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Photo: Elizabeth Hait, AOL
Our fast-casual, best of the menu culinary trek continues: First it was Applebee's for appetizers, then Outback Steakhouse for Outback Favorites, then TGI Friday's for Sizzling Skillets. Our most recent adventure was at Red Lobster, to find out which was their best shrimp dish.
Menu Overview: There are 5 main courses in the "Shrimp" section, including Walt's Favorite Shrimp (breaded butterflied shrimp), Crunchy Popcorn Shrimp (fried breaded bite-size shrimp), Shrimp Linguine Alfredo (shrimp in garlic-parmesan cream sauce served over linguine), Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp (fried coconut-breaded butterflied shrimp with a "piña colada" sauce) and Shrimp Your Way (you choose a 2- or 3-item combination plate -- shrimp scampi available in this dish).
Find out our Shrimp Winner, Runner-up, and Loser after the jump.
Elizabeth Hait, AOL
The Winner: Shrimp Your Way Shrimp Scampi*
Sautéed shrimp served in garlicky melted butter -- what's not to like? Yes, a gratin dish of melted butter is not the kind of thing you want to eat every day, but it's okay to give yourself a once-in-awhile treat. The shrimp were nicely cooked -- not mushy, not hard -- and the butter goes a long way toward keeping them moist. This dish does have a big garlic flavor; everyone in our group is a garlic fan, but if you're not, watch out. And gluten-free folks, you win too: This is one of the few shrimp dishes you can eat!
*Full disclosure: Shrimp Your Way is a 2- or 3-item "combo" dish, so we had to choose another shrimp preparation in addition to the scampi. Instead of making it a double scampi order, we went rogue and asked for the Garlic Grilled Jumbo Shrimp from the Wood-Fire Grill section of the menu. This was actually our favorite shrimp preparation of the night -- the shrimp were juicy, the flavor of the shrimp was distinguishable and was complemented by the smoky grill flavor. A shining example that less is more. It couldn't officially qualify as our favorite, however, since it was not part of the Shrimp menu section we were judging.
Elizabeth Hait, AOL
The Runner-up: Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp
If you like coconut and don't mind a slightly sweeter shrimp preparation, this is the dish for you. The jumbo-size shrimp definitely fare better during the frying process than their smaller counterparts -- they stay relatively firm and juicy. And the shredded coconut mixed into the batter actually lightens up the breading overall (leaden breading was the downfall of some of the other shrimp dishes). We absolutely could not abide by the piña colada sauce, however, which we mistakenly thought was tartar sauce (shocking surprise in the mouth). One of our testers summed it up perfectly: "This tastes like a Yankee Candle smells."
Elizabeth Hait, AOL
The Loser: Shrimp Linguini Alfredo
There wasn't a person at our table who would say no to pasta with a creamy, cheesey sauce, but this one was completely unacceptable. It was a gluey, gummy, congealed mess from the moment it was set on the table. The shrimp were mealy, the pasta itself flabby. It was as if the entire dish had been cooked hours ago and been sitting under heat lamps.
Also on the "loser" list are most of the side dishes. The fries were rock hard and oily, the mashed potatoes were like paste. The rice pilaf and baked potato are the safest bets. Even the plain steamed broccoli was sad -- those poor florets had seen better days.
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2-17-2011 @2:19PM Kathy said... I don't know which Red Lobster you ate at but our local one in Christiansburg, VA has fabulous potatoes and the the brocolli and salads are always fresh and delicious! In our Girl's Nite Out group this is one of our favorite dining spots.
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2-17-2011 @6:01PM cambier lingua said... The Red Lobster in Orlando is fabulous. The one a few miles away in Lakeland is terrible. Same dishes, huge difference. And neither changes. Everything is good at the Orlando Red Lobster. Only the roles are good in Lakeland. Shrimps are hard, lobster in a dish is in bits, not bites but tiny bits, just the opposite in Orlando.
2-18-2011 @12:56AM Holly said... The quality of Red Lobster is really location specific. My son had won gift certificates to Red Lobster at a Christmas party at his work so he took me to eat there. The food was terrible, the shrimp were like the sad little mini-shrimps you get frozen in bags at the grocery and the preparation sub-par. Other items ordered were pretty much the same. I wouldn't take my cat to eat at the Albuquerque location. However, a few years later while visiting my niece at the University of Missouri in Columbia, she and my nephew ,who, also, lived there, wanted to go to Red Lobster. I was dreading it but was pleasantly suprised. The restaurant there had good quality seafood that was nicely prepared. It all depends on the location because the quality of food at Red Lobsters nationwide is not consistent.
2-17-2011 @2:32PM Betty Wilkerson said... Not relavent now but humourous for men who hate their wives being frugal( cheap). We went to Red Lobster a few years ago and they had given a fancy name to a seafood dish made out of the trimmings of the fish. I had to ask what it was and therefore knew in advance what I was getting but, hey, it was the cheapest dish on the menu.
First bite tasted like the odor emanating from my college lab class when dissecting a shark. I learned my lesson. I love all the platters and shrimp but won't pay to eat pasta when I went to eat seafood.
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2-17-2011 @2:32PM Robert Jackson said... I remember my 1st meal out of boot camp at Great Lakes Recuit Training Center in North Chicago. You guessed it, Red Lobster.
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2-17-2011 @2:33PM Dolly said... Sorry Charlie - don't agree with your version of the best - It is Walt's hand breaded shrimp by a mile. Nothing like them - nothing will ever compare. Can't get that taste anywhere. Those fried coconut shrimp you can get anywhere. I've tasted them. They are nothing special. Go back and try again - get a real taster. Maybe something is wrong with your tastebuds.? Get REAL!
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2-17-2011 @3:40PM Ratbert said... Red Lobster is a watery version of White Castle...
2-17-2011 @2:34PM Jann said... I live in Knoxville and have eaten at Red Lobsters in other areas as well, and I must I have never gotten a bad meal. This is a shame.
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2-17-2011 @2:46PM philip said... NO ONE goes t oRED LOBSTER for gourment food......so judging this is like saying HOme town buffett has GREAT food ....
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2-17-2011 @2:49PM Leslie said... I love Red Lobster! I don't think there is a bad thing on the menu ... the fishermen's platter and the large coconut shrimp are only a couple of my favorites. I also love the drinks! Adult menu and adult drinks!!! My mouth is watering at just the thought of Red Lobster.
My husband and I would try to go to Red Lobster on Friday and the place would be packed. People would be lined up against the wall. Best to just place an order to go!!! Can't get in ... can't get a seat!!!
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2-17-2011 @2:53PM TheShrimpMan said... Oh No! People actually eat this shrimp?
This is "farm rasied" shrimp is it not?
Farm raised shrimp are raised in tanks where they swin around in and eat their own feces....
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2-17-2011 @4:27PM Jodi said... As opposed to a cow that....eats it's own feces or a pig that....eats it's own feces. Guess what? Most animals eat their own feces.
2-17-2011 @5:51PM wakeupamerica said... Gee look what family inbreeding has done for you.
2-18-2011 @8:55AM brooke said... thats not what hes saying...the point is, farm raised shrimp, have no flavor except the spices added to it, its not like its Louisiana trawled shrimp, which is the state that provides 90% of the shrimp in this country. Shrimp should be caught, not raised. The reason people complain so much about the price of shrimp is because restraunts like this, dont buy the 'good stuff'.
BTW, all the southern restraunts have respect for the shrimping industry and buy 'real' shrimp, for there dishes. This Red Lobster had to be from up north.
2-17-2011 @3:10PM Bandy-Legged Jackanapes said... Luckily, I live in Southern California and don't have to endure the infamous Red Lobster™. We have real seafood restaurants here.
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2-17-2011 @6:38PM Hooper said... Well goody for you. The rest of us land bound have to make do with the Lobster, which is not bad.
2-17-2011 @7:54PM c said... California has a lot of "different" ":things" that you won't find anywhere else, thank the good Lord!
2-17-2011 @10:57PM Maedar said... No need to be out in SoCal for good seafood.
I live in NW Ohio, and there are far better restaurants than Red Lobster here as well.
If you want a good seafood restaurant, go to your local fish market and find out what restaurants shop there.
2-18-2011 @12:58AM David said... Don't be such an elitist! It insults people. I live in SoCal, too, and happen to own a well known restaurant that serves gormet seafood. We often get it fresh out of the Pacific Ocean, direct from the guy who catches it, no freezing. However, I like Red Lobster and have eaten there quite a few times. It's a fun place to go and the food is perfectly good. Everyone doesn't have to have a finely developed palate. An overcooked hamburger at the campfire out camping can be delicious. Yeah, in a cook-off we'll beat Red Lobster hands down, but so what? Judging your food with the mind of a restaurant critic every time you dine is boring and painful to everyone you dine with.
2-17-2011 @3:18PM Margaret Anne Holt said... The last time I ate at a Red Lobster in Tulsa OK I got the worst food poisoning attack I have ever had.
I ordered the assorted shrimp plate and it was delicious but the garlic must have covered up the awful poisoning. It was a bad attack........Have not been back!
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