[Editor's Note: This is a paid review on behalf of Bonefish Grill where we compare Bonefish Grill to another similar restaurant in the area.]
Red Lobster
http://www.redlobster.com
Since this is a paid review, I’ll be looking at the environment of the restaurant, the taste of the food and the overall service/experience.
Environment: I went to this Red Lobster in the thick of the Sunday brunch-type crowd and it was quite busy. The restaurant was clean, bright and spacious. Despite the fact that nearly every table was filled and I was seated in the middle of the restaurant, I did not feel like I was jammed into my seat in anyway and had plenty of space to spread out and enjoy my meal.
Service: My service was outstanding. My waiter was attentive, personable and was willing to work with me as I was a high maintenance customer (you’ll see based on my menu substitutions below). I was also visited by two different management types during my meal and seeing a staff so concerned with their dining experience was quite nice.
What I Got: Ultimate Feast $22.99.
On the menu, the Ultimate Feast consists of “A tender split Maine lobster tail, steamed snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi and Walt’s Favorite Shrimp.” Since I’ve had issues with shrimp in the past, I asked to have the shrimp substituted and I was given fried and steamed bay scallops as substitutes. In addition to this, you get a choice of one side item (I chose home-style mashed potatoes) and a salad.
After I made my order, my meal started off with an unlimited basket of Red Lobster’s signature cheddar biscuits.
I do not ordinarily like biscuits because I usually find the ones I receive to be too dried out, but these biscuits did not have that problem and thank goodness these were unlimited, because I destroyed two baskets of them. They were soft, moist and the cheddar flavor was strong, but not overpowering. There’s no need for butter or anything else on these to soften these up because they are awesome and frankly, I could have had only these biscuits for my meal and been a happy man.
After my biscuit demolition, I was served my Ultimate Feast.
It might look like I wasn’t served a lot of food here, but that was not the case. The plate was just huge, so it is throwing the whole perspective here. Since there were so many different items in my feast, let’s address them individually.
Snow Crab Legs: I wasn’t overly impressed by these, but they were still tasty. I understand that snow crab legs are small and you aren’t going to get a lot of meat out of them to begin with, but it was still annoying to crack open each crab leg and only find a sliver of meat in each one. The meat that I did find though was tender and tasty though (it didn’t require any sauce dipping because of its tender flavor), so each time I did get some meat, I was pleased. Unfortunately, since I’m lazy, I doubt I’ll order anything with snow crab legs again because it’s too much work for too little of a reward.
Lobster Tail: This lobster tail was excellent. The meat was soft, tender and the seasoning made it extremely flavorful. Much like the crab, this was cooked so perfectly that I had no need to dip this in butter or in any sort of sauce to give it any flavor. My only complaint and it’s not really a complaint at all, is that I wanted more lobster, but since this feast is more of a sampler platter, I was getting what I paid for. Next time I go to Red Lobster, I’ll strictly be ordering a giant portion of lobster.
Scallops: Like I mentioned previously, they gave me steamed and fried versions and between the two, I preferred the fried. Since these were small little pellets, anything that added additional flavor (again, I was trying to not use sauces so I could accurately assess the flavor of the meat in each option) to them was very much appreciated. The fried scallops did this. The steamed scallops were not bad, but they were not great either. They were just there. Again, I would have liked these scallops to be bigger, but I got what I paid for.
Mashed Potatoes: When I first say these potatoes visually, I thought they were going to be dried out and gross. I was dead wrong. These potatoes extremely creamy and sprinkled with some fresh Italian seasonings and they were downright delicious. I LOVED these things and would have been happy eating just these, which is funny considering that I had some outstanding lobster and other tasty dishes on my plate as well.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes and no. Yes, I would definitely order some of these individual items again and would go to Red Lobster again, but no, I will not be ordering the Ultimate Feast again. I’ll be sticking with lobster only or some other types of meal combinations in the future.
-IndianapolisEater
Tags: admiral's feast, crab, Food, lobster, mashed potatoes, red lobster, scallops, seafood
I’ve never been a big Red Lobster fan, but those biscuits are the real deal fo sho. And I agree that eating crab is too much work for what you get in the end. I am, however, a huge fan of scallops. Never had them fried, though. So will you be reviewing Bonefish Grill next, to do a comparison type thing?
@Adam Bomb: wibia will be reviewing Bonefish Grill.
You know, the food snob in me wants to hate Red Lobster because it’s such a huge chain, for-the-masses seafood. But when the kids beg to go and we give in, I’m usually grudgingly happy with my meal.
Those biscuits are killer, and the family enjoys them so much I frequently make my own version at home. The shrimp scampi is always spot-on, and grilled rainbow trout is very tasty.
I guess I shouldn’t look down my nose at Red Lobster, because without them, the most accessible seafood could be Long John Silvers … and that’s just wrong.
Biscuits are the bomb there. Otherwise, I am not a huge fan anymore. It was my birthday meal as it was pretty much the nicest place in the town where I grew up. Good memories at Red Lobster…
@Adam Bomb: Soon. I need to go there first. Gift certificate in my car. I usually don’t eat a lot of fish in the winter, so now the season is changing, I am starting to crave it.
If Bonefish does not win this fish-off I’m unsubscribing…
Last time I was at Red Lobster it was actually pretty good. I think they have definitely made changes to improve the overall experience. Perhaps a name change would shake the image a lot of people have of the RL name? Maybe Red’s Lobster Shack…
Have to agree, the biscuits rock. The lobster pizza is surprisingly good too.
RL’s chedder biscuits rock! Spot on with the description of every biscuit you get at other restaurants… dry, dry and dry. Those babies start and end the meal on a happy note! Funny thing is I never order fish at restaurants, but I always order the full rainbow trout at RL and have always been satisfied.
I appreciate your honesty in noting that this is a paid review. Some other similar review sites, which will go unnamed, are quite a bit more dishonest regards these things.