Urban Lobster Shack’s Scampi Roll Is Worth Walking An Extra Block

The closet-sized Urban Lobster Shack was once our only source of takeout lobster rolls in the Financial District. Then a couple of months ago beloved Luke’s Lobster opened basically right around the corner, and although the styles of their rolls are different I thought it was worth checking back into the originator to see what they were doing to keep up with the young upstart competition. It turns out they’ve added a new roll to their arsenal.

Urban Lobster Shack’s rolls are still cheaper than Luke’s which are $15 on their own and $17 in a combo with chips. While the original Old Bay roll sounded appealing I spotted the “chef’s special” scampi roll ($12) and was intrigued since I’m pretty much on board with anything involving extra butter and garlic. It comes with a tiny container of coleslaw and a small bag of Cape Cod chips if you want them. There are other combo possibilities involving chowder and corn on the cob but I was there for the roll.

The scampi roll has the same lobster lightly dressed with mayo and chopped celery as the original. What makes it different is the bath the inside of the bun gets from some garlic and butter sauce and the extra dose of garlic on top of the lobster. There was a ton of meat in this thing and several large chunks – so much that I had to eat a bit off the top before I could pick it up.

This was a great lobster roll and I liked that it wasn’t drowned in mayo, and the garlic added an extra kick. The only minor complaint I have is that the bun wasn’t noticeably toasted but it didn’t really matter because I ate it so fast the bun didn’t have a chance to get soggy. If you want a lobster roll for a few dollars less than the competition up the street this is a good option.

Urban Lobster Shack, 15 Stone St. (at Broad), (212) 809-2626

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