hunks of potato. Reasonably well seasoned (although I added more pepper). Fantastic chowder, really. Best I've ever had. ****+.
They lose half a star for just serving it with generic oyster crackers, rather than a nice crusty housemade roll (Legal Seafood still has my favorite rolls for chowder, even if the rest of their food is kinda mediocre) or even housemade crackers.
The cup, 12 ounces, was plenty given the richness, and given the quality, the $9.99 price was fine. I could also opt for the 16 ounce for $14.99 or 32 ounces for $29.99.
"This is a classic… a hot dog bun filled with fresh lobster meat and dressed in nothing more than mayo."
The cup, 12 ounces, was plenty given the richness, and given the quality, the $9.99 price was fine. I could also opt for the 16 ounce for $14.99 or 32 ounces for $29.99.
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| Regular Lobster Roll with Mayo. $27.99. |
I was amazed when I opened up my lobster roll. Wow, there was a TON of lobster in here. And this was the "regular", not large, roll! Compared to my lobster roll from Eventide a few days prior this was ... 4-6x? the amount of lobster probably. So much lobster. And such huge chunks. Many huge tail chunks. Incredible.
The lobster was nicely cooked, not chewy, not rubbery, no bits of shell, etc. It was dressed with a fair amount of mayo, and not really any seasoning, but, a classic lobster roll it was. Good quality, but not exciting or novel. I did wish for a lemon to squeeze on top, or perhaps a bit of chives or something. I know not traditional, but even some bits of celery for crunch I'd kinda want.
The bun was a simple hot dog bun, I think maybe very, very lightly toasted, but not much to speak of. I don't think it was buttered or anything (which I appreciated). It didn't seem special in any way, it wasn't stale, but it didn't taste very fresh, fluffy, or special either, and wasn't anything slightly fancy like brioche. Just a bun.
Overall, this was very simple, and very classic. It was good, well prepared, but didn't really blow me away. I wanted a fancier roll really ... brioche bun, herbs or seasoning, that kind of thing. But I can't fault them for generous quantity of lobster, clearly fresh lobster, and good execution on a simple version. ***+. If you went with someone else, and each got a chowder, you could easily split this with someone given how much lobster it had.
The large size is $7 more, and comes in a hoagie roll instead of hot dog bun. I can't even imagine how much lobster is packed into that.
"A layer of sweet frosting filling stuffed between two fluffy cakes."
I was a bit let down to discover that James Hook doesn't make their own whoopie pies. The whoopie pies were packaged, from Boston Baking, so at least a local company. The company also makes red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate chip versions, but James Hook only carries the classic chocolate one. As a packaged product, this also meant the nutrition facts were front a center, and, gulp, yes, 670 calories each!
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| Whoopie Pie. $3.99. |
Of course, I got dessert too. As classic New England as the lobster roll, the whoopie pie.
I was a bit let down to discover that James Hook doesn't make their own whoopie pies. The whoopie pies were packaged, from Boston Baking, so at least a local company. The company also makes red velvet, vanilla, and chocolate chip versions, but James Hook only carries the classic chocolate one. As a packaged product, this also meant the nutrition facts were front a center, and, gulp, yes, 670 calories each!
These aren't particularly wholesome products, fairly mass produced, designed to freeze and thaw and serve, and loaded with all sorts of odd sounding ingredients like hydrogenated oils of all kinds, TBHQ (!?), "propylene glycol monostearate", and many more bioengineered food ingredients I've never heard of.
How was it? Eh.
The cake was not particularly moist, and didn't have a deep chocolate flavor. Truly not much better than a packaged Devil Dog. Meh.
The filling was sweet, and a nice consistency. Not too cloying (whoopie pie filling *should* be slightly cloying, it is part of the experience, this is no cupcake buttercream inside!). I liked the filling more than the cake.
Overall, this was highly average, not particularly better than a packaged Hostess, Little Debbie, or Drake's cake. **+.
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