Friday Finds

Hello and welcome to Boone Appétit! Recently I helped a friend move his daughter into her first apartment after college. The move took me to a place I hadn’t been in a very long time, Hoboken New Jersey. From the looks of things Hoboken has changed dramatically since I was there last. Apparently it’s the new place where all the young and beautiful people live. It certainly had the feel of a very hip and vibrant city. To me it felt a little like Brooklyn use to but with a little more space to move about. There were many shops and restaurants that deserved exploring but I was there to move furniture. By the time I was finished on a sticky hot summer day I was in no shape to go into any establishment. I do believe Hoboken is a place to visit for another blog post. This post however is about a restaurant I saw on my way back to Rockland while traveling down River Road in Edgewater New Jersey.

In huge red letters the name Jack’s Lobster Shack grabs your eye and the facade could easily lead one to believe that they are in Maine. It has the gritty gray siding look coupled with colorful bouy’s and if that’s not enough then the giant lobster painted over the front doors should get your attention. Indeed every part of Jack’s Lobster Shack is there to give you the feel of being at the shore in Maine getting ready to enjoy a freshly caught lobster. Inside there’s a lobster tank that can hold 250 lobsters and more marine decor to set the stage. The real star of the show however is the food. They serve everything you could possibly want from a lobster shack, lobster rolls, lobster sliders, lobster tacos, lobster bisque, lobster truffle mac n cheese and yes steamed lobster. They also serve many other types of seafood such as clams, oysters, fish and chips, mussels, shrimp, salmon and the Maine steampot. They also make homemade chips and whoopie pies. If someone in your party isn’t into seafood they can opt for the burger or chicken fingers. Jack’s has something for everyone. However if you’re a vegetarian you might find it harder to get a meal but you could piece together some side dishes and save room for a whoopie pie or a slice of key lime pie.

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I like to start at the basics when I go to a new place. If it’s ice cream I’ll try their vanilla first, if it’s pizza, just a plain cheese slice. You would think at a lobster shack I’d start with a plain lobster, but actually I like to judge a seafood place on the old stand by of fish and chips. I also have a thing for New England style clam chowder, so that was on the order as well. Jack’s had ample seating outside but you are on a busy street with many cars and people passing you by. There is also indoor seating , but I’m just now dipping my toes into getting back out into the world so I’m sticking with outdoor seating for awhile. The first thing I noticed was there seemed to be a trend happening. The waiter brought out my chowder then said,” Your entree is also ready should I bring it out now?” Then he proceeded to do that for the other two tables that were outside by mine. That can happen for a few reasons, either the waiter is ordering it wrong or the restaurant is trying to move you along quicker in order to turn the tables over for more guests. I had the feeling they wanted patrons to eat and move on.It’s not a practice I like to see and it makes you feel rushed if you know what’s going on.

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I was very impressed by the clam chowder, it had the right balance of clams to potatoes and the all important thyme wasn’t over powering as it sometimes is. I could have actually ordered a bowl and made a meal out of it. The fish and chips were good not great. The breading was a little soggy and that lead to the chips underneath being a little soggy as well. I’m also a little spoiled by living in Nyack where you can get amazing fish and chips at the Olde Village Inne, but that’s another blog. The lovely lady sitting at the table next to mine was kind enough to let me take a picture of her lobster dinner which looked exactly like you would want it to be if you were in Maine. She told me the meat was firm and cooked to perfection but she did have some reservations about the drawn butter. She said, “The butter tasted like the flavored oil used in movie theater popcorn.” I can’t say one way or another put judging by the size of the container it came in, she might be right. If they give everyone that big of a portion of butter they were going to be using one stick per person per lobster once it was clarified. There was also a couple who summer in Maine and they chimed in saying how much they loved their lobster rolls. They were very impressed that there was claw meat in the mixture. Then the table next to them said they had ordered the steamers and always order three dozen for 4 people because they are that good. All in all I’d say that if you can’t get to Maine and are in need of a little seafood fix at a restaurant that’ll remind you of Maine, then Jack’s Lobster Shack is just the place for you.

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Jack’s has four locations in New Jersey: Edgewater, Creskill and Montclair are all Jack’s Lobster Shacks and in Ridgewood the restaurant is called Jack’s Lobster Rolls, which focuses mainly on, you guessed it, Lobster rolls. I enjoy the Edgewater location because it is on the Hudson River. You can’t see the river from the restaurant but you can smell the water and theres that ocean feel in the air. Just a couple blocks north there’s a park that is alongside the river and it’s a great place to take an after dinner stroll. I look forward to going back another time and trying a few different dishes. If I wasn’t trying to get rid of a few extra pounds from my travels I would have tried the lobster truffle mac n cheese and some clam strips. I’d also be interested in a few of their desserts as well. If any of you have been to Jack’s please let us know in the comments below. Tell us what you liked or disliked. If any of you have other seafood “shacks” you think we’d like to read about please leave them in the comment box too. And as always if you have any other questions or comments please leave them in the box below as well and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Boone Appetit!