New England Visits Southern California

Lobster Festival opens at King's Fish House.

Anyone who grew up in New England, or has had the good fortune of visiting the craggy Maine coast during the month of June, knows there are certain roadside stands you stop at for just the right ice cream and just the right chowder and just the right boiled dinners.

But, regardless of what sort of chow you crave, you probably go lobster at some point, meaning a lobster roll, lobster Benedict, or just straight-up lobster with a wedge of lemon on the side.

Happy news for SoCal-based Maine mavens: King's Fish House in Costa Mesa is spotlighting the crustacean in honor of Maine lobster season, starting on Tuesday, May 20.

It's true that Southern California's lobster festivals get all clawed up come September, but summertime is when the lobster business really hums in the coastal Atlantic waters.

So wait not for late summer, if you want to do the bib-and-butter thing right now. The dishes that are a part of the New England by way of the SoCal foodie to-do include a lobster roll (which you can request in two regional-specific ways: classic or Connecticut), lobster bisque, fried clam strips (New England-style, natch), clam bake, and po' boy.

Sea-salty homemade chips come with the lobster roll. Please. What kind of lobster roll would it be if we couldn't sneak a few chips right into the sandwich itself? 

Strawberry shortcake, which is very tied to the tippy-top northeastern point of our country, and a salted caramel ice cream sandwich round out the sweet end-of-the-meal choices.

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Oh dang. Our fingers were all ready to type the words "lobster rolls" and "buttery" a few more times, just because, but now they've met "salted caramel ice cream sandwich" and loyalties are being tested.

Whatever plates you go with, call it a trip to Maine, without the week-long drive, given that King's Fish House is indeed in Orange County. 

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