Lobster dinner at Klein’s. Excellent! Their food is awesome. After 90 years, they know what they are doing with seafood!
By Paul and Eileen Goldfinger.
We used to frequent Klein’s on the Shark River at Belmar, but we got distracted by Bonnet Read on Cookman. However that fine establishment closed this past year. We also tried Cousins on the boards of A. Park, and they specialize in lobster.
So we went back to Klein’s at 4 pm this past Thursday. It wasn’t crowded, and parking was easy. We were in the Waterside Café with an active bar scene. Our table faced the water, and we enjoyed the boats passing by. The room was tastefully decorated for the holidays, and the menu was amazing with a huge variety of seafood. Some of you may have eaten outside in the summer adjacent to the water. For that we like their fish sandwiches. Klein’s has been in business since 1929, and they also have a retail fish market.
We started the meal with an appetizer order of fried calamari–not an easy dish to cook properly, but theirs were fine.
We split a 2 1/2 pound lobster, and it was amazing—cooked perfectly. It was served with waffle fries and vegetables. Cole slaw was served on the side. We dipped the meat into melted butter.
Our drink was a draft Yuengling lager–a light and tasty brew.
For dessert we shared a narrow slice of New York cheese cake–pretty good, but not great. The coffee was terrible, so they brought me an espresso which was better. Why is it that restaurant coffee is often mediocre?
We actually saved some of the lobster and calamari, and Eileen made wonderful lobster salad for Friday’s dinner.
She also made shoestring French fries in her air fryer. She bought frozen fries and then made them hot, crispy, and tasty.
At home with dinner we each drank (sipped) a small glass of chilled French white wine—Sancerre, which was excellent with our salad. One bottle lasts us four days, so if you do that, buy a really good bottle.
Don’t forget Klein’s if you are thinking of seafood. They are closed Monday and Tuesday.
And, as an aside, don’t forget that SeaGrass in Ocean Grove does a fine job with seafood. Below is our review of SeaGrass, but keep in mind that this review is for 2021. We were there recently, and Eileen enjoyed her lobster BLT. I had a fish platter which was excellent. Service was exemplary.
SeaGrass review 2021. Blogfinger.net
BILLY JOEL. “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”