 |
| Bite-Into-Maine food truck on the grassy knoll at Fort Williams |
If you had asked me two years ago where you could find a really good lobster roll I would have had a difficult time answering. You see, I really never went out for a lobster roll or lobster for that matter. It's not that I don't like lobster, I love lobster. I could eat it every day and never tire of it. My issue was always the price of eating lobster out vs. buying and cooking lobsters at home. I couldn't reconcile the $17 lobster roll (2 for $34) when compared to buying seven lobsters for the same price, cooking them at home and making four or five overstuffed rolls that were about as good as anything I could find in most restaurants. That has now changed as I've found myself regularly eating lobster rolls in all kinds of settings.
What's changed you ask? I moved. It wasn't technically the move that turned me into a lobster roll buying fiend but, now bear with me on this one, the change in garbage pickup at my old house from Monday to Tuesday at my new place. Stay with me here - with Monday garbage pickup I cold cook up a ton of lobster on Sunday, gorge myself until bursting and most important of all, the remains were taken away before they got to stink up the whole house. Fast forward to Tuesday garbage pickup. It just doesn't work, the remains from Sunday make my place smell like the docks at low tide in less than 24 hours. I know what you're thinking, why not eat lobster on Monday but no one cooks lobster at home on Monday so that's out of the question. How about freezing the remains? Great idea if I could ever remember to take them out of the freezer and put them in the trash. I've tried but what I ended up with three months and several lobster feasts later was a freezer filled with about 50 lobster carcasses and a 26 pound turkey (39 cents a pound the day after Thanksgiving, couldn't pass it up). My only alternative was to start eating lobster rolls outside of home which finally (thank God!) almost brings us to the Bite Into Maine lobster roll food truck.
This past year I've had lobster rolls at the Lobster Dock in Boothbay, Thurston's in SW Harbor, Red's (I can't spell that particular town), Bailey's in Scarborough, Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth, and finally in Portland - Portland Lobster Company, Eventide, Fisherman's Grill, as well as Bite Into Maine again in Cape Elizabeth. I think that gives me some legit lobster roll street cred. Before I get into details on Bite Into Maine let's make one thing clear - even bad lobster rolls are pretty good (except the one I bought from Shaw's) and it just gets better from there. If you were to line up all these rolls on a table I'd have trouble picking one to eat. It would depend on my mood. If I were looking for a ton of wonderful lobster meat and didn't mind waiting in line for an hour to get it, then Red's might be my first choice. A side of crab cakes with my lobster roll, probably the Lobster Dock. A great lobster roll without having any kind of view or ambiance to distract from the eating experience, Fisherman's Grill. Something "upscale" and delicious and pricey, Eventide - actually their roll is the least expensive of the group but you really can't eat just one roll at Eventide and leave - add a drink and maybe some oysters and the price goes up pretty fast. Finally, if I'm in the mood for a great lobster roll, maybe something different from the basic mayo on a grilled roll, complete with a second-to-none view and a very reasonable price, I head over to the Bite-Into-Maine lobster roll food truck located at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth and home to the Portland Head Lighthouse, possibly the most iconic and most photographed lighthouse in the country.
 |
| The traditional roll with a little mayo and chives |
I usually ride there on my bike, about five miles from Portland. That way, I feel as though I earned my roll by having to work to get it. My wife even takes a short break from getting on my "when are you going to stop eating?" case as at least I'm getting some exercise. Anyway, you enter the park and ride (or drive) up the hill toward the lighthouse and you'll find the truck parked on the right side on a grassy knoll. There are a couple picnic benches but I'd advise walking a couple hundred feet up the rise and eat with an unobstructed view of the lighthouse.
What sets the Bite Into Maine truck apart from the competition is more than just a great view and a batch of lobster meat on a grilled bun even though you do get a good sized batch of fresh lobster meat, cooked and picked daily - nothing sitting around a few days and nothing ever, God forbid, frozen. What really sets them apart is the variety that you can get. Sure, you can have that traditional Maine roll with a little mayo and chives or the picnic style with cole slaw but I like trying something different from the same old thing. My favorite by far is the curry lobster roll. Just enough curry and mayo to give you that curry taste without taking away from the lobster. It's really different and so good that we've taken to making them with curry when we do make them at home. Another one I tried on a recent trip was the wasabi roll. I had wanted to try this one for quite awhile but I hated passing on the curry so I asked if I could get one with curry on half and wasabi on the other half. The three people working all kinda looked at each other and then decided that they had the technology to pull that off. Actually, they were pretty happy to accommodate my special request - in fact it appeared that they had never had such a request and seemed pretty stoked to try it out. They didn't seem quite as stoked when I suggested the half and half roll to the next customer who was having trouble deciding although they accommodated her as well. I get the feeling that any special request will now be blamed on me but really, the service is very friendly and efficient. Anyway, there was that perfect amount of wasabi mixed in with the lobster, for me the perfect amount is just enough to almost clear my sinuses while coming up just short of that brain freeze. Like the curry roll, the lobster was still the star, the seasoning simply made it better.
They have a Connecticut style lobster roll with butter that appeared to be popular with a group near us. There's also a chipotle version which I have yet to sample. Most people from away (if you're unsure, you are from "away" if you can not trace your Maine lineage back to at least 1820 when Maine became a state) appear to go with the traditional Maine varieties while those of us who might be tired of eating plain old lobster rolls (please don't hate us) are the ones who seem to try the more non-traditional versions. The menu says they have some vegetarian sandwiches which I assume is to appease the granola crowd who can't get past the cruel death the lobsters go through to make the rest of us happy. I can assure you, I will never pass up a lobster roll for a butternut squash sandwich no matter how good it may be. They also have traditional side dishes and whoppie pies but I go for the lobster. Drink choices are local - from the Maine Root Co (very good sodas) and they carry Moxie which I drink once a year to remind myself how much I dislike it. Some swear by it and it is a Maine "thing" so if you're from away, go ahead and give it a shot.
 |
| An OK view while you eat your roll at Bite Into Maine |
 |
| Fisherman's Grill. A great lobster roll in a not-so-great spot on Forest Ave |
 |
| Red's. One of the best but that line... and that traffic... |
Finally, you might think me pretty stupid reviewing a place just a couple weeks before they're done for the season but I have some good news for those of you who want a curry lobster roll fix throughout the winter, they will be a fixture at Sunday River ski resort - up on the mountain by North Peak which means you'll need a lift ticket to get one. They're not quite sure what those rolls will cost (around $14 at Cape Elizabeth this summer) but it might get pricey as they insist that they'll continue using fresh lobster meat during the very expensive winter lobster season and bring it to the mountain daily. When you're already dropping a small fortune for a day of skiing, how much more can a lobster roll really hurt? So, there you have it, great lobster rolls and when you combine the price, locale, freshness and taste, it really beats just about every other roll in the area. I even rode the bike one day from Bite Into Maine to Two Lights to compare them side by side and there was no comparison. Find them on Facebook (sometimes they're at other places besides Cape Elizabeth) and if you go for a "special order" you didn't get the idea from me - got it?
 |
| This winter, you take lift #7 to get your Bite Into Maine fix. |
