Opening the brown paper bag perched on the dining room table, I felt like a kid at Christmas. Slowly unboxing the takeout containers and beers, you could feel the anticipation in the air (and smell the deliciousness wafting through it). Lobster season is here!
In Newfoundland and Labrador lobster season is less than two months long, typically falling somewhere between early May and early June, so needless to say there’s a rush for those fresh claws. Despite a raging global pandemic and bottoming lobster prices, just like the leaves on the trees which have finally started to bud, lobster season is happening.
Mid-May my social media feeds became an untouchable feast of bright red crustaceans piled high on platters, stuffed into plump rolls and nestled against fresh pasta in takeout containers: no coronavirus was stopping local restaurants from sharing the bounty of our waters.
My husband and I decided to order a takeout feast from The Merchant Tavern when we discovered they were doing lobster rolls. We were excited to see a seasonal favourite available again, even if we couldn’t enjoy it in The Merchant Tavern’s beautiful dining room, opened by Chef Jeremy Charles and Jeremy Bonia in the spring of 2015.
Reviewing a restaurant without actually stepping inside its doors isn’t exactly easy. When I sit down at a restaurant, I observe everything — the music, the atmosphere, the server’s mood, what the table next to me is eating. It all contributes to what makes a restaurant great, or what makes it not so much.
And buddy, do I miss it.
But in the meantime, there are at least lobster rolls.
The Water Street restaurant began its limited takeout service on April 16, more than a month after all restaurants in the province were ordered to close by health authorities. We ordered for the first time with them mid-May and by then, they had the takeout process nailed; a fine-tuned socially-distanced methodology that was easy to follow. Ingenuity comes when it’s needed most and their use of the Open Table app, typically used to coordinate in-house reservations, is now used to organize pick up times for takeout orders.
While it took several attempts to get through the phone line at Merchant to place our order and pay via credit card, once we did it was smooth sailing to lobster.
I was assigned a pickup time for that evening and instructed to ignore the first incoming text, welcoming me to Open Table. At the predetermined time, we drove down to Water Street and parked outside The Merchant Tavern. When I received a text saying “your table is ready” it was the signal to walk up to the front door and get my takeout bag, which was waiting for me on a table just inside.
Easy execution and came in contact with zero people.
Upon arrival at home, we unpacked our lobster bounty and dug in for the feast.
The lobster roll and frites ($16) cradled huge chunks of lobster with purple cabbage, fennel and celery inside a soft brioche bun. I hate it when you can taste the mayo more than the lobster in these types of rolls, but The Merchant Tavern’s not-too-thick sauce let that hunky lobster meat shine through. The accompanying fries — crispy and fresh — came in their own takeout container, practically overflowing and much-welcomed, even though we had ordered another side of frites ($7) just in case.
The lobster pasta ($25) was also a winner.
The parcels of agnolotti were stuffed with lusciously smooth ricotta and leek, tossed with a generous portion of lobster (I think I counted at least four claws) with a layer of bread crumbs to add crunchiness and carrot for freshness. The lobster bisque-like sauce basically had me licking the takeout container.
A welcome addition to the meal was beer, which restaurants finally were allowed to sell with their takeout as of May 1.
We opted for a couple of Miqu’ale IPAs ($7 each) from the Brasserie Artisanale du fond de l’Anse in St-Pierre, which added a shot of hoppy freshness to an otherwise rich meal.
For dessert, Merchant has conscripted the help of their sister restaurant Raymond’s, making use of their award-winning pastry chef Celeste Mah.
Delicate looking, the lighter-than-air layer of coffee cake ($10) was little more than a vessel for the ridiculously tasty sea buckthorn curd, sprinkled with brown butter streusel.
It wasn’t exactly big enough to share, but honestly so good it could have been the size of a football field and I still would have resented sharing it.
Hopefully next year this time I’ll be sitting at the bar in Merchant with a cold pint and a big old lobster roll, but for now, I urge you to consider the lobster roll for your next takeout.
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The Details:
The Merchant Tavern
291 Water St.
St. John’s, NL
A1C 1B9
709-722-5050
Hours: Thursday-Saturday: Call between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for same-day takeout 4-7 p.m.
Accessibility: Takeout orders are collected from a table just inside the front door, making for a much more accessible experience.
Meal for two with beers, tax and tip: $95
Gabby Peyton is a freelance food writer based in St. John’s. Email:[email protected]; Twitter: @gabbypeytoneats
