Ford's Fish Shack

what exactly is a lobster roll?

 

A picture says a thousand words.

 

Delish! Thank you. We are now drooling. And the roll is the right kind........woohoo! I can not wait.

Do I dare ask what the market price is?

 

That does look good! Maybe we'll have to go to Ford's Fish Shack this weekend....

 

Just got carryout from Ford's Fish Shack tonight. I ordered the lobster roll ($18), fried oyster roll ($15 or $16), and fried fish from the kid's menu ($6).

I like lobsters, but I don't love it. I'd much rather eat crabs than lobsters. I bought the lobster roll for my wife since she went to grad school up in massachusetts and she likes lobster rolls. I took a bite of her lobster roll and didn't think it was that great. It was very bland..no flavor. My wife did say the bread is similar to the lobster rolls up in the New England area. She, too, thought the lobster roll was just mediocre. I tried the lobster roll from the food truck in dc ($15) and thought it was just as good as this place.

Now, I did enjoy my oyster roll. The oysters, I thought, were fresh. It was nice and plump. It didn't taste greasy and the batter was very light. The batter wasn't crunchy..more on the soggy side. I'm not sure if this is because I got this as carryout and the breading got soft during my drive home. The oyster roll was much better than the lobster roll in my opinion.

My daughter's fried fish was good as well. Everything was a tad bit on the salty side, except for the lobster roll.

Here's are pictures of the lobster roll and oyster rolls.

 

I grew up in MA (well my first 31 years, I'm still growing up ) so I'm looking forward to trying this place.

Those pictures look like food from a local seafood place up there (Ronnie's Seafood of Auburn, MA).

I've probably had about 30 lobster rolls in my life and honestly, they're really not that flavorful even at the best places. Lobster itself has a mild flavor so it's all the extra ingredients they put into the lobster mix (mayo, lemon and some spices usually) that give it its flavor, and the bun... the fried bun soaked in butter. Mmmm.

I'm also looking forward to real fish and chips. Around here I've yet to find decent fish and chips. I hope this place doesn't let me down (low expectations going in -- I've learned my lesson about high expectations for regional food brought to NoVA).

 

We went last night and it was a good meal.
For an appetizer, we had the Maine Chips (lightly fried chips covered with lobster, diced grape tomato and a blue cheese sauce) which were awesome. I had the clams w/bellies and my wife had the crab crakes, both were delish! The boy had a bacon wrapped hot dog on a most wonderful bun (same as the lobster roll).
Service was very good for a restaurant open for only a few days and the place was not packed but busy.

 

this is a baaad time to be allergic to lobster. I think my might take the risk and bring some benadryl...

 

The true classic lobster roll does not contain mayo...just butter, lemon, salt, and pepper and served warm. This is the decades long debate. Now, do lobsters really scream when they're dropped in boiling water? And wouldn't you?

 

Disagree on the cold w/ mayo and served hot with butter with the latter being a "true" roll. They are different altogther, and each is and always has been a lobster roll! I prefer cold w mayo . . . and for half the price make mine at home twice the size!

 

Yep, this is how I've also gotten them... cold lobster w/a little bit of mayo served on a warm, grilled-in-butter hot dog roll.

 

I feel your pain when restaurants put "Buffalo" in front of chicken wings......being from Buffalo....

 

Are you serious? If you are allergic to shellfish, this is a very bad idea. If I remember correctly, about 13-15 years ago a girl in Chantilly was allergic to shellfish, but every Mother's Day she and her Mom would go and eat crabs or lobster. Her reactions to the shellfish had been mild in the past, (rash or hives) so they figured it was OK, Well, this time she had an
anaphylactic reaction. I think she survived the incident, but is now has brain damage. To me it's not worth the risk.

I am allergic to shellfish and I used to make shrimp for my wife. Until one day I was perparing it for her and did not notice I had a "paper type cut" on one of my fingers. All of a sudden my throat starts to feel "scratchy" and I have a hard time swallowing. I stopped making her dinner and washed my hands and drank a lot of water. That was the last time I took the chance of making shrimp for her. (Although, I do get to go the the store to pick out her lobster dinner)

 

no i am not serious.

 

KTDid, are you by chance from CT? My husband and I both are and we like our lobster rolls hot. We once debated eating at the counter of a take-out type place inside Quincy Market in Boston and asked if their lobster rolls were served hot. The guy behind the counter asked us if we were from CT? When we said yes, he said "Only people from CT ask for hot lobster rolls!"

 

No, native of Maine. My Aunt's Rathskellar in RI served the rolls both ways since a lot of their customers were from CT, and if you drive up the coast of Maine you'll find Lobster pounds and restaurants serving it both ways too. Just ask the locals and they can point you to the right place.

 

folks we have a winner! I can't speak about any authenticity but on service, atmosphere and menu, they definitely won my business. looks fantastic- nice mural on the wall and plenty of lobster shanty kitsch. service- 110% excellence from handling our party of 9 with a full house to wonderfully paced top notch waitstaff- ask for Mike! you'd never know it was his first night there- he was a superb, attentive waiter.

the food. apps were first rate: a generous platter tasty mussels with fresh tomatoes and chorizo, the most tender calamari i've ever had in ashburn, and though i couldn't try them because of my lobster allergy, the rest of my party raved about the chips with lobster. entrees were delicious, pecan crusted trout- flaky and full of flavor, my friends raved about their shrimp tacos and fish sandwich. the lobster roll got decent marks but my friend did say he would have liked more sauce or flavor in it, but the lobster meat and roll were wonderful. blueberry pie- 3 words: don't miss it.
cold, refreshing brewskies topped it all off.

so family friendly- what an amazing gem we have here in ashburn!!!! can't wait to bring more people here!

 

Ok - so my wife and I just got home after having dinner at Ford's Fish Shack. I must say it was a very pleasant experience! We received a very warm welcome, top notch service, and the food was splendid! The 'Oysters & Pearls' appetizer was outstanding, followed by our our main courses of 'Atlantic Salmon Salad' and 'New England Cod'...not one bite was left on our plates!

I wanted to try so much more, but that will have to wait until next time. I was very impressed with the menu and would've never guessed they just opened...server was very knowledgeable when asked questions about the menu and the food came out quickly.

What else can I say....I'll be back!!

 

We tried it last night too and liked it a lot. We'll be back, for sure. I'm not really going to talk about the service because a) they were loaded up with staff for their first weekend and b) they were really welcoming and chatty. I think this is temporary, just like in all restaurants on their first weekends. I remember going to the Village Grill on the first weekend, too, and staff was just as plentiful and welcoming. I went back a month later and the service was awful, so I'll give detailed comments on the service at FFS when we go back in a month.

My wife and I each had the clam chowder. It was quite tasty, and if you're going to get it, you should know that it's Rhode Island style (broth based, not particularly creamy).

My wife had the fish and chips. I can speak to the authenticity since fish and chips was a staple in my house growing up, and they do a really decent job. Too many places around here use tilapia or mahi-mahi (or some other mild whitefish) and they overbread it. It just doesn't taste right or have a decent texture. But they used cod, which is very acceptable. And they breaded it just right (it wasn't heavy or thick). The chips? Well, they're good too. They're string fries (really thin) and seasoned (could've done without this).

I had the lobster roll. It was above average. There were humongous chunks of lobster, but it was a bit chewy. It sat in a perfectly-warmed and buttered bun on top of a thin bed lettuce. It had a bit of mayo and there was definitely some dill and lemon in there. If the lobster were more tender, it would have been perfect. In came with a grilled cob of corn... which I don't know, didn't really do it for me.

The only other negative comment I can share is second-hand. My wife thought the cole slaw was "weird" and "was nothing like she tasted before in cole slaw, and not in a good way."

They have Legend Brown Ale on tap. So that's a winner right there.

 

This fact ALONE will make me a regular!