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A “downeast” meal

After spending a beautiful day in Bar Harbour, Maine, we decided to treat the family to a downeast meal. The restaurant was literally on the pier, and we sat happily looking out at the lobster boats and the sea.

First on the list was clam chowder. As a kid living in Nova Scotia, I can remember running about the beach and digging up clams with my brother. Then my mom would make us all a delicious clam chowder. I don’t know which I enjoyed more … the actual chowder (pictured below) or the memories.

Clam chowder

Then, of course, was the lobster. The only one of us brave enough to actually try it was my husband. He really enjoyed it and gave me a taste of the meat, which tasted almost sweet. Oh, and buttery of course. Because you need to dip it all in a heavenly liquid butter!

Half-way through our meal, we found out that the Obama family had eaten at the table right behind us less than one week ago. Although exciting, my husband and I both muttered the exact same thing after hearing this news: “Hope the Obamas got better service than us!”

Our server was hopeless and never seemed to be around so we ended up eating half of our meal parched, with not a single drop of drink on the table. A bus-girl could see the obvious and ended up chasing after him for us. So when we left, I returned the favour and gave her the tip instead.

Comments

  1. only your husband ate the lobster?!? how could you not all dive at the chance to have some? i had three while in nfld, pretty much every opportunity that i could. sigh. i love the maritimes.

  2. Haha! I know … it seemes crazy, doesn’t it? That is what one is supposed to eat when you’re on the coast. We’re a bit squeamish I guess. DD took a close look at it and announced flatly, “It looks like they pulled the lobster’s eyes out before cooking it.” That was enough for me! :)

  3. Seriously the best part of traveling is eating. I will always order something I have never eaten before. Let’s see I’ve eaten, deer, bear, rabbit, squid, octopus, live octopus, live shrimp, grasshoppers, wanted to eat snake in Taiwan, but it was too expensive as were the tantulas. I’ve also eaten a bunch of things I can’t even remember what they were. If it’s bad, that’s the price you pay for gambling on the unknown, but almost always it’s good.

    And not eating lobster oh my god! Lobster is almost heaven on earth. The only thing better was the spicy crab I had in Singapore (originally a Hong Kong dish as I understand it) – I would kill for some of that again.

    re: fruit – you have to try Dragonfruit if you can but the absolute greatest fruit on earth is mangosteen. Unfortunately I can’t find them in Korea. They are native to south east asia, but I’m hoping that they will be available somewhere in Ottawa once I move.

  4. Ohhh…everytime I see a package of those Westminster Oyster Crackers…mmm… my mouth starts to water. I have an addiction to those ever since we visited friends in Kennebunkport, Maine. I seriously love them almost as much as the chowder (maybe more).

  5. Oh Julie. The lobster.

    I see you are taking some heat, so all I will say is how did you grow up in Nova Scotia without having tried them before?

    On a side note, my Mom grew up in Ireland, and the poor kids had to bring lobster sandwiches to school while the families with money never did, so maybe you are on to something after all.

  6. Going to chime in… can’t believe you didn’t have the lobster.

    Question is, what did you eat?
    Nothing like shoddy service to temper a meal.

  7. I miss out east so much! I spent 4 years out in Nova Scotia for school, and just the pictures make me yearn for the ocaen again.

    Glad you’re enjoying the experience!

    CH

  8. Okay, okay, I should have eaten the lobster! :)

    I did try a bite and thought it tasted good. But I really didn’t fancy having to sit there and pull the creature apart to eat it. Next time, I will branch out and try the “lobster rolls” – will that be good enough?

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