Vol. 12: Red Lobster's Wood-Fire Grilled Shrimp and Lobster Tails

I have long been a fan of the shrimp season specials at Red Lobster.  All-you-can-eat shrimp and Cheddar Bay biscuits for a not-so unreasonable price just begs one to gorge themselves sick like a crazed hobo forego all pretense at civility and eat with abanbon.  The last time I was at Red Lobster, however, it was during Lobsterfest.  Bastards.  They don't have the shrimp specials then.  And not being one who has ever been ga-ga over lobster -- it's just aight -- I grudgingly opened the menu.

Okay, so I didn’t snap a picture of mine.  Here are some “official” ones from RL’s website.

None of the specials really caught my attention, except one:  it contained an order of shrimp scampi (my favorite of all time, +1,000 points), a skewer of wood-fire grilled shrimp (never had it, but it's still shrimp, +800 points), two wood-fire grilled lobster tails (meh, aight, +350 points), and a side of rice pilaf (RL's pilaf blows goats is sub-par, -150 points).  Even with the pilaf (which remained untouched), the special won the decision process by a narrow margin of 50 points over the shrimp trio (scampi, butterflied & fried, and shrimp Alfredo; excellent, but the pasta sits like a lead brick in your stomach).  So I placed my order and waited patently with my biscuits and salad.

The dish arrived shortly thereafter, the smell making me drool (okay, it was the anticipation of scampi, sue me), which I tried in vain to wipe with a napkin.  The first thing I did was try one of the wood-fire grilled shrimp - which, I'm fairly certain, I soiled my pants with how good they are.  They were perfectly cooked, tender and juicy, with a slight smokiness which did not overpower the flavor in any way, shape or form.  After the success with the shrimp, I tried the lobster - and I kid you not when I say it was the $hit of all sea-$hits best lobster I've ever had, hands-down.  I literally groaned after chewing.  I almost felt sorry for the scampi, since they - as much as they were my favorite of all time, before - simply paled in comparison.  Needless to say, everything on my plate was devoured (except the pilaf), and I had no leftovers at all, which is a Red Lobster first for me.

In other words, wait 'til payday and go get some!

The Verdict

5/5.  Pardon me, but I must go and change my pants.