"langostino" news and stories

When is a lobster not a lobster? When it's actually a langostino. And what's a langostino? Well sometimes is is a lobster (in Europe), sometimes it's a prawn (in Spain), and sometimes it's a crab.

And such is the reason why the people in Maine are a little more than angy that restaurants are selling langostinos as "lobsters." Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine wants the FDA to ban restaurants from calling langostinos on the menu, "lobster." According to Kristen Millar of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, serving langostino as lobster is an "insult to Maine and to the lobster industry."

Source

What's in a name? Enough to lodge a class-action lawsuit if it's the name of a seafood burrito at Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill. The popular fresh Mexican restaurant settled the suit a few weeks ago by offering class members and other customers a one-time coupon worth $3 off a $10 purchase at any of Rubio's restaurants in California.

Disgruntled customer Lisa Marie Meier filed the suit against Rubio's last June, alleging that the restaurant's "langostino lobster burrito" was nothing more than a "langostino burrito." I'm not quite sure if she was looking to find a burrito chock full of lobster given that Rubio's prices top out at about $7.

I must confess that I've never really known what a langostino is. I've heard that it's Spanish for prawn. The plot thickens, however, it seems that in the restaurant biz langostino is used when dishes include the meat of the squat lobster, which is not a lobster, but a cousin of the hermit crab. Either way I gotta say "squat lobster burrito," would be a terrible name.

Source