Lobsters in America! Featuring 'Legal Seafood', 'New Star Seafood' and 'Triple Z'

When we think of lobsters (at Jumbo seafood, or in Malaysia/other parts of Asia), what do we think of?
Lobsters from Myanmar Hockee Company LimitedAnd for Americans, when they think of lobsters, what do they think of?
Lobster from Maine's Robinhood Marine CenterThe top lobster with the thorny exoskeleton is known to wikipedia as the spiny lobster, whereas the bottom lobster with the smooth exoskeleton is just known as lobster. I think I have had lobster (the one with the smooth exterior) at some buffet in a Singapore hotel. Although I appreciate their efforts to import these crustaceans to Singapore, I didn't like the taste then. Its flesh was cold and bland, and the tips of the claw meat was extremely salty. Possibly because it was boiled in salt water/ sea water which gathered at the claws, over-marinating it with salt. My mom and aunt used to buy live Spiny Lobsters from the Yishun market (cleaned and toasted/steamed at home with garlic and pepper) and they tasted THE best!

By the way, besides the textural differences in their shells, there is another significant difference between the 2 types of lobsters. These 2 lobsters are actually not closely related.
Can you guess what the big difference between the spiny lobster and the true lobster is?

I combined the spiny lobster's scientific drawing with the true lobster's scientific drawing side by side for you.
Yes you guessed it. The lobster we commonly eat in Asia has no claws! Its geneology is closer to the crayfish than the true lobster! ;-)

Living here, I learned to appreciate the lobster, and it has become one of my American favourites. It tastes better probably because it's caught locally and the lobster did not have to take an airplane to Singapore! lol... And possibly because the lobster was prepared better in America.

This is a good thing because my hubby is an extreme gourmet crustacean lover. Lovingly, I aspire to cook the Singaporean Chilli Crab for his birthday this year, and have bought a Prima Taste pack for the occasion. He loves lobsters, crabs, and prawns, and would eat them everyday if he could. Siren:*Beep! Beep! Cholesterol alert! Wife to moderate husband!*

3 SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS' LOBSTERS WE'VE TRIED AND LIKED

#3 Legal Seafood

Legal seafood has branches in a number of states, and promises quality and freshness. We usually order Lobster, and it is pretty pricey (but that's how restaurants are, right?). I don't remember the exact price, but I am pretty sure that one 2.5lb lobster we ordered is US$60+++.

Another thing we usually go for is the Clam Chowder! I remember reading the Legal Seafood Menu which mentioned that their award winning New England Clam Chowders, made with Cape Cod Clams, were served for every US President Inauguration dinner since the 1980s! And yes, I think they served it this year too, for the Inauguration of US's 44th President, Barack Obama. :-)

Our large 2.5lb lobster, served hot and plain with melted butter on the side as a dip.
Hubby was proud of being able to remove the meat of a whole lobster claw unspoiled. This was a different visit to a Legal Seafood outlet in Washington D.C. This lobster was between 1.5lb-2lb .

#2 New Star Seafood Restaurant
New Star Seafood Restaurant is the largest seafood restaurant along Avenue U of Brooklyn that we know of. They were selling two 1lb lobsters for $27-$30 (They call it the Twin-Lobster Special, and prices may fluctuate) You get to choose how the lobster is prepared. We recommend lobsters stir-fried with spring onions and ginger because it is reaaaally good. The lobsters were pre-friend in a batter, then stir fried with thin slices of ginger, scallions and some slightly thickened soy sauce. Although I ranked it #2, my hubby ranks this restaurant's lobster dish #1 because he likes the added batter. Well too bad hubbs, this is my blog. ;-) Hahaha!

#1 Triple "Z" Chinese Restaurant
Well after eating at New Star Seafood Restaurant, we realised that almost every Chinese restaurant along Avenue U were also selling 'Twin-Lobster Specials'. Could there be some kind of Lobster War going around here?! The cheapest we saw was $19.90 for two lobsters at this restaurant nearest to the Q train station on Avenue U and we decided to have a go.

There are three ways of cooking the two 1lb lobsters. Ginger with Scallions, Fermented Black Beans with Scallions, or Cantonese Style. We went back to this restaurant often and have tried all three styles. So in case you're wondering, Cantonese Style is just minced pork, black beans and scallions stir-fried with 2 Lobsters. Our recommendation is once again Ginger and Scallions, it being the tastiest.

Now, why did I rank Triple "Z"'s Twin-Lobsters as #1 and New Star Seafood's #2? Not because the price of the lobsters are 30% cheaper than New Star's. It is because the lobsters were not covered in batter, and were stir-fried as is! I like it that way. With less flour to your dish, you can taste the freshness, and the sweetness of the lobster meat. I also liked that the ginger slices were thicker, as I love eating the ginger and the scallions although they were usually meant to be accompanying garnishes!

Twin-Lobsters with Ginger and Scallions. Triple "Z" loves to position the 2 lobster heads side by side! This is what Twin-Lobsters Cantonese Style looks like. Lobster heads side by side again.

So yup, that's all for my top 3 recommendations for Lobsters here in America & NYC. I hope you enjoyed knowing more about these crustaceans, and if you are here looking for a value-for-dollar meal for two and have $30+ (just in case the price increases and you need to tip too, remember?), take the Q train down to Avenue U!

For your amusement, I would like to end this post with some interesting Triple "Z" experiences. You will not see this following offer when you get there because this offer was taken down after a few days.

What?! Crabs and rice for US$3.95? Two Lobsters for $19.90 is already a crazy price, and now this?! This is not one, but two crabs for $3.95! Stir-fried with fermented black beans with scallions. This is not the Sri-Lankan Crab that we commonly eat in Singapore. It's more like Flower Crab. Look at that roe! Woohoo!Below is another funny experience on a seperate occasion at Triple "Z". One day, I thought I found half a crab claw almongst our Twin-Lobster dish ... ... My husband was so sure that it is Lobster, and that particular Lobster had a different claw. But it looked so much like part of a Sri-Lankan Crab Claw to me leh... What do you think?

Get the Daily Groupon

Groupons (= Group + Coupons) utilizes collective buying power to give great bargains to consumers, and gives a "guaranteed" minimum volume of customers to the participating merchant. And the deals seem to be pretty nice! Take a look at this:

Groupon from The Point on Vimeo.

Today's groupon was for a classy french restaurant where you pay $20 for a $50 bill, groupon open for 1 year. The minimum needed for this restaurant Le Périgord was 20 people, and by 2.30pm there were already 70+ people who bought the coupon. There were other interesting deals as well such as a 50% off to watch NBA Chicargo Bulls groupon last year. 20 people signed up so i guess the NBA groupon may not have worked out as 25 people were needed. Of course sometimes, nobody bought the groupon at all...there was one groupon I saw that said $45 for an accupuncture session (U.P. $100), and nobody bought it... ;-) Here's a screenshot of some groupons, not all are located in NYC.

So I've signed up for the mailing list at http://groupon.thepoint.com/new-york/. If I use any of the bargains, I'll tell you how it went. Hey if you're around here, you should sign up too. ;-D

Hair Modelling for Free Styling Products

There is something that occurs in New York City that is amazing. And I don't think it occurs with as much frequency, quality and generosity in Singapore/Asia. This amazing thing I am referring to is... BARGAIN OPPORTUNITIES. And not just regular bargains, I mean super-bargains! Like up to 95% off the price of high-end designer stuff (I usually don't buy branded stuff, but when it is 85% off or more, it gets consideration. And the quality and cut is usually splendid!). There are also warehouse clubs where you can find fresh produce and electronics etc., factory outlets, as well as free stuff and services!

So here is an example of my adventure yesterday:

So I responded to the ad, and on the other line of the call was a friendly lady, who told me the details. I made my way down to the salon on the Upper East Side with the address she gave me. And wow, I found the area to be quite posh when I stepped out of the Metro Station. After walking down 3 streets, I found the Salon just off Lexington Avenue. It was a beautiful Salon, and quite large, occupying 3 storeys. I was sent up to the second storey where I became a hair model for a styling class.

My stylist was G. She was an african-american woman, medium built and a very curvy figure, and had a sweet voice and demeanour. There were 3 other stylists practicing together with G, and the instructor (whom G refers to as a superb stylist) was a thin and petite caucasian woman with a brunette bob called S.

G who had some years of experience of working in a boutique and a hair salon was a well educated woman originally from South America. She has a degree in Political Science, but admits that her first love is fashion. So she took up this 2-2.5 year apprenticeship, so that she can travel world, work a few days of the week, and get well paid. This Salon frequently sends stylists to support the fashion shows in Paris, to work on the models' hair.

So for today, the instructor S required them to do 2 styles. The first was a blow-back style. This was an important basic requirement - the starting palete - before doing other upward combing hairstyles like french twists and buns. The most important part of it is that every root direction has sculpted universally towards the back, such that there is no visible parting in the hair. This is more work then it sounds, and when S spots any imperfection, she points it out to G, explains it and G worked on my hair again until the goal is reached.

The second style was a flat-ironed, center-parted, no volume hair style. Another basic to achieve as a starting point for creating runway hair styles. G was able to achieve this in no time. She was telling me that she worked with all sorts of challenging hair types, and by now she can handle a poodle that comes in and needs to blow it's hair straight out. Lol!

At the end of the day G fulfilled her 2 assignments on my hair before 5.30pm. She went the extra mile in giving me what I requested: soft curls to my hair, as I wanted to go home and surprise hubby (it did not pan out in the end because when I had a hot steamy bath, all the curls fell straight! *sob*). I also collected my FREE three full-sized quality styling products. One for prepping, one for holding, and one for shine. Sweet! G also gave me several free samples as I requested stuff for dry hair ends.

Stuff like these, like free haircuts, free dental, happens often in New York City, because there are many apprentices come here to learn from the "Best". There are just so many talented people all over the world, and I hear that many of them congregate in New York City. You just have to be lucky enough to catch these bargains at the right place, at the right time, and sign up.

What do you think about bargain hunting in Singapore/ NYC?