We are so fortunate to live in a great seaside community, especially when it has one of the best, if not THE BEST, lobster rolls ever made. We are definitely spoiled in this category. Living in Marshfield, MA, we get to see, hear and smell the ocean every day. We have many restaurants in our town and those surrounding us that have fresh and abundant seafood. My favorite food is lobster, so Jim and I are self-proclaimed lobster connoisseurs.
Right here in Marshfield is the Green Harbor (GH) Lobster Pound. This little, seasonal, take-out clam shack has the best lobster roll – freshly buttered and grilled roll with lobster meat that is tossed with a small amount of mayonnaise to order. Each roll is served with a bag of chips. There are two sizes to choose from – regular ($37+) or jumbo ($48+). Jim and I typically order the jumbo and split it. A jumbo has 23 ounces of lobster meat!! This place is so popular for its fried seafood and lobster rolls that it sometimes runs out of lobster by the end of the day. We phone in our order early in the day to avoid disappointment and ask for it to come deconstructed so we can put it together when we are ready to eat it. GH Lobster Pound is a cash only business, so it is important to plan ahead. It is set right on the Green Harbor River, on Beach St. There are picnic tables by the river covered with sails for shade. While eating your delicious food, you can watch the many bridge jumpers at high tide which is a rite of passage in Marshfield.
We decided to give our best efforts this summer to see if we could find a lobster roll that beats out GH Lobster Pound. We did find one that was about equal, but not one that was better. The Raw Bar at Popponesset in Mashpee has also been a longtime favorite of ours. Their lobster roll compares in size and cost to Green Harbor’s, but they don’t grill the roll. They have big containers of a pre-made lobster salad and build the roll in their tiny kitchen, which is right behind the bar, so there is virtually no wait as they make your roll. Their “monster” lobster roll at The Raw Bar has a lot of lobster meat, but not as much as GH Lobster Pound. It has a little more mayonnaise, but not too much. They have a limited, but tasty menu. We typically order their steamers and a quahog. Both delicious! The plus of The Raw Bar is their small indoor seating/bar area as well as their outdoor picnic table area. Their cocktails are amazing!!! The bartender, Chyla, has been behind the bar for 6 years and is a friendly, familiar face who pours some great drinks. We have tried her Muddy Banana – mudslide with banana, Raw Bar’s Rum Punch and raspberry margarita.
Coming in third is the Seafood Shanty, a little clam shack right on the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzard’s Bay. We saw the lobster roll here on a food show and decided we had to try it. Actually, it was really good. For the price, $31.95, it was rather large. There is more mayonnaise than the other two, but it comes with fries! We also tried their fried clams which were very good. There is plenty of comfortable seating overlooking the canal and along the tree line in the back.
Fourth place goes to Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop. We like to go to Belle Isle any time we are up near Winthrop. This time we went there on our way to Encore Casino in Everett. Unfortunately, the luckiest we got was having this great lunch before we lost our shirts at the casino. The lobster roll at Belle Isle had plenty of lobster meat in a regular sized lobster roll, came with onion rings and cole slaw. We also tried fried clams and quahogs – all great. After we ate, we walked around the docks and watched the planes coming and going from Logan Airport.
A close fifth is Sesuit Harbor Café in Dennis on Cape Cod. This was rated highly on an Instagram post we saw, so we decided to try it for ourselves. The lobster roll is $35 and comes with French fries and cole slaw. The lobster was hardly chopped up, making it difficult to eat in a roll. We also had fried clams that were good. Sesuit Harbor Café is set in a marina on the edge of a beautiful inlet. The shaded picnic tables offer a gorgeous view of Cape Cod Bay over the dunes and beach roses. This was the prettiest view of all the locations we visited this summer in search of the perfect lobster roll.
We found some extremely disappointing lobster rolls in our quest. I won’t even rank them. We read an Instagram post that listed Little Harbor Lobster Co., in Marblehead as the best in Massachusetts. We are not sure what the author was smoking, but what we were served for $29 was an absolute joke. It looked almost like a lobster log that didn’t even fill the hotdog roll. It was very unappetizing. The other items that we tried were not much better.
The biggest disappointment was at Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard. We were looking forward to having a lobster roll on Menemsha Beach, but the pre-made, self-serve cold lobster rolls were wrapped in cellophane and so mayonnaisey and soggy that none of the three of us who planned on ordering one did. We tried the hot lobster roll with butter instead, also premade, reheated and given drawn butter to put on ourselves. We purchased prepacked salads – cole slaw, seaweed salad, and spicy Asian noodle salad – and a stuffed scallop and quahog, all were good. There’s minimal seating in the sun outside of the market where the stench from the fishing boats overtook us.
We have tried many, many lobster rolls over the years, but we are only discussing the ones we tried over this summer. Next summer we will continue our quest of eating our way through lobster rolls in the Massachusetts! We hope to try more on the North Shore next year.
Ranking – There is a virtual tie for Number 1, so we have put them as 1 and 1a, then skipped to 3.
1. Green Harbor Lobster Pound in Marshfield
1a. The Raw Bar in Popponesset in Mashpee
3. The Seafood Shanty in Buzzard’s Bay, along the Cape Cod Canal
4. Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop
5. Sesuit Harbor in Dennis
List of Shame
- Larsen’s Fish Market in Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard
- Little Harbor Lobster Co. in Marblehead
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