Hollywood Lobster Roll: Cousins Maine Lobster

One day this spring, a strange black food truck showed up on Spring Street in Portland just below my office. I was accustomed to seeing various food trucks in this area, but this particular one was new to me. Then I took a closer squint at the thing and realized it was a Cousins Maine Lobster truck. I've heard of this company – mainly from its Shark Tank fame – but they were definitely new to the area... which seems odd to me since they're called Cousins MAINE Lobster. I'm sure you've heard the story... two cousins with Maine ties start this company in California in 2011, got a deal on Shark Tank, franchised the business and now have over a dozen trucks across the country.

So of course, I've been wanting to try this lobster roll since that day I saw it parked outside my office. And just my luck, the few times it's been there, I've had other plans for lunch. So when I spotted the familiar black truck at the Maine Brewer's Guild Summer Session beer festival, I was on that thing like a hobo on a hot dog.

They offer two choices for the lobster roll fans:

Maine Lobster Roll - $16.99
Maine lobster, served chilled, with a touch of mayo.
Served on a New England style roll.

Connecticut Lobster Roll - $16.99
Maine lobster, served warm, with butter and lemon.
Served on a New England style roll.

I picked the Maine-style lobster roll and it was definitely better than I expected. The meat tasted fresh and it came with light mayo. The mayo wasn't actually mixed with the lobster but squirted into the bun first with the lobster meat placed on top. At this point, I'm over the Connecticut style roll - I do love hot butter with my lobster roll, but that crustacean needs to be cold (which I've probably already said about a million times.)

The traditional New England split top roll was a tiny bit over toasted but I'll take that any day over an under toasted one. And there wasn't a ton of lobster meat piled in the roll... which normally would bug me, but since I was about two hours into an afternoon beer festival and eating from my lap, I was happy I wasn't constantly trying to corral lobster meat into its bun.

My first annoyance was with the price. $16.99 is generally not a bad price for a lobster roll but I went to their website and every one of their trucks around the country (that actually had pricing on their online menu) was LESS than the Maine truck. Now maybe I'm completely off base here but wouldn't you think that Maine lobster in MAINE would cost less and therefore the lobster roll prices would be less? I'm so confused by why my lobster roll was $16.99 and the one in Los Angeles is $15.50!

The other thing that annoyed me was the design of truck itself. It's plastered with Shark Tank crap and pictures of celebrities eating these lobster rolls. Here's a little hint... it's like the guy who thinks he needs to take the prostitute out to dinner. Mainers know lobster. We know lobster rolls. We don't need to be lured or wowed into buying a lobster roll just because a famous person liked it.

Having a picture of Ryan Seacrest on the truck isn't going to improve the taste – if anything we just find it tacky. Plus we're not fooled into thinking these celebrities actually ate at this particular truck. Maybe it's necessary for Phoenix or Dallas where they probably barely know where Maine is... but we're seasoned professionals up here. Don't insult us with pictures of your fancy friends.

So overall... good lobster roll, questionable price, tacky presentation. Just close your eyes when you order.