Sometimes, when eating lobster, you want silver service, a fawning maitre d' and the best that Burgundy has to offer. At other times, you want the Lobster Shack: a small harbour-side trailer serving seafood landed daily by the local fisherman , presented in a cardboard box with plastic cutlery. If you can't bag one of the four wobbly tables adjacent to the trailer, there's also benches along the harbour wall but either way, the seafood is delightful and we can't help but feel this is amongst the cheapest high quality seafood outlets we've ever come across if you take it for what it is.
We have of course shamelessly for our title borrowed lyrics from the B52's Love Shack, but there is lots to love about the Lobster Shack so it seems about right. The only thing is though, it's not 15 miles to The Lobster Shack but closer to 30 if you're staying in Edinburgh for The Lobster Shack is located in North Berwick necessitating a 30 minute train ride or car journey of similar duration, but as a day out, we looked forward to our visit to North Berwick and meal there as much as anywhere on our planned gastro tour.
We've dined at The Company Shed in West Mercia which serves the local catch in a shed (the restaurant name is not a joke in that sense) with PVC wipe clean table cloths and bring your own everything, and which specialises of course in Colchester oysters amongst other local things. But perhaps surprisingly, the Shed's lobsters are imported from North America which leads one to feel a little cheated. At the Shack, you have no such worries, you can see the lobster pots from your seat and everything you eat has been landed that day from local boats. With the offerings on a chalk board, you order, get a number and when ready, they shout out your number for you to then collect your food.
Most 'mains' come in a box with hand cut chips and a salad garnish, and that's basically it. We chose a whole lobster, a box of langoustines and a sea bass fillet. We also had a seafood chowder and a lemonade to drink. The cost of this feast? £41. Surely that places it amongst Britain's best value fresh and tasty seafood?
We have of course shamelessly for our title borrowed lyrics from the B52's Love Shack, but there is lots to love about the Lobster Shack so it seems about right. The only thing is though, it's not 15 miles to The Lobster Shack but closer to 30 if you're staying in Edinburgh for The Lobster Shack is located in North Berwick necessitating a 30 minute train ride or car journey of similar duration, but as a day out, we looked forward to our visit to North Berwick and meal there as much as anywhere on our planned gastro tour.
We've dined at The Company Shed in West Mercia which serves the local catch in a shed (the restaurant name is not a joke in that sense) with PVC wipe clean table cloths and bring your own everything, and which specialises of course in Colchester oysters amongst other local things. But perhaps surprisingly, the Shed's lobsters are imported from North America which leads one to feel a little cheated. At the Shack, you have no such worries, you can see the lobster pots from your seat and everything you eat has been landed that day from local boats. With the offerings on a chalk board, you order, get a number and when ready, they shout out your number for you to then collect your food.
Most 'mains' come in a box with hand cut chips and a salad garnish, and that's basically it. We chose a whole lobster, a box of langoustines and a sea bass fillet. We also had a seafood chowder and a lemonade to drink. The cost of this feast? £41. Surely that places it amongst Britain's best value fresh and tasty seafood?
the walk from the train station to the Shack
The Lobster Shack itself
The lobster, as you would hope from a venue called The Lobster Shack was perfectly cooked such that plastic knives and forks presented no obstacle in extracting the lobster meat from the cracked shell. The Shack shames most places that serve lobster at many times the price. And the langoustine too, it all just seemed... right. We both felt that we could eat this all day, exactly in this setting (as long as it doesn't rain of course). There's a quaint timelessness to it all also, sitting harbor side eating the day's catch is never simply a period piece or fashion.
And as if the brilliant food in itself wasn't enough to set the Shack apart from anything else, while we are eating our meal at the wobbly harbor side table, the staff came round to ask if everything is okay with the food and bringing us fingerbowls to clean up. As the B52 song goes, 'just a funky old shack and I gotta get back', The Lobster Shack washes most seafood restaurants into the sea on quality of produce and indeed attitude. North Berwick is a lovely day out from Scotland's capital and can offer truly great fresh seafood for even the most discerning foodie... as long as you don't mind eating out of a cardboard box. We loved the shack (baby).
And as if the brilliant food in itself wasn't enough to set the Shack apart from anything else, while we are eating our meal at the wobbly harbor side table, the staff came round to ask if everything is okay with the food and bringing us fingerbowls to clean up. As the B52 song goes, 'just a funky old shack and I gotta get back', The Lobster Shack washes most seafood restaurants into the sea on quality of produce and indeed attitude. North Berwick is a lovely day out from Scotland's capital and can offer truly great fresh seafood for even the most discerning foodie... as long as you don't mind eating out of a cardboard box. We loved the shack (baby).
whole lobster (grilled garlic, lemon & parsley butter)
sea bass fillet with beetroot
Firth of Forth Langoustines
Seafood chowder
the view from your table
During winter, opening times vary and you are advised to check their website for details.
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The Lobster Shack website
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