The Bowdoin Orient

Our senior spring semester at Bowdoin has come and gone quickly. Unfortunately, right as many lobster shacks are opening for seasonal business, the Orient is printing its last issue. For our final column, we will outline our picks for the best lobster rolls in midcoast Maine, and share insight from Luke Holden, the founder of Luke’s Lobster, which has multiple locations in Manhattan and Washington, D.C.  

Drumroll please...

If you love your roll with lots of lobster and mayo, this is for you. Libby’s portions are enormous, and the lobster is broken up for you and surrounded by just the right amount of delicious mayonnaise. The lobster is prepared very differently than our other finalists—it is more shredded than other rolls and is considered traditional Maine style. Libby’s has a charming quality. It is not a picturesque scene on the ocean, but a simple market just outside of downtown Brunswick. You won’t find huge crowds here typically, but you will find a delicious, relatively undiscovered lobster roll just minutes from campus. Don’t let the mayonnaise stop you from stopping by—you can always request a roll without it.

In our fourth week of searching for Maine’s best lobster roll, we’ve gained some perspective on the subject. We can tell you where you will find big rolls, small rolls, lobster rolls with too much mayo. Every roll is different—in size, style and amount of lobster—and no two rolls are more different than those we tasted this week. 

Fat Boy Drive-In

While some may say Fat Boy is not worthy of consideration in our quest, its convenience, price and reputation as one of Bowdoin students’ most beloved off-campus food spots demands a detailed report.

Our search for the supreme Maine lobster roll continued around town this week at Gurnet Trading Co. and Brunswick Diner, though neither proed to offer the holy grail of lobster.

Gurnet Trading Co., Seafood and Spirits

Gurnet Trading Co. is a small seafood shack located a couple miles from Cooks Corner on Gurnet Road. This is not a place that typically shows up on lists of popular lobster shacks, nor is it a place you would necessarily stop by if not referred and directed there by a friend.  We were initially enthused by the overall look and feel of the small seafood shanty. The building and the surrounding outdoor seating area, outfitted with big Adirondack chairs and picnic tables, was colorfully decorated with buoys and other maritime items. As we entered the shack, a pleasant aroma of fresh seafood filled our nostrils, and our mouths began to water in anticipation. Although we elected to eat inside due to bad weather, Gurnet boasts one of the nicest outdoor seating areas we’ve encountered.

Our search for the best lobster roll was centered in Brunswick this week, as we explored the offerings of local restaurants:

Cameron’s Lobster House  

Cameron’s Lobster House, formerly Morse’s Lobster Shack, is a drive-in style restaurant similar to Fat Boy. There was very little happening when we arrived at Cameron’s, so we decided to sit inside and get a better feel for the place. With simple booths typical of diners, the interior was not spectacular, but its drabness was tempered by our excitement for a bite of Cameron’s famed roll.

As lovers of lobster, we have enjoyed spending our last four years at Bowdoin. Living in Maine, the Mecca of lobster, it is easy to find significantly cheaper and fresher specimens than virtually anywhere else you may go. So, during our last spring in this great state, we have decided to determine who serves Maine’s best lobster roll. We will journey to the shacks, bars and restaurants boasting critically-acclaimed lobster rolls in order to see who truly has the best. We have compiled a list of perennial picks to try to narrow our search and hit all the favorites.

We began our search for lobster roll supremacy a few exits down 295 South in Falmouth. As many of southern Maine’s more famous and prominent lobster shacks are still closed for their winter off-season—namely Red’s Eats of Wiscasset or The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport—Town Landing Market in Falmouth provided us with the perfect starting point for our quest. Set on a hill a short walk from Falmouth’s Town Landing (the market’s namesake) this traditional New England market with an ocean backdrop is exactly where you’d expect to find a great lobster roll.  

Town Landing Market is very much a market or small grocery, selling various snack foods, produce and drinks, with a small sandwich counter positioned in the back of the store. As we made our way toward the counter, our confidence in finding a great lobster roll began to grow. A handwritten sign reading, “Lobster Rolls $13.99,” and an elderly gentleman breaking down a substantial pile of lobster meat into generous sandwich-sized portions were encouraging signs to say the least.