New England has been without a McDonald’s lobster roll for nearly 10 years, a hiatus that will end this Saturday (27 June) when the fast food juggernaut reintroduces the McLobster onto menus in the northeast U.S. for a limited summer run.
Restaurant locations in the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut will offer the sandwich, which is “made of 100 percent real North Atlantic lobster and mayonnaise.” The 290-calorie roll will cost consumers USD 7.99 and will feature lobster that has been frozen and shipped to applicable restaurants as a means to guarantee the seafood’s freshness, McDonald's assured.
“The return of the Lobster Roll is exciting because we have requests for it every summer,” said Nicole Garvey, McDonald's Boston Region spokesperson, in a statement. “It's a delicious sandwich, and we are thrilled to offer this regional favorite at a great value.”
The arrival of an inexpensive alternative from McDonald's for the summer certainly doesn’t have local lobster roll restauranteurs in New Hampshire phased. As Rebecca Risman, manager of the Portsmouth location of The Beach Plum – the winner of 2014’s best lobster roll at the Hampton Beach Seafood Fesitival – told the New Hampshire Union Leader, “consumers not going to drive through a McDonald’s to get a lobster roll, especially fresh.”
Kaleb Brown, manager of Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook, reiterated that sentiment: “I’m not too worried… Their taste buds will be able to tell the difference,” Brown said to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Sale of the McDonald's lobster roll will kick off on 27 June for the select U.S. locations. Meanwhile, Canadian McDonald’s sites will sell their last McLobster rolls on 30 June when the Great Canadian Taste Adventure campaign finally wraps up. The Great Canadian summer promotion touted menu items that highlighted unique flavors within five regions of the country, with the McLobster representing the Atlantic zone. According to Kevin Pang of the Chicago Tribune – who ordered the sandwich during a stint in Maple Leaf territory – the McLobster runs at about CAN 7.99, or USD 6.51.
Lobster meat for the Canadian McLobster is being supplied by High Liner Foods Inc.’s Lunenburg, Nova Scotia location, through a partnership with Raymond O’Neill & Son Fisheries, as well as via Beach Point Processing in Beach Point, P.E.I.
