News

Eating the Caribbean’s Rarest Lobster

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - May 22, 2015

Above: a slipper lobster at Grand Case’s Le Pressoir (All photos by CJ)

By Alexander Britell and Guy Britton

ST MARTIN— Sleeper lobster. It’s called that because it sleeps so far below the surface. Or so we thought.

The waiter presented a lobster unlike any we had seen — a long, dark-brown, prehistoric-looking creature who dwelled 2,000 feet below the surface.

After a little tableside research, it turned out it was called a slipper lobster, named not for its bedtime but for its shape — that of a long, flat slipper.

Here at Le Pressoir, one of the best restaurants on Grand Case, one of the Caribbean’s great food streets, this was, too, a rarity.

franck

Above: Chef Franck Mear

The Chef, Franck Mear, explained that this lobster came in about six times a year.

It comes in without notice, served only by the luck of the waves.

lobste2

It really is a curious-looking thing, something out of a different time with ancient DNA.

Then the waiter brought it out, quiet and calm, perhaps sleeping as its onetime named had inferred.

IMG_8545

And then, after some foie gras and escargot, we tried it.

It was perhaps the best lobster in the Caribbean. And definitely rarest.

It was a different kind of tender, a different sort of sweet. No, it didn’t look quite like lobster, and didn’t taste quite like it. It tasted better.

It is very good. It is very rare.

Popular Posts w punta cana

A New All-Inclusive W Hotel Is Opening This Year in Punta Cana 

The first-ever all-inclusive W Hotel in the Caribbean is opening this year in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean Journal has learned.  The hotel, part of a broad expansion for parent company Marriott International, is on the list of expected 2024 […]


Why Grenada Is a New Caribbean Luxury Hotspot

beach house silversands

From its world-renowned chocolate to its pristine beaches to a region-leading focus on sustainability, Grenada is as fascinating and unique as destination as you’ll find in the Caribbean.  But in the last few years, the lush Eastern Caribberan island has […]


5 Adults-Only Resorts to Visit Right Now in the Caribbean 

galley bay

Sometimes you just want that extra degree of serenity, of privacy, of seclusion. There is a reason, after all, that adults-only resorts are booming in popularity, particularly in the Caribbean: travelers want to know that when they arrive, they know […]


Related Posts worthing square

The Caribbean’s Greatest Food Hall Is in Barbados 

Bake ’n shark, sailfish, roti, jerk, doubles, fresh pasta, tres leches.  It’s a symphony of flavors, tastes and cuisines, all set a short stroll from the beach.  This is the Worthing Square Food Garden in Barbados, and it’s the Caribbean’s […]


This Caribbean Island Is Hosting a Rum and Lobster Festival 

saba man with lobster

The tiny Dutch Caribbean island of Saba is set to launch an impossibly appetizing culinary event: a rum and lobster festival.  The first-ever Saba Rum & Lobster Fest will run from Nov. 6-12, with culinary experiences, music, art and a […]


The Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival Is Back

bahamas atlantis

The Nassau Paradise Island Wine and Food Festival is back again for 2024, Caribbean Journal has confirmed.  The festival, which debuted to broad praise last March, will be returning March 13-17, 2024.  The five-day event, hosted at Atlantis Paradise Island, […]


SUBSCRIBE!

Sign up for Caribbean Journal's free newsletter for a daily dose of beaches, hotels, rum and the best Caribbean travel information on the net.


No. Thank You