Lobster isn't cheap...

Last week I had two meals that were on completely different ends of the price spectrum. On Wednesday night I met up with a friend who had a dumpling craving and we went to New Green Bo on Bayard Street for soup dumplings, pan fried dumplings and chow fun. The total cost of our meal, including two Tsingtaos came to $25 dollars. The soup dumplings were both soupy and savory and very satisfying and the pan fried dumplings had a nice layer of crispness contrasting the soft texture of the rest of the dumpling shell. For $25 dollars, the meal was a bargain.

On Friday I got together with some people for a mini celebration. The terms of our restaurant choosing specified that our destination had to have lobster and had to be on the water; the only restaurant that came to mind was The Water Club.

This was my first visit to The Water Club and while the setting and location with views of the East River is a very nice one, I can’t help but feel that the restaurant is incredibly archaic in a fine dining sense. Walking around the place one gets the sense that the crowd isn’t a particularly food knowledgeable one and that the restaurant is a place where people go to show off how much money they can spend on very large lobsters.

When we sat down and inquired about the ‘market price’ of lobster we were told that it was $30 dollars a pound. I haven’t had steamed lobster in a restaurant recently, but $30 dollars a pound seemed a little high. What made this pricing incredibly awkward however, wasn’t the high price per pound of lobster but the fact that the smallest lobster a diner can order is two pounds, making the price of lobster $60 dollars and up. That’s right, a $60 dollar entrée. A steamed two pound lobster has no business costing $60 dollars--the preparation involves buying a lobster, dunking it in boiling water and cracking it table side. $60 dollars is $14-$16 dollars more than the lobster served at Aquagrill, Joel Robuchon, Gotham Bar and Grill, some of the cities most expensive and revered restaurants…Their preparations also involve a lot more effort and thought than steaming the lobster and serving it.

The funny thing about the lobster at The Water Club is that people other than myself didn’t seem fazed by the pricing. The man sitting behind me was visibly upset when he was told that the restaurant had recently sold its last 4 pound lobster. I guess he really wanted to show his date (who looked like she wasn’t going to be eating anything) that he could spend enough money for the two of them. The sad part about it is that anyone who appreciates lobster (and isn’t ordering it to show the size of his____) knows that lobster loses both flavor and texture when it gets to a certain size. You’re better off ordering two 2 pound lobsters than ordering one four pounder.

I’m never spending $60 dollars at the water club again but just for fun, here’s a list of foodie things I can spend $60 dollars on and feel satisfied.

4 corned beef sandwiches and 4 egg creams at Katz’s Delicatessen
3 Prix fixe lunches at Blaue Gans
1 Six course tasting menu at Devi (one Michelin Star)
20 oysters and a glass of Muscadet at Aquagrill
Lunch for two with wine at Gotham Bar and Grill
A three course dinner at The Bar Room at The Modern w/ Champagne and Rosewater cocktail
One Bistro Burger and 21 beers at Corner Bistro

It’s now my personal quest to find cheaper and better lobster (because I can never stay mad at lobster for too long.)