Francisco’s Centro Vasco Francisco’s Centro Vasco is a Lobster place and that is what you should eat there. You don’t need to do any picking other than the size of lobster you want to eat. They have sizes from 1 1/4 lb to about 9 lbs regularly. Bigger ones vary on availability but they sometimes have lobsters that weigh over 25 lbs.
The meal is a full package already. As soon as you sit, you’ll get salad, a touch vinegary but very good amongst the world of included salads. The bread could be better. It’s like standard supermarket level stuff.
You then choose, rice, baked potato, or fried potatoes. Since Carol has been there before, she recommended the fried potatoes and this is definitely the one you should choose. It’s a cross between french fries and chips, yes, pure crispy heaven! They weren’t seasoned at all so you’ll need to throw on salt yourself.
You also get a plate of steamed green beans with garlic.
Carol ordered a 1 1/4 lb lobster, steamed.
Lon and I split a 4 lb lobster, broiled with bread crumbs. They do a nice job with it, perfectly cooked, and bread crumbs are mixed with the roe and tomalley.
Check out the difference in claw sizes between the 4lb and the 1 1/4 lb.
We also ordered some Clams Oreganata, but you can skip these.
The flan is pretty standard and the cappuccino is weak but pretty.
Service and decor are not exciting, but acceptable. The focus is lobster which they know how to cook properly and the prices are reasonable ($142 including tax and tip for all three of us). I’m dying to try a 20+ lb lobster so I left my number and asked them to call me when they get one.
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Just an FYI….The larger lobsters are very difficult to cook properly. Because of their age, they have extremely hard and thick shells, causing the cooks to have to overcook them to ensure that they are done. In addition, because the shells are so thick, the carryover heat can overcook them on the way to the table. One more thing to burst your bubble, the yield also changes in that big of a lobster, so you would be paying an exorbitant amount for less lobster. I’ve run several seafood restaurants where we served lobster, and anytime we cooked something over 5 lbs, we were disappointed!! All that being said, a 20 plus pounder is a ridiculous sight to see, and would look really cool on the table at a restaurant!!!
Meyerboy — I hear ya. I’ve once dined on a 17’ish pound lobster that was fantastic. Perhaps we just got lucky and they cooked it perfectly, but it was amazing. The shell was really thick, but it tasted amazing.