City Lobster

07/28/2008 Posted by jh3

Horrible food! I dine out 6 nights a week in NYC and this is the 1st time I have participated in restaurant week. I was surprised to read some of the glowing reviews for this place when my experience was so bad. The shrimp cocktail was very poor quality and the lobster was awful - the clams and mussels were so dry so I didn't eat them. Even the little pc. of corn on the cob was overcooked and dry. If I were at a different restaurant or it wasn't restuaruant week, I would have returned all of it. The only reason I didn't is b/c I was out w/ a few people that I hadn't seen in a while so I didn't want to make a scene. Although I understand that the food is mass produced for these 2 weeks, it's not like the restaurant is giving it away for free. After wine/tip, it was still $100 per person. Total waste of money.

Cons: Poor quality food

07/26/2008 Posted by candles3

I work down the street and decided to bring clients to City Lobster for dinner on Wed. We were a little early for our reservations and decided to have a drink at the bar. Though we did wait about 25 minutes the hostess was very sweet and kept letting us know where we were on the list. At first we thought they did not give us the special menu, but realized it was on the other side of the cocktail list. They had all these fun and inventive cocktails.... I had the "Flirtini" and my friend had the "Luscious Blossom". The men we were with of course just had Stella's! The three course meal was well worth it, big portions and fresh seafood. One of my clients had a Ny Strip Steak with was suprisingly very tasty. It was very busy, but we never felt neglected. Will have to someday try to eat a whole 2lb lobster!!

Pros: cocktails, service

07/26/2008 Posted by hessoyum

My husband and I live in the city, so we know restaurant week is not usually worth it at most restaurants (small portions to make up for low price). But not at City Lobster! I have to say it is the best deal in the city. We went last night and had a great time. I had the shrimp cocktail with this sweet guacamole, they were colossal. Then the lobster bake with clams, mussels, and yummy corn. For dessert i had the warm chocolate cake, soft and so rich. where else can you get a whole lobster meal for $35.00?!! We were seated about 5 minutes after our reservation, had an excellant server, and very efficient busboys. Overall it was definately worth it and we will be back (at the end of our meal they let us know they are extending the menu all summer)!!

Pros: great service, yummy lobster

Cons: loud bar if your sitting at front of dining room

07/26/2008 Posted by foodphotos

Went there for Rest.Week on July 24th....They seated us late, ( 8:42) for a 8:00 reservation, although I was ten minutes late. They seated us at a "broken table"...the food runners brought someone else's food to our table, not once, but twice!!! After I finished the appetizers...I asked the busboy for some bread (which we should have had before the apps...) he brought it out...and as I reached for a roll...I noticed a large "bite" mark in the roll...gross...they "reused" my bread from another table. Really bad. The Manager (who was at the hostess desk upon arrival) was very rude, and un accomodating. I then went to write a comment on the "open table " website, and was unable to due to them "cancelling out" my dinner reservation. I called the restaurant to mention this to them, and got an even worse Manager by the name of "Gabriel"... Bad food. Poor Reservation system, rude managers, and bad food. Never Again.

Pros: Close to Rockefeller Center

Cons: Poor service, Extremely inefficient Managers, Bad food.

06/29/2008 Posted by contempler

Party of four for dinner before a short walk to Radio City Music Hall. City Lobster is an attractive setting on busy 49th street. The restaurant serves some "cutesy" drinks with names like Napoleon Dynamite, Lucious Blosson, Lady Killer and French Kiss Martini...tasty way to start off the evening. The rolls are stale, no fancy dipping oils... there is no disguising that The Lobsters are the thing here. You select the size: anything between 2 lbs and 9 lbs, the preparation: boiled, angry with garlic and red pepper flake butter sauce, stuffed and broiled, etc. The Lobsters were listed at "market price" which last night meant $25.00 per pound, and at $25.00 a pound the lobsters come with nothing....the available sides (Mashed potatoes, broccoli, cole slaw or fries) are all $6.00 or $7.00 extra . Trust me with a two pound minimum size there isn't much room for sides. The lobsters were marginally overcooked (the claw meat stuck to the shell) but delicious nonetheless. The greater concern was the grouper special. The men ordered two pound lobsters, but the wives both ordered the grouper. Three hours later both men still felt pleasingly stuffed, but the women were both a little green and uncomfortable. The desserts were uninspired. The lessons to be learned here: (a) location, location, location (close to Radio City Music Hall and Times Square), (b) everyone in your party should be prepared to order lobster, (c) a little over priced, but you knew that before you walked in.

02/15/2008 Posted by JillandTim

We arrived about 10 minutes early for our 7:30pm reservation. The hostess was not the warmest individual I have ever met, but did politely ask us to wait at the bar while they prepared our table. We were seated promptly at a lovely little table tucked into a nook in the back of the restaurant. Perfectly romantic and secluded for our special night. Though our waiter wes not terribly quick (which was fine as we were not in a hurry at all), when he did arrive he was friendly and knowledgable, answering the questions I had about the menu. We selected one of the half bottles of Sancerre; we both enjoyed it's light and dry taste and ordered off the regular menu. My boyfriend ordered the clam chowder and salmon and I had the wedge salad and grilled shrimp. He enjoyed the flavor of the soup but felt he would have preferred a bit less substance and a little more soup. His fresh salmon was cooked to his requested temperature (Med) and prepared with a colorful compote-esque topper. The polenta that accompanied it was very smooth and creamy. My wedge salad was fresh and crisp and the blue cheese was delicious. My shrimp were succulent and not overseasoned; also very fresh. The spinach risotto was thick but not too heavy and paired well with the shrimp. We skipped the desserts and only had after dinner drinks (my boyfriend, an irish coffe and for me, "the gingerbread man"). This was the one area I found somewhat disappointing... though the acctual liquid was smooth and creamy and the crumbled graham crackers satisfyingly crunchy the bartender must have rimmed the glass with LEMON which really ruined the drink because it soured the creamy texture. The bartender should have known better. After wiping the rim I did enjoy it much more. Overall, we enjoyed our evening here. We did not feel rushed or hurried. The music was not too loud and we found the ambiance in our cozy corner just right. The food is not extremely flavorful; rather the freshness of the fish is highlighted.

Pros: romatic setting, VERY fresh fish, relaxed atmosphere

Cons: value only average for Times Square, bartender needs to review his/her basics

02/01/2008 Posted by Sunshine68

Went there for Restuarant week today. The bread was stale, shrimp raviolli was nasty, the crab cakes were very good but tiny (if this is just a sample because its Restuarant week, then you lost a customer because I feel it is always like that, not worth the second try). Key Lime pie was good. But would not go again

01/30/2008 Posted by shinnystar

Me and some frindes of mine went to this place, lastnight for the first time, and it was a quite good experience. We made reservation for 8:30 p.m. and we arrived a little bit early, so we decided to seat at the bar, where the bartender was very kind and nice, and we have some delicious drinks. Then we went to the dinning room, and had the restaurant week menu; which was really tasty and reasonable.And included the best crab cakes I've ever ate!!!! The service was fantastic ,the wine list and the special cocktails were really good!!!! I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to have a great experience, and who enjoys eating great food as I do.

Pros: great crab cakes

01/30/2008 Posted by DRMD

The food was less than average and the service was the worst. The manager Jennifer was rude and disrespectful and because of her attitude it reflected in the tip we left. The waitress, at the end of the night came up to us as we were leaving the restaurant, Sandra talking loud and complaining about her tip. We informed her that he tip reflects the level of service we received.I would not reccommend this place to no one I know. Don't waste your good hard earned money or time. You will have a better dinner eating from a vendor on the street.

Cons: Manager Jennifer was rude and disrecpectful. It was reflected in her staff memeber Jennifer.

01/30/2008 Posted by keilaRobinson

My husband and I went to this place to celebrate our aniversary # 25, and we had a wonderful time, the food was delicious our lobster was so tender and sweet, I enjoyed every bait. Our server recomended the wine, it was very good. the made us fell so special and welcome, I recomend this place for every ocation.

Pros: Very sweet stuff

Cons: music a bit to loud