We're going to Key West again for a weekend - hurray! I think it's lobster season now - if so, where is the best place to get it?

FL "lobster" isn't real lobster. It's actually large crayfish and you only eat the tails most of which are previously frozen and the taste is quite different from NE lobster. Some restaurants do import real lobster from New England and/or eastern Canada but it will say that on the menu. FL lobster tails are available anytime. The local FL seafood that everyone loves is stone crabs. Their season is Oct. 15 - May 15. It's a renewable resource because the fishermen remove the biggest claw, throw the crab back and it regenerates a new claw.

One use of Florida lobster we found in the Keys was a lobster reuben, which was surprisingly good.

Lobster eggs Benedict at Blue Heaven for breakfast. A&B Lobster House for dinner. Lobster tempura, half-priced during happy hour at the Boathouse underneath the A&B.

Pjk

Thanks. I'm grew up here in Fl, my husband spent summers in Rhode Island - so we always argue over lobster! I will want Fl lobster and he won't, so maybe A&B Lobster House and hope for hogfish for him. Lobster tempura sounds really good - do they have it "upstairs"?

I don't know about the tempure upstairs. The A&B Lobster House and the Boathouse are like sister restaurants, so maybe. All of the apps and drinks at the boathouse are 1/2 priced during happy hour.

Pjk

There is no such thing as a "florida" lobster, it is a spiny lobster. In florida, it does indeed have a season. In the keys, when lobster season is open, you will not be dealing with previously frozen (you might when it is out of season in florida and they have to import the tails from south africa). I myself prefer the good ole american ("maine") lobster, but I would point out that if you were to order a maine lobster in the Keys it would likley have been held in a tank for a week or so, during which time they don't eat and the meat begins to shrink in the shell. When in Maine, order a Maine lobster; but when in the Keys during lobster season you would be better off with the local lobster. Also for one of the posters above: taxonomically speaking the clawed lobsters are more closely related to freshwater crayfish than spiny lobsters are....

I had forgotten about "spiny" - thanks! I guess I started saying Florida lobster (rather defensively) after I married and started going to Rhode Island every other year. That was when I had my first (according to DH and his family) "real" lobster. I called it a Maine lobster, which really annoyed them (didn't mean to annoy them) - so I've settled into "lobster" and "FL lobster" unless I'm with family or someone I know will understand.

As to the lobster tempura - if they don't have it at A&B LH, maybe we could have our appetizer at the Boathouse and then move upstairs - or stay at the Boathouse for dinner. We really enjoyed A&B - is the Boathouse equally good? I would assume so....

Check out the dates for Lobsterfest. We had the good fortune of stumbling onto it - so good and only $5 for lobster with all the sides. I think it's in August. We also liked Mangoes and A&B Lobster House.

Talk about aliases! What I call (to local native Floridians) a lobster or (to anyone else) a Florida lobster (see above) is, at least at one restaurant in Key West, also called a Caribbean or Cuban lobster! No matter - I got my plain broiled lobster tail (declined the crabmeat stuffing) with butter and it was delicious! And fresh - the chef caught it the day before! In fact, the whole dinner was superb: DH and I shared conch carpaccio (may have been the most tender I've ever had) and French anchovies on toast with green remoulade sauce for appetizers, I had the lobster and he had hogfish with a roasted red pepper sauce, then a trio plate of key lime pie, creme brulee, and berries in Gran Marnier. This was at Cafe Sole - I highly recommend it. Volcanogirl - we weren't there for Lobsterfest - however, we did have a very good lunch at Mangos - thanks! DH had the gazpacho and we shared conch spring rolls - yum! I wish I had ordered my own, but then I wouldn't have been as hungry for dinner......

Mmm, sounds delicious, bell. Glad you liked Mangoes. Lobsterfest rolls around every year, so there's always next year!

Hey - that's a great excuse for another trip down!

I was down in July and it just happened to be mini lobster season. Some friends took me out for a 1/2 day and showed me the ropes, as it were. You can take 6 pp and we got 16. I finally got the hang and caught several but they were all too small. My two friends have a better "eye" for size and so rarely took anything that had to be measured. Anyway, this was not an easy half-day snorkeling. It was a lot of work, but they gave me four to take back to the hotel. Many hotels and several of the bars will cook your catch, be it fish, lobster, whatever. I had the four grilled with sides a slaw and potato salad. Talk about fresh - from the water to the plate in about 5 hours.

Pjk

Fun! Do they hide under things and you just grab them, or what? I've never tried before.

They hide underneath coral or sponges or rocks, but you can usually see their antennae. You are give a metal stick about two feet long with which you poke them out and a scoop net in which you try to catch them. It doesn't take too long before you realize that they try to escape by swimming backwards. It's not too hard after you get the hang, but you have to be able to hold your breath for a while in order to get down after you spot one, then try to prod it out, then net it. Sometimes you can prod it out on one dive, then go down again and catch it. After about 5 hours of this we were all beat. One of my friends is a captain on Danger Charters, Capt Wade, and I think he knows the area better than anyone.

If you do this on your own you have to apply for a non-resident fishing license ($17.00) with a crawfish endorsement ($5.00) You can do this on-line but the license is mailed to you, but there is a receipt you can print with a unique number on it which you can show the Coast Guard if stopped. I was told they are pretty tight about enforcement but we weren't stopped. And I noticed that there are people at the Key West Bight who advertise that they will take you lobstering. I don't know how they work the license and how much they show you.

Check this out...
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a1...D550/ry%3D400/

Pjk