Port Edward Specials

I just got an email from Port Edward in Algonquin with their current specials. Attention seafood lovers!

All "U" Can Eat Maine Lobster on Tuesdays $36.95
All"U"Can Eat Snow Crab on Thursdays $22.95

Port Edward
The Fox River at The Bridge
Algonquin Rd - Rt. 62
Algonquin, IL 60102
Phone: 847.658.5441

So I'm asking myself, how many Maine lobsters could I eat?

Probably three, comfortably. Maybe four.

This is a very tempting possibility; The Wife is very fond of lob.

Hammond

Hi,

A few years ago, Davis Street Fishmarket had an all you can eat Lobster night. The cost a rather decent $14.95 ... period. I ate 4 lobsters and my Dad had 5.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

A few years ago, Davis Street Fishmarket had an all you can eat Lobster night. The cost a rather decent $14.95 ... period. I ate 4 lobsters and my Dad had 5.

Regards,

Your dad sounds like a righteous gent.

At dinner tonight, the Wife said she thought she could probably eat one, maybe two. A lightweight.

For this type of event, I'd say three lob is absolute minimum.

David "My tinhat picks up satellite chatter" Hammond

Hi,

Treasure Island has lobster in the 1-1.25 pound range for $8.99 a pound. I've seen some on Argyle, this was a few months ago, for around $7 per pound. I would suggest, using the TI price point, you would want at least 4 to feel you broke even.

Most people eat the claw and tail meat. I suck on the legs, extract the meat in the tail fins, eat the tamale, explore the lobster's head and eggs, if I am lucky. Julia Child on The French Chef show had an excellent primer on how to eat a lobster leaving not much more than the shell!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Treasure Island has lobster in the 1-1.25 pound range for $8.99 a pound. I've seen some on Argyle, this was a few months ago, for around $7 per pound. I would suggest, using the TI price point, you would want at least 4 to feel you broke even.

Yes, four would be my goal.

I think, though, that if the lobster is truly "Maine lobster," then the price may be more than $8.99/pound.

Hammond

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Treasure Island has lobster in the 1-1.25 pound range for $8.99 a pound. I've seen some on Argyle, this was a few months ago, for around $7 per pound. I would suggest, using the TI price point, you would want at least 4 to feel you broke even.

Don't forget that this is a restaurant, not a supermarket. The lobster comes already cooked and nicely presented on a plate by a waitress. Most dinners at Port Edward also include a fairly nice salad and potato as well....and you can't forget the ultra-romantic atmosphere of the place. There is value in all of this, so you really can't compare the cost of the all-you-can-eat lobster dinner directly to the price you pay for a live lobster right out of the tank at the store.

I grew up in Algonquin and have eaten at Port Edwards many a time since the late 1960's. It is very worthy of the drive and the experience, their food and service are always solid and if you book far enough in advance, you can eat on the little schooner that floats in the pond. I do miss the cruise boat they operated for many years, the pilot died 2 years ago and they never revived the boat.

Four lobsters ... hmmm, that would be about a six-hour dinner using the Cathy eating style that my better half also employs. We often go to Davis Street Fishmarket for lobster for New Year's (but not tomorrow) with two long-time friends where he and I are done in 15 minutes, and sit and watch for another hour while Barb and his wife attack every nook and cranny with surgical precision until every morsel has been extracted from the shells. Perhaps that's why I've been wary about checking out the similar Pappadeux AYCE weekly special.
>>Brent

brotine wrote:Four lobsters ... hmmm, that would be about a six-hour dinner using the Cathy eating style that my better half also employs.
>>Brent

Yep. The Wife is the same way: very patient, remarkable small motor coordination, unquenchable lust for lobster. Me, I rip, rend, consume the big pieces, but cannot be bothered to suck tentacle for scraps of crustacean carne.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:

brotine wrote:Four lobsters ... hmmm, that would be about a six-hour dinner using the Cathy eating style that my better half also employs.
>>Brent

Yep. The Wife is the same way: very patient, remarkable small motor coordination, unquenchable lust for lobster. Me, I rip, rend, consume the big pieces, but cannot be bothered to suck tentacle for scraps of crustacean carne.

Hammond

You cannot begin to imagine my frustration when I go to the northeast to lobster shacks. The garbage cans are teaming with hardly picked over lobster carcasses!

I will admit everyone is getting impatient at the table, while I slowly make my way through the lobster. It's interesting that so far it is only women who are carefully picking through the lobster.

Regards,

I had my first whole lobster (first lobster at all, I guess...) at Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier in Kittery, ME with my (then) boyfriend and future mother-in-law in the summer of 2002. As I had only recently come off of twelve years as a vegetarian, they were cautious as to how I would react to tearing apart a recently wriggling carcass with my bare hands. Long story short, it was the first of many lobsters who gave their lives for my enjoyment. They walked me through breaking down and eating the beast, and when I was through with that lobster (tail and claws), I looked around and saw another woman happily sucking the legs. Hey, why didn't you tell me to suck the legs!? I've been a leg sucker (and tail fins too) ever since.

The nooks and crannies and tomalley are the best parts of lobster. That said, in an AYCE setting I may not make the effort (Crab however, is a different matter).

sazerac wrote:The nooks and crannies and tomalley are the best parts of lobster. That said, in an AYCE setting I may not make the effort (Crab however, is a different matter).

I always thought that (at least) half the fun of eating lobster and crab was the aspect of playing with my food, endlessly, the Bride would say. She is now reconciled to the idea that when I get a crab or lobster she will sit there for an hour watching me eat after she is done.

Port Edward has always been the place that Executives went for dinner and special occasions in the 70's and 80's when I lived and worked in Schaumburg. This is not, unfortunately, a positive association in any way. It sounds like that was unfair, so I am now putting it on my list of places to try.

The thing is, if one really wants to wallow in one's lobster isn't an all-you-can-eat deal counter productive? Give me a nice, big lobster, some good sides, and an hour to wallow, and I am smiling.

Cathy2 wrote:It's interesting that so far it is only women who are carefully picking through the lobster.

I eat lobster the same way. While foodie guys are sometimes an exception, I've also noticed that women are also much more likely to gnaw on bones (in steak and chops, for example) than men are.

My theory is that this divide is because of racial memory, dating back to prehistoric times when the male hunters grabbed the best cuts for themselves and threw the bones and shells to the womenfolk.

LAZ wrote:My theory is that this divide is because of racial memory, dating back to prehistoric times when the male hunters grabbed the best cuts for themselves and threw the bones and shells to the womenfolk.

Wow! That's a bit of a controversial bone you've thrown down
I will not pick. Happy New Year!

This doesn't work well in restaurants, but at home you can take the swimmerettes (little legs) and using a rolling pin get the meat out in moments.

Finally made it to Port Edward last night for the Seafood Buffet and I have to say that overall we were pretty disppointed.
I can't speak to lobster night or snow crab night, but this night the food was just okay. We were going for an early Valentine's dinner and I had thought folks had mentioned this was a restaurant on the romantic side. Maybe it's that we were seated in one of the back rooms near the wait station, but romantic is not an adjective I would use. Quirky, rustic, historic, warm, hospitable, yes. But I digress.
Let me start by saying the buffet is definitely plentiful and diverse. There are many, many things to choose from. For $35 you can certainly stuff yourself and since it's mostly seafood feel like you're getting your money's worth. But honestly, the food didn't taste great enough for us to go back for seconds on any one item. My husband is a raw oyster fanatic, so I thought he would be in heaven at the raw bar. But bottom line, the flavor just wasn't there.
We decided that we have to give up on buffets and all you can eat specials. The ones we've tried so far in the Chicagoland area have been disappointing overall. The quantity and variety of food may be enough for some, but we're thinking quality means more to us. We may try Port Edward again but order off the menu. We'd like to think that this restaurant that so many people seem to enjoy does a better job when focused on making our dinner than trying to keep a massive buffet in top form for the masses. And maybe it is more romantic when you're dining there in the summer and the sun is setting on the Fox River just as you're ordering dessert.
On another note, thanks to any and all of you who have recommended some local spots we really loved and will continue to visit. We celebrated our wedding anniversary at Hugo's Frog Bar in Naperville and really loved it. We'll definitely be back there. Food was great, service was excellent and it was a fun place but special enough for a special evening. But the place we'll go back to first will be Chinn's 34th St. Fishery. No romance here, but none is needed. We were there for the love of food and it was the food we loved.

Sorry to hear of your disappointment with Port Edward but, yes, you would have been better to order off their menu instead of the buffet which I feel is too ambitious. As I said earlier, I grew up in Algonquin and my family had eaten there many times over the years, I live 25 miles away now and go maybe once a year. The place has had the same owner for 40 years now and probablu could use a little updating but there are certain spots in the restaurant where you could have had a very private, romantic spot, you need to ask when making your reservation. You can dine in the little sailboat but I think they typically have a one year wait list.

Yogimom wrote:We decided that we have to give up on buffets and all you can eat specials.

Yogimom,

You have discovered one of the basic truths about dining in restaurants. I would urge you to give Port Edward another try, keeping this in mind. Next time, call ahead and reserve one of the tables that overlook the little harbor with the sailboat in it, a "windmill" table or even the boat itself (call months ahead of time for the boat, though).