First Impressions

John: For those of you who don’t know where the Lobster Trap is, it’s where the old Charlie’s used to be, which is where the old Folks restaurant used to be. And if you’re still in the dark, it’s somewhere on Holcomb Bridge Road. Now I’ve only been in North Fulton for a year, but from what I know, the location is pretty much a black hole for restaurants. (If I lost you somewhere, the address is in the tan box to the right.)

To be honest, I wasn’t sold on the Lobster Trap from the outside. Instead of a normal sign on the outside with the name “Lobster Trap,” they have a banner that I think they stole from a frat house in Athens. That’s the bad news. Now the good news – once I was inside the restaurant things got really good, really fast. I had my drink in about four seconds, and our server Tad was talkative (if you’re someone who likes server conversation to be kept to a minimum, you better tell Tad) and swift on his feet. And for about two minutes, I wondered if the name “Tad” was short for anything, then I remembered that I forgot to put my clothes in the dryer.

Tim: The restaurant doesn’t jump out and grab you with its décor. It’s not overwhelming. But at the same time it’s not dumpy or anything, so it’s not under-whelming either. (I guess it’s just whelming). I was a little skeptical about the place as I walked in because the sign looked like it was jacked from a church vacation Bible school and the parking lot was nearly empty. Fortunately those two things were not omens.

John: B
Tim: B-
 
Appetizers

John: Like every good seafood restaurant should, Lobster Trap offers up some complimentary hush puppies. Now hush puppies can be served two ways and one of those ways will have them tasting a lot like corn bread. I like corn bread, so I’m partial to that formula.

Lobster Trap, on the other hand, went with way number two where the hush puppies aren’t as sweet, but they’re still tasty. Anyway, I need to stop talking about the hush puppies because they were a mere afterthought once I sampled the bacon wrapped scallops.

This is the third time that Tim and I have had something wrapped in bacon and until I find a place that serves bacon wrapped bacon, I don’t think anyone is going to top what the Lobster Trap offered. The scallops were big and juicy and the bacon was crispy and perfect. To be honest, I don’t think I can do these things justice. Imagine getting married, landing your first six-figure job and having your first kid all on the same day, that’s how happy I was after one bite.

Tim can talk about our other appetizer because to be honest, for about 20 minutes, I really couldn’t concentrate on anything but my bacon wrapped scallops. I’ve built these things up so much, I hope to my higher power that Lobster Trap always makes them this good. I mean, I can’t be letting you people down anymore, you’re paying for this product.

Tim: We also had grouper fingers. The Lobster trap does have a few chicken items on their menu, but they opted to stick with the seafood theme when it came to fingers. It was a good choice. The grouper was light and tasted fresh, and the fingers weren’t caked with too much fried crust either.

The dipping sauce that they came with was a little too mayonnaise-y, so I just pilfered the sauce that came with the miraculous scallops. It was the appetizer that kept on giving throughout the whole meal.

John: A
Tim: A

Entrées

John: John Keats wrote an “Ode to Autumn.” Well after I finish my ode to bacon wrapped scallops, my next project will be an ode to the grouper imperial. Once again, my taste buds were in awe, they were ready for an all night party. The grouper was flaky and white, which is a bad thing on your head, but a great thing for fish.

We also ordered a crab leg, shrimp and scallop platter that went along with a lobster tail dish. During my formative years, I worked at a seafood restaurant in Savannah (Pearl’s Saltwater Grille in case you’re ever in the neighborhood) and they had great food. Lobster Trap’s offerings were on par with Pearl’s and that’s saying a lot for a restaurant in landlocked Roswell that has only been open for a couple months.

Really the only thing bad I can say is that our potato side dish had no flavor and the corn on the cob served with our entrée is only half of a cob. If I was three-years-old, this would be all right, but I’m an adult. I think I can handle a whole cob.

Tim: Let’s start with the bad. The potatoes were weird. It was like a cross between potato salad, mashed potatoes and creamed rice. Weird. One bite was enough to know that I didn’t want any more. I didn’t get any corn because Breech licked the entire half cob as soon as they brought it to the table. And the lobster was not what you would hope for from a place with “lobster” playing a prominent part in its name.

But the snow crab legs were excellent and the portion left plenty to go around. The Cajun shrimp and scallops were also quite delectable, so much so that I only got one of each. (I hope Breech didn’t lick those too.)

John: A-
Tim: B
 
Desert

John: I’m going to say four words and I’d like to think they’re going to make your mouth water: “Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie.” If your mouth isn’t watering, it’s because you’re not hungry, you’re dehydrated or you’re allergic to peanuts. In any case, you may want to grab a cup of milk before you read on.

This dessert was gone in four bites. It had an Oreo cookie crust, a peanut butter cheesecake type filling and then it was topped with a chocolate and caramel syrup. I’m pretty sure that the next time I go to Lobster Trap, my meal might very well consist of a bacon wrapped peanut butter pie.

Tim: We had another dessert, but I was so enamored with the peanut butter pie that I can’t remember what it was. This may have been the answer to our quest for the perfect dessert. Sometimes things with peanut butter in them can be too rich to take more than a couple of bites. But all the flavors were so delicately balanced that they could have given us a portion the size of an extra large pizza and we probably would have polished it off.

(Bread pudding! That was the other dessert. I knew it would come to me.)

John: A
Tim: A
 
Final Impression

John: Sure their banner was stolen from an elementary school carnival and yes, the inside of the restaurant is pretty nondescript and generally unappealing. However, the question is, do you want style or substance? Are you about looks or personality? I have about 13 more clichés I could use right now, oh heck, let’s do one more.  This is a restaurant where you don’t want to judge the book by its cover. This is a substance place where the food is the personality – try her out for one date and chances are you’ll be calling her back. Oh, and one more incredibly important detail that I almost forgot: Lobster Trap has no alcohol license yet, so this means no beer, no liquor, no body shots and no getting drunk. That can be a deal breaker, but it doesn’t have to be.

Tim: I’ll echo Breech’s assessment here and add that, interestingly enough, Tad said that you are allowed to bring your own booze to the restaurant (as long as you’re not taking a nip on the drive over).

Overall Grade: A-