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Though we may be a flight away from either ocean, people in Toronto have been extra hungry for lobster rolls lately, and luckily, restaurants in the city are serving them up with the same tact as any coastal seafood shack.
It may be my four-year stint of living in Halifax talking (Go Dal Tigers!), but there are few problems in life a good lobster roll can’t make better. Be they smothered in butter or tossed in mayo, the combination of sweet lobster, a buttery bun and, ideally, a picnic table in the sun, these coastal delights are second-to-none: a no-frills foil to lobster’s typically stuffy reputation.
Upon returning to Toronto, I was staggered by the seeming lack of lobster rolls around the city. Sure, they make appearances on lunch menus at swanky steakhouses and seafood restaurants, but if you ask me, the best ones are enjoyed with paper napkins while belly laughing in Birkenstocks and jeans.
Lately, it seems like other establishments in the city are joining the charge, joining the tried-and-true lobster hawkers and adding the seafood sandwiches to their menu either as seasonal specials or, mercifully, for good.
If you’ve been on the hunt to sate your crustacean cravings, let me be your shepherd. Here are some of the best spots in Toronto where you can find lobster rolls right now — aside from the stuffy steakhouses and swank seafood restaurants around town.
With its ramshackle wood exterior, this Annex bagel shop wouldn’t be out of place in any of eastern Canada’s “News” (Scotia, Brunswick, and -foundland, that is). Perhaps that’s why this summer, they expanded their offerings to include dinner. The star of the show? A dazzling lobster roll, prime for enjoying from the restaurant’s limited outdoor seating.
Boasting a quarter-pound’s worth of lobster hacked into hefty chunks (the best approach, in my opinion), the roll prices in at a lofty $45, or, for a half-pound, $79. If you’re operating on a more limited budget, the Nordic shrimp salad roll, $21, will sate the same craving, or you could go for “Just a Wiener n’ Bun,” for $6.
A true pearl in the heart of Leslieville, this relaxed neighbourhood watering hole swapped out its usual Sunday roast for lobster rolls this summer, but you’re going to have to bring your A-game if you want to score one.
Only available on Sundays starting at 3 p.m., these beauties are served on homemade buns and stuffed with a generous helping of Nova Scotia lobster for $27. The catch? They only make 60 a day.
I know what you’re thinking: a stall in a mall food court could not be further from the coastal summertime fantasy I’m trying to live out when I order a lobster roll, and that’s fair.
On the other hand, the rolls at this stall, available in a manner of different preparations (cold or warm, spicy or sweet, even deep-fried), are shockingly good. So good, in fact, that you can smell the buttery buns on the griddle all the way upstairs at Sweat and Tonic. Solid workout motivation.
If fresh seafood is the prime culinary achievement of maritime towns, then St. Lawrence Market is the same for Toronto. It only makes sense, then, that one of the city’s most enduring lobster rolls has been served there for over 30 years.
Your endurance of the frenetic ordering process will be well rewarded when you’re presented with a heaping mass of East Coast lobster and thin, crispy fries to boot. It’s even better when you can find a spot inside the market to eat it, watching the crowds ebb and flow like the tide.
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