Birch Harbor Lobster Roll: The Pickled Wrinkle

Most people think of Bar Harbor or Southwest Harbor or Mt. Desert Island when they think of Acadia National Park, but we recently found ourselves in the Winter Harbor neck of the Acadia area on the Schoodic Peninsula which is also part of the park. More specifically, we journeyed to Gouldsboro, the home of Birch Harbor – wow, there are a lot of harbors in play here! And Birch Harbor is the home of a restaurant called The Pickled Wrinkle. Yeah... you read that right.

You're probably asking yourself the same thing we did – what the hell is a pickled wrinkle? Well, according to the sign on our table, people must ask this question 5,467,389 times per day because it's thoroughly explained.

Wrinkles are large carnivorous sea snails also known as whelks. They are pickled and referred to locally as pickled wrinkles. Unlike periwinkles, which inhabit tidal zones, wrinkles are larger and inhabit areas below the tide line. Lobster fishermen find wrinkles in traps they haul from the ocean floor. In tough times, wrinkles helped to feed hungry Maine families. Pickling was a great way to preserve the protein-packed morsels. Nowadays, wrinkles are a Downeast Maine delicacy.

Your next question probably will be, did I actually try the pickled wrinkle? Sadly my answer is no. I'm sorry to say that I'm just not that adventurous with my cuisine. But this isn't a snail blog so I guess I'm ok!

I normally don't eat lobster rolls that aren't a regular menu item. If it's on the specials board, it's most likely off my list. Honestly, I could kick myself for my ordering choices, but I clearly was on a mission to eat a bunch of lobster rolls while on my mini vacation. This one was just....... meh. Edible but not fantastic.

Bready is the first adjective that comes to mind. Every time a lobster roll shows up in front of me swaddled in a brioche roll, I want to bash my head against the table. Over and over and over again. I'm not saying that I haven't had a couple brioche rolls that I actually liked, but the probability of me hating it is always very high. Thumbs down on this bready beast.

The lobster had no distinguishing taste. It wasn't sweet, it wasn't salty, it was just, well, meh. I feel like the mayo it was mixed with was its most prominent flavor. Overall, this lobster roll served only to fill my belly so I didn't starve to death on the way home. For that purpose only, it succeeded. I can't even remember how much the damn thing cost, that's how small of a connection I had with it.

The highlights of the experience? The restaurant itself was pretty cool and I probably would've been happier with something non-lobster. No stupid lettuce and the tater tots were amazing. More restaurants should consider serving tots over fries. Who doesn't love this perfect potato package? Oh, and I got a t-shirt too because they were pretty awesome!