Maine Lobster: It Doesn't Get Any Better!

As my monthlong culinary road trip continues, I find myself in Maine in search of the perfect lobster — or as they say here, lobstah. I don't like to rely on the Internet or guide books to tell me about the best places. I check in with the locals, and they never steer me wrong.

I wanted to go to a lobster pound, not a restaurant that serves lobster. There's a big difference. A lobster pound is always on the water at the docks. It's run by the lobster men and women that go out in their boats and pull up a fresh catch of lobster daily.

They bring in the lobsters and put them in seawater tanks. When you walk inside the lobster shack, you pick your lobsters from the hundreds in the tanks. The lobsters are cooked in fresh seawater in wooden barrels over a raging fire.

You can't get lobster any fresher than this. The most amazing thing about a good lobster pound is that when you walk in, you smell nothing but the sea. There's no "fishy" odor because the shellfish is fresh and alive until cooked.

Young's Lobster Pound in East Belfast, ME, was the closest I've come to a taste of heaven in my mouth in years. I picked out my lobsters, watched them go into the pot, waited as they cooked (careful not to drool too much) and finally, my number was called to come pick up my lunch.

I ordered the Shore Dinner, which consists of a cup of New England Clam Chowder, corn on the cob, a dozen steamed clams and a two-pound lobster.

The lobster was cooked to perfection; tender, juicy and flavorful. The clams were equally as tender and tasty, and the clam chowder was the true version made with whole milk and butter, big chunks of potatoes and huge clams.

The original New England clam chowder was not this heavy cream concoction so thick that a spoon can stand up in it that you will find at so many restaurants. Instead, it was the way a fisherman's wife could use up an excess of a good catch, with just the meager staples in her house; milk, butter and potatoes.

The lobster roll was impressive too, using about 3/4 to one pound of lobster, a tiny slather of mayo and some lettuce on a bun. When you have lobster this fresh, you don't need to cover it up with a lot of spices and condiments.

I know there are those of you reading this that know lobster was once thought of as a by-catch; something to throw away when they came up in the nets with the other seafood. It was so lowly regarded that it was a staple food given to the prisoners.

No one knows how lobster landed on the menu as an expensive gourmet food, but I have to assume that some smart chef or restaurant owner found a way to turn this ugly crustacean into a delicacy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As a chef and foodie, I must say that I'm putting Young's Lobster Pound at the top of my list for some of the most delicious seafood I've had in years. The food is second to none, and the atmosphere sitting out on the deck, overlooking the water on a beautiful summer day in East Belfast, just can't be topped. Let's just say I'm in Losbstah Heaven!

Looking for seafood in Gulfport? Check out the restaurants in our "Places" section on the site.