Red Handed at Red Lobster

This again can be filed under “never say never”.

I hadn’t given much thought to Red Lobster when it opened more than a year ago in Doha. Maybe I thought it wasn’t something for me (not being a fan of chain restaurants), maybe I was put off by the traffic logged location.

But I am an adventurous lady and when I was invited with a group of other food bloggers to try the menu I broke my rule of “No Lobsters During the Week”.

A US-based chain brought out here by Americana  restaurants, the company has been going for 45 years and have 700 locations worldwide. This Doha location opened in 2012 and has been building a dedicated following ever since.

They also pride themselves in fresh ingredients and making everything from scratch which is something I can get behind (and in my belly).

Here’s the interesting thing about Red Lobster – they fly the critters from Canada every week. No frozen lobsters.

As I like a bit of mid-week violence, I also asked the team to demonstrate how they kill the lobsters for our dinners. There are no photos as this is a family blog, but let me say the end is swift and merciful (for the record apparently female lobsters are the most aggressive – makes sense right?)

Also, and this is especially interesting given the food culture in this town, each member of the waiting team knows the menu backwards and if they don’t they have a special prompt card to help them. Already many of of misconceptions were being blown out of the water. I asked for two of their classic dishes – a chill prawns and the Lobster Thermidor.

I’m a 1970s gal so the Thermidor was right up my alley – all retro with a cream cheese filling and butter sauce on the side. It’s a special occasion dish but worth the splurge. The lobster itself was sweet and juicy, not overcooked as I had feared.

Every meal is served with their famous cheddar biscuits. When I mentioned to my American friends where I was dining…there was silence then the clear sound of drooling. Indeed they were drool worthy and I may have popped a few in my handbag for later.

The prawns while tasty had a bit too much sauce for me – I found myself scraping some off to to enjoy what are very juicy and fresh prawns underneath. I would order again but ask for them to put the sauce on the side.

While we visited on a quiet night, this restaurant has some devoted diners. I can understand why – for around QR250 you can have a seafood feast made from scratch and with fresh produce. Not many places can boast that.

As I said, never say never.

*Life on the Wedge was a guest of Americana Restaurants and Red Lobster Middle East but views are my own.

Red Lobster Doha

C Ring Road (Suhaim bin Hamad Street)Near Blue Salon, Doha, Qatar

Open from 11am every day

Phone: 4444 1066