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Free Lobster Dinner Lastnight...
Topic Started: Jan 17 2009, 06:11 AM (389 Views)
Copper Leaf
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So hubby got the final payment for a moonlighting case he was handling and we decided to grab a seafood dinner at Red Lobster last night... Of course I ordered a bug, love 'em, especially the tamale (the creamy and buttery delightful stuff in the head that happens to be the lobster's liver)... Anyway the last time we went they had split and cleaned my lobster and I was agasted, they replaced it with a properly cooked bug and all was well...

Well... last night when I placed my order I was very, very clear that I did not want it split and cleaned, told them that I love the tamale and was really looking forward to it (in Japan, yes they have Red Lobster restaurants in Japan, they actually pan fry the extra tamale from lobsters used in other dishes in butter and serve it to you in addition to the whole lobster, Mmmmm.... really sorry if I'm grossing some of you guys out...)... Guess what... bug came split and cleaned... I know it's not the most mature response but I actually almost cried (PMSing big time). So we ask to talk to the manager... and we are informed that it is now company policy to split and clean all lobsters regardless of what type of dinner they have been ordered for (stuffed or plain steamed)... What?!?! Doesn't say that ANYWHERE on the menu... I would not have ordered a lobster if I was aware of that... probably would have chosen a completely different restaurant to take my family.

So, to make a long story even longer... the manager took the lobster off the bill and dinner was half priced... I still don't understand why diners can order raw shellfish, and rare steaks, but the lobsters must be cleaned out???
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OTF
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Copper Leaf, I don't understand that policy either, in light of the raw shellfish, etc., though that particular part of the lobster would go to waste if it was on my plate! ;) And I won't even ask why it's called a "tamale."

But hey, half price is half price!

And I like my beef rare. :yes:
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Kikki
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Interesting... I didn't know that either. I like the tamale too :)
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Scotchie
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Shunnnnn the unbeliever. Shunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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Don't you wish restaurants would put restrictions like that on the menu? Is it a thing with the big chains? I was at a Ruby Tuesdays last year and ordered a hamburger-rare. It states (or did at the time) plainly at the bottome of the menu that burgers/meat will be happily cooked to order. So I order rare. Waitress says it must be medium or well done. I show her the menu that says I can have it the way I want. She stands there and recites her mantra - medium or well done. Says they aren't allowed to serve meat any rarer than medium because of health reasons. I said that's interesting, but not what the menu states :brickwall: , and just give in and order (with a very nice smile) a medium burger that perhaps the cook can make as rare as possible? It comes back like leather. I mean, it's sooo well done. I show it to the waitress and explain that it wasn't even close to being medium. :shoot: I ate the rest of the stuff on the plate (time issue) and as I was eating the manager came over and in a fairly agressive voice and statue loudly says, "I understand we have a problem here!" I about died. I explain the issue and she just repeats the health thing and ignores my question about why they have the line on menu that I can order my meat any way I want. :argh: I gave up and rarely go there anymore.

You'd think that the lobster thing was just a presentation issue and they would happily leave au natural for you. Bizarre. :huh:

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Copper Leaf
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I did a little research and apparently the tamale/liver is being removed because toxins can accumulate there (the meat is fine) and may pose a health risk to diners... But it's not like people go out and eat a lobster everyday :rolleyes: ... Still think it should be mentioned on the menu and/or left up to the diner to decide... Can you tell it irks me when other people get to make decisions for me because they think they know better... :pissed:
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DairyQueen2049
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DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
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CL - both MM and I are AGASHTED!! over that! We too adore the tamales - I used to work at RL and I loved when people order lobster liive.

harrumph.

I guess there is a reason we use Simply Lobster and order our own now.
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Trialbyfire
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Copper Leaf
Jan 18 2009, 06:11 AM
I did a little research and apparently the tamale/liver is being removed because toxins can accumulate there (the meat is fine) and may pose a health risk to diners... But it's not like people go out and eat a lobster everyday :rolleyes: ...
Well....of course! That's the job of the liver!! Same goes for liver of other animals, too, although possibly there is more issue with seafood (mercury or something?) I agree that the policy should be made clear on the menu.

As far as the medium/well hamburger, I thought (and could be wrong) that it is an issue only with ground meat? So you could (in theory) order a rare steak but not a rare hamburger? Of course given the concerns over e.coli & salmonella, etc. I guess I could see restaurants changing to the medium+ policy.
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elizabeth
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Just a thought on this:

Does RL actually have live Maine lobster that they cook on site?

I ask this because at a party last year we were served a split, cleaned out, broiled Maine lobster that, I found out later, was a frozen version. It was excellent.

I'm thinking RL is a chain with many restaurants far from Maine and the frozen version would be far more economical for them then the live.
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Copper Leaf
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elizabeth
Jan 18 2009, 01:02 PM
Just a thought on this:

Does RL actually have live Maine lobster that they cook on site?

I ask this because at a party last year we were served a split, cleaned out, broiled Maine lobster that, I found out later, was a frozen version. It was excellent.

I'm thinking RL is a chain with many restaurants far from Maine and the frozen version would be far more economical for them then the live.
My lobster was plucked out of the tank and taken straight to the kitchen.
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elizabeth
I Visited Candy Mountain and All I Got Was This Lousy Incision
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In that case, I think you should have been given the option of what you wanted to eat on your lobster. Great for the discount but......it was yours.

My husband would have been right there with ya on the tamale issue. He loves it! Me, only the tail and he gets everthing else.

My suggestion would be to contact corporate and let them know what happened and that unless things changed you'll eat your lobster elsewhere. They should jump through hoops to make you happy especially now when there's not a whole lot of disposible income for lobster dinners. I work in this kind of market and now more than ever, it's very important that nobody walks away unhappy.
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Sing Mia Song
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As it happens, the woman in the office next to mine handles seafood press, and she had this very issue last summer. Here's the press release: FDA advises against consumption of lobster tomalley.

Poor Steph can never catch a break--she's now handling the peanut butter/salmonella outbreak, and she just got off melamine.
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Reynard Ridge
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The hamburger issue is easy to explain. The bad bugs grow on the bits of meat that are exposed to the air. So on a steak, the stuff that can kill you (although generally it will only make you sick unless you are a little kid or otherwise immune compromised) lives on the outside. You sear the steak, you kill the germs. So there's no reason not to eat a rare steak.

With hamburger, the outside gets chopped up, and moved inside. So if you don't cook all of the stuff inside to 165-185 F, you can end up with the e. coli, etc, thriving and you get sick. Or die if you are a little kid.

It actually happens - remember Jack in the Box in 1993? E. coli killed four children.

Now, imagine the horror that is a child dying - from eating an undercooked hamburger. And then the litigation begins. And never ends. THAT is why the g'vment mandates what you can and cannot serve in restaurants.

The lobster thing I can't help you with. But there is probably a "reasonable" reason for it. Just like there is a reasonable reason that in the US, all eggs must be stored at 45 F. And in the rest of the world they are sold off the shelf.

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