The Lobster

To start, I had Osetra caviar. The egg, shallots, crème fraiche, and chives paired perfectly with the caviar.

I had the Chilled Seafood platter as my main entree. Everything was so fresh, and accompanying sauces made every bite incredible.

Service was great. All staff were super attentive.

Can't beat the ambiance of viewing the Santa Monica pier just before sunset!

I can't wait to come back!!

First off I gave 2 stars for the waiter / bar tender ( I think his name was Isaiah) and of course the view was AMAZING ( in the daytime).
The cocktail was just ok nothing special.
The host was NOT friendly or accommodating!!!
The food was HORRIBLE. We tried several things and NOTHING was good. It actually had my stomach upset. What a disappointment with all of the options so close by. I can home and wanted to throw up. Fire the chef ASAP. We'll never mind. I won't be back for the food. .

I love this place for lobster!! This is my favorite lobster restaurant!! I've been here like 3x already. I could have this, too, for my last meal. Lol. You can park at their parking lot next to the building or down by the beach parking lot. Don't forget to have it stamped for 3 hrs valet parking. They still charged us $20 for parking. It was fine.

The view is spectacular of the Santa Monica pier from our dining area.
Lobster is market price and we had ours grilled. It is fantastic!! Service is great, too!!

Came for brunch, valet service was prompt. Service was excellent. The seafood is fresh and all dishes ordered were delicious. I enjoyed my crab benedict, oysters, octopus, asparagus. The crab benedict was my favorite out of what I had. Octopus was amazing, super tender and the accompanying sauces were subtle yet added to the meatiness of the octopus. Clam chowder was average, could skip that. View of the beach was great from where we were sitting.

I am really happy I found this place (actually my son had bern wanting to try), so I took him for his birthday.
Amazing ambiance... think beach-house, with a beach view and huge open air windows.
The menu is extensive of-course specializing in seafood and lobster.
The food was really good especially the lobster.
The calamari was delish.
The lobster mac and cheese was tasty but I don't think Ill order it again as it is really rich.
The crab fried rice was also good but not my favorite.
The drinks were were yummy.
The service was outstanding and the parking(valet) is convenient.
I will be hanging out here a lot during the summer.
They do have bar seating.....

Probably the best fine dining meal I've had in SoCal within this year.

I usually go to the Pasadena area for "fine dining" on special occasions but to be honestly the majority of the restaurants there aren't serving quality like they used to.

The Lobster on the other hand hit the nail on all areas. The ambience is gorgeous - you can see a bit of the ocean and the Santa Monica Pier from the restaurant. The service is very attentive and cordial. Parking is available underground or nearby.

Now to the best part the food. Everything tastes fresh and had quality ingredients. The tartare with caviar was delicious and fresh, the crab cake was full of crab, the Brussel sprout side was delicious and flavorful, and for the home run the lobster!

For a restaurant to be called The Lobster you must get it in my opinion! It was so tender, moist and grilled to perfection . And so much lobster meat!

The total bill for what you get is total reasonable in my opinion!

5 stars all around.

2023/12/31 16:00
- (over)pricy seafood but you're paying for the beautiful view of the ocean
- bread and butter is complimentary but only by request

UNI ($24.00): whole uni served with citrus, ponzu, and olive oil
- uni tasted very fresh, with a slight sweetness
- I think it's Santa Barbara uni?
- 5 pieces
- you scrape out the meat using a long spoon
- I wish it came with rice to pair with

CHARRED OCTOPUS ($24.00): octopus, potatoes, edamame hummus, etc.
- a little under-seasoned but overall very good
- octopus was cooked well

SEARED DUNGENESS CRAB CAKE ($23.00): one crab cake, served with rémoulade and dressed arugula
- good crab cake with chunks of meat and not too much filler
- outside could be a little crispier, but the inside was the perfect mushy texture
- rémoulade was delicious with both the crab cake and the arugula

MAINE LOBSTER SALAD ($34.00): lobster, orange slices, grapefruit slices, little gem lettuce, avocado fried leek
- I really liked the salad dressing, which was a sweet vinaigrette with a strong orange flavor
- fair amount of lobster, but it was very chewy
- everything was fresh

HERBED NOODLES ($35.00): wide noodles with pesto, vegetables, and parmesan
- everything except the noodles themselves was great, my favorite being the maitake mushrooms
- noodles were very undercooked and harder than al dente should be

SEARED RARE YELLOWFIN ($49.00): served with crab fried rice, mango salsa, and a sweet and spicy sauce on the side
- yellowfin was tender and fresh
- fried rice was very yummy, reminiscent of Benihana fried rice

BUTTERSCOTCH BUDINO ($15.00): caramel pudding topped with caramel sauce and crème fraîche and shortbread mini cookies on the side
- very rich, perfect ending to a meal for someone with a sweet tooth
- it's less solid than a typical pudding, making it extremely creamy

Waiter was amazing, funny, and attentive. Valet parking was easy and convenient, and the view is spectacular! The food was just ok. The lobster lacked flavor, and the crab fried rice was overly seasoned. The gumbo was not bad, but not really southern gumbo either. I'll return for the view and lovely atmosphere.

Ok so today's meal at The Lobster deserves a five star review - I somehow managed to impress my Mum who has eaten at so many Michelin-starred restaurants and enjoyed the best wines in France thanks to Chef Govind (who also doubles as the ultra cool laid back manager), Chloe the receptionist, the nice bartender guy, and Andrea our cheerful and friendly server. Their service was out of this world warm and welcoming, and when paired with amazing food and wine elevated this particular meal to wonderful, memorable, and tops in our book!

We had the perfectly complex yet smooth red wine "Rose & Son" Queen to Kings hailing from the Santa Ynez Valley (40 Merlot, 22 Cabernet franc, 20 Malbec, 18 Cabernet Sauvignon), which was perfectly crafted according to Mum's picky palate lol. Not too dry, it was light, crisp, fruity, a little bit of tannins and woodsy, and would easily pair well with seafood despite being a red wine; yet just robust enough to complement a steak too. Mum of course drank me under the table. Eh I'm a lightweight so she ditched me for a walk on the pier and left me to drink water and wait to sober up lol. Hence this masterpiece of a review! Andrea the sweetheart she is brought me a cappuccino to aid in my recovery lol.

Mum is a Hong Kong native and a fried rice snob but who knew that an American restaurant serving Dungeness crab fried rice would get her raving! Same with the hamachi tartare on toast points, the herbed noodles, and the freshly warmed bread and butter. The indisputable star of this whole meal was the Santa Barbara uni - I had just taken her to a famous sushi place in Newport Beach the day before and she was raving about that too - but today's uni couldn't be beat because it was served in the shell - you can't get more fresh and sweet than that!

To top it off, the view was as usual astoundingly gorgeous - there isn't a bad seat in this place due to the panoramic glass windows. Mum was so pleased that we were seated at a window-front table with a front & center view of the Santa Monica pier, the beach, and the palm trees.

I'm so relieved because it was her 45th wedding anniversary and dad was stuck on a plane lol. So this more than made up for the travel snafu. Thanks to the crew at The Lobster for these awesome memories! Mum is literally requesting I move to Santa Monica so she can come eat here more often lol! This is the perfect place for a fancy date, or a special occasion! Valet parking is $15 and I recommend coming here between 1pm-5pm so you can avoid the crowds and take your time taking in the gorgeous views! Definitely on the list to visit again when Mum is in town!

I honestly didn't think I'd like this place, just because nice restaurants with a view tend to be overrated. I was pleasantly surprised, though.

The view is great; you can watch the sunset and people-watch as the crowd moves along the Santa Monica Pier. The inside is clean and tastefully decorated.

My server, Aaron, was great; attentive, hospitable, and made great recommendations.

The strawberry lemonade recommended by Aaron was delicious; perfectly sweetened and very refreshing. 9/10

I made it in time for happy hour (3-6PM) and started with the shrimp and octopus ceviche and the lobster roll with fries (you can't go to a place called "The Lobster" and not get lobster.)

The shrimp and octopus ceviche was very good. 8.5/10
The octopus was really tender and the flavors fused well together.

The lobster roll was good. 7.5/10
It wasn't the best roll I've had, but I still enjoyed it. I think it would have been much better if it wasn't served in a regular hot dog bun.
The fries were good, too, nice and crispy. 8/10

It's a little on the pricey side, but definitely a place I'd recommend for a nice evening out or special occasion.