With all the talk about Lobster lately, (I’m talking about you Beyonce), it is no surprise that we will go the extra mile and spend a good amount of money to have one of the most delicious types of foods there are out there. Especially when it comes to dining out in New York City, which can already have a pretty big price tag on it seeing as we are in the food capital of the world. Question is, do we really know what we are paying for when it comes to our lobster? The answers are pretty surprising as top syndicated news magazine show Inside Edition is revealing some pretty interesting finds when it comes to what you get when you order your lobster on today’s episode.
Inside Edition visited 28 restaurants around the country, including ones here local to New York City, and found that in all of the different types of lobster dishes they ordered (rolls, ravioli, bisques) that 35 percent of them found cheap fish substitutes. Here is what they found at the New York City establishments they went to.
At world famous Nathan’s in Coney Island, Brooklyn, the lobster salad roll sample that was tested came back as whiting, an inexpensive fish. An industry group that Nathan’s referred Inside Edition to said that Nathan’s uses a seafood mix that includes lobster and whiting. In Little Italy in New York City, Inside Edition tested lobster ravioli at several restaurants, some that charge up to $30 for the dish. At one restaurant, Sofia’s, the lab found just cheese – no detectable lobster. The manager did not want to talk when Guerrero asked about it.
At the country’s largest seafood chain, Red Lobster, Inside Edition ordered lobster bisque soup from three different locations, then scooped out the meat for testing. One sample showed something called langostino, a crustacean which is actually more closely related to a hermit crab than a lobster, and two others had a combination of langostino and lobster. A langostino looks nothing like a Maine lobster and is less expensive.
There are some positives in this equation, however. At Umbertos Clam Bar in Little Italy, tests showed there was actually just lobster in the lobster ravioli, and at New York’s SoupMan, which was the inspiration for “Seinfeld’s” famous Soup Nazi character, the bisque was loaded with lobster. Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi on “Seinfeld,” is the soup joint’s spokesperson and showed Inside Edition how they use a whole pound of real lobster per gallon of soup.
For more info on this very interesting report, be sure to tune into Inside Edition today and find out more. Check your local listings.