# Do you prefer steak or lobster? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100 "2018-01-21T03:15:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/81 "2018-01-22T16:30:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Lobster by a mile. I don’t hate steak but it’s a take-it-or-leave-it thing for me. Seafood, on the other hand, I love. Same for me. Every once in a rare while, I get a hankerin’ for some dead cow, but if you’re buying, I’m ordering lobster! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/82 "2018-01-22T17:09:14Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Jim Gaffigan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD8I7Hf0eeI) on Seafood. He starts with lobster so no waiting. I’m in full agreement with Jim! Anything with more than 4 legs and has antennae is a bug! ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/83 "2018-01-22T17:17:44Z")
So far in my life, steak, hands down. But I can’t help but feel I’m missing something with lobster. Every time I’ve had it, it was at a chain sit-down place and it was just so-so, and far too expensive. But I used to feel that way about crab. In fact, I still do, mostly. But one time (at Joe’s Crab Shack, no less) I spent far too much money on a bunch of crab, and it just blew me away. King crab, Dungeness crab and some other kind in a pot, all thick, hot and well seasoned. And when I cracked the shells, they came off easily and left huge chunks of really flavorful crab meat. I really never had that experience before or since. But now I know that crab can be _way_ better than that stuff from Red Lobster that is cold by the time it gets to your table, has rubbery shells that you can’t barely crack and when you do the meat comes out molecule by chewy molecule. If I ever get back near an ocean I’m definitely going to seek out the _good_ kind of crab again. So maybe there’s some excellent lobster out there that I just haven’t had. If I could get some that was as much better than the lobster I’ve had as that crab was better than the crab I had before, it just might beat steak. Even steak has consistency problems, especially at chain restaurants, but being in the Midwest I’ve had enough to know how absolutely awesome great steak can be. Maybe if I was from Maine or Massachusetts or something I’d feel that way about lobster instead. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/84 "2018-01-22T17:51:26Z")
I hinted at it in my post, but freshness has 100% to do with how good your lobster or crab tastes. I can tell if it has been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days after steaming or boiling - it becomes completely flavorless. Give it a day or two more in the fridge, and it starts to smell like ammonia. Shellfish has an extremely short shelf-life. Freezing also kills the yummy fresh flavor. I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet good money that shellfish is cooked and then frozen somewhere overseas (to save the cost of labor and live tanks over here), then shipped to the big chains and the buffets. Then your average American has the lobster platter at one of these places, and wonders what all the fuss and expense is about, because the shellfish is tasteless and/or mealy. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/85 "2018-01-22T18:23:53Z")
When I was a kid we often had lobster at home. I’d go to the supermarket after school, bring back four lobsters, still alive, in the basket of my bike, and they’d get cooked only a few hours later. We don’t buy dead lobster at the store. The best blue crabs I’ve had were caught in the water off the back porch of the house we rented on the Jersey shore, and cooked that night. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/86 "2018-01-22T19:50:21Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > …here in Aus. Where in Aus? Best steak I’ve ever had was in Aus…though I’m aware that as you’re in Aus, unless you’re local then you’re _really_ not local, so I may not continue with my recommendation for fear of tempting you with something so cruelly unavailable… ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/87 "2018-01-22T20:01:00Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > A really good steak is a thing of beauty, but it has to be really, really good. A mediocre steak is easily beat by a mediocre lobster. Damn right. I’ve been disappointed too many times so I (almost) never order steak when I’m out: I buy decent meat from a butcher I trust and cook it how I want it at home. Unless I’m eating at the sort of place I can’t generally afford, I don’t gamble! Steak which is merely adequate is _such_ a disappointment given how great it can be…and that disappointment is rather compounded by the fact that it’s invariably the priciest item on the menu! Good lobster is spectacular, and so is good steak; so-so lobster is so-so, but so-so steak is rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/88 "2018-01-22T20:09:33Z")
I’ve had lobster on numerous occasions at [Chauncey Creek in Maine](https://www.epicurious.com/archive/diningtravel/restaurants/maine-lobster-shacks-chauncey-creek-lobster-pier) so I’m pretty sure I’ve had lobster about as fresh and delicious as it comes. Meh. Gimme the steak; a good piece cooked just right is pretty mouthwatering. (Although I’m not a huge meat fan either. Gimme the lasagna!) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/89 "2018-01-22T21:54:02Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I’m in full agreement with Jim! Anything with more than 4 legs and has antennae is a bug! So, you’re calling my ex-wife a bug? How dare you! ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/90 "2018-01-22T22:34:17Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > And steaks can’t fight back. Um, no country has ever made a national sport out of fighting lobsters. No running of the lobsters.😃 No riding wild lobsters for sport to see who can stay on for barely over a half dozen seconds.😉 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/91 "2018-01-22T22:37:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Go to Costco. That’s one of the few reasons I keep my Costco membership. I’ve never been happy with most of the supermarkets around my house’s selection of steaks, nor the cut (too thin for what I like.) Costco is great on both regards, plus they have some Prime-graded meat available, too. I’ve never been disappointed by meat from Costco. It actually is a bit more expensive than what I can get at the supermarket, but, for steaks, it’s always better (or, I should say, more to my tastes.) This man speaks the truth. Costco has excellent steaks. My parents often buy tons of meat at a time and give some steaks to my brother and I. Their NY strips are really good. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/92 "2018-01-22T22:41:38Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Um, no country has ever made a national sport out of fighting lobsters. > No running of the lobsters.😃 > No riding wild lobsters for sport to see who can stay on for barely over a half dozen seconds.😉 Well, no one ever told some of the lobsters I brought home from the store that. Though I got the last laugh. With butter. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/93 "2018-01-22T22:41:48Z")
Steak. No mud-bugs. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/94 "2018-01-22T22:52:30Z")
Based on the exactly one time I’ve had lobster: steak all the way. Because that lobster was not good. I do’nt remember what it tasted like anymore, but I remember really hating it, and feeling horrible because they’d spent so much. Usually I can pull off going ahead and eating food I don’t particularly like, but I could not do so with that lobster. The butter dipping just made it worse. Oh, and I generally like seafood. Shrimp seemed the most similar, and I adore shrimp. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/95 "2018-01-23T01:18:58Z")
For overall flavor, lobster. If I had to eat it everyday? Steak (rare). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/96 "2018-01-23T01:26:54Z")
I would [Consider the Lobster](http://theessayexperiencefall2013.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2013/11/Consider-the-Lobster_david-foster-wallace.pdf), but choose a good steak instead. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/97 "2018-01-23T03:59:04Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > If you ever find yourself in Connecticut ask for a lobster roll. Hot, buttered chunks of Maine lobster served in a toasted roll. No work, all reward. That I can handle - someone else doing all the digging and de-shelling. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/98 "2018-01-23T04:35:54Z")
When I haven’t had a good steak in a while I forget how amazing it is. Then I take that first bite… I like lobster but not as much. Now crab I might have trouble picking. My favorite is Bairdi but I think they stopped harvesting them again. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/99 "2018-01-23T14:16:46Z")
If the lobster was cooked fresh from a live one pulled out of a tank, yes. Frozen or already dead, no. Best lobster I ever had was fresh killed, then the tail and claw meat poached in butter that had been flavored with garlic and lemon. I do love a well prepared steak - had a wagyu NY strip at a Ruth Chris once that was marvelous but I am happy with a non-wagyu as well. My favorite meal would probably be a combination of that butter poached lobster with that Ruth’s Chris wagyu, with a baked potato and the creamed spinach, with a nice side salad and piece of cheesecake for dessert. And maybe the prosciutto wrapped grilled asparagus as an appetizer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100/100 "2018-01-23T16:20:00Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Damn right. I’ve been disappointed too many times so I (almost) never order steak when I’m out: I buy decent meat from a butcher I trust and cook it how I want it at home. Unless I’m eating at the sort of place I can’t generally afford, I don’t gamble! Steak which is merely adequate is _such_ a disappointment given how great it can be…and that disappointment is rather compounded by the fact that it’s invariably the priciest item on the menu! > > Good lobster is spectacular, and so is good steak; so-so lobster is so-so, but so-so steak is rubbish. See, that’s quite opposite my experience. I’ve had what was, I suppose, at least decent lobster based on the restaurants I was eating them at, and I would have preferred even a run-of-the-mill sirloin from the corner diner to it. And with lobster rolls, I’m always wondering why am I paying $17 for this when I could be having a shrimp poboy at half the price and twice the flavor! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-steak-or-lobster/807100.md?page=6)