I’m from Boston, and the lobster is to Bostonians what Roast Duck is to Beijingers. And with all due respect to Australians, this is not a lobster worth eating:
Simply put, it’s missing the most succulent parts: the meaty front claws.
And with all due respect to Beijingers, this is no way to enjoy lobster, either:
These xiaolongxia (小龙虾) have way too much shell and way too little meat, rendering them nothing but an inconvenient delivery vehicle for the sauce they are cooked in.
Lamentably, until recently these two varieties have been the predominant types available in Beijing.
This, however, is a what we Bostonians call a lobster:
See those meaty foreclaws? They contain the most sought-after meat, both sweet and delicate, unlike the tougher tail. And a Bostonian would no sooner eat a lobster without those claws than a Beijinger would order a Peking Duck without the breast meat.
Luckily for Beijingers, this type of lobster (known as the American lobster, orginating from the northeastern United States and Canada) is now relatively easy to find, and a fine place to get yourself one is the Lobster Kitchen on Xiaoyun Lu.
Done up in an East Coast nautical theme replete with netting and fish-themed decor, the restaurant is comfortable and clean. Lobster, of course, makes up the heart of the menu – there’s no other compelling reason to turn up here unless you are into this delicious crustacean. If you are, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The rest of the menu is unremarkable, but enough to provide alternatives for those in your party not interested in a lobster: Australian steaks for the landlubbers, and other seafood with minor billing: fried cod, grilled salmon, braised mussels, fried prawns, and scallops. There are also standards like spaghetti, French fries and onion rings for the picky children.
But enough with that other stuff — let’s get to the lobster, probably the reason you’ve bothered to read so far:
We recommend the straight-up Steamed Lobster, but if tradition has no place at your table, you can go for the Mozzarella Cheese Baked Lobster, Black Pepper Sauce Braised Lobster, Curry Sauce Braised Lobster with Coconut, Lobster Teppanyaki, Lobster Fried Rice … the list goes on.
All sound tantalizing, but again to a true Bostonian these fancier methods are secondary, and ordering them instead of a steamed lobster is tantamount to eating at Quan Ju De and choosing Curry Duck Fried Rice instead of a traditional Roast Duck.
The steamed lobsters come in two sizes: 1kg (RMB 399) and 600g (RMB 246), and are served with melted butter for dipping and of course the tools of the trade: a shell cracker, picks for extracting hard-to-reach meat, a plastic bib, and wet napkins to clean up afterward.
Lobsters are live until the point of cooking and patrons are invited to see them crawling around in the tanks before placing their order.
Chefs prepare the lobsters with first-time diners in mind. Lobster aficionados are prepared for a lot of water coursing out of the shell of a freshly steamed lobster, but this happily was not the case here. Most of the water had been carefully drained off and the tail and claws pre-split to make it easier to get to the good stuff.
Some of the more common sides served with lobster where I’m from – corn on the cob, cole slaw, steamed clams – aren’t featured here, a slight disappointment. But other than that, this was a lobster as good as any I’ve had back home.
A veteran lobster lover is best served by ordering a steamed lobster and calling it a day – while those who are new to the experience should go for one of the set menus, which include one lobster to share, along with a pair of drinks, soups, salads, sides and noodles for either RMB 399 (600g lobster) or RMB 569 for a 1kg monster.
Lobster Kitchen 28号龙虾
Daily 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-10pm. 1F, Wangxin Bldg, 28 Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District (8424 4800, 8424 4900)
朝阳区霄云路28号网信大厦一层
Photos by Michael Wester