With the opening of Maine-ly Sandwiches’ new Montrose location, I was finally able to cross another culinary milestone off my bucket list. Now, I didn’t know much about their origins, but I do know lobster rolls come from up north, in the Greenspoint area, where Maine-ly’s original location is located. I did my best to blend in by taking the confident suggestion from the staff and ordering a “lobstah roll wit clam chowdah.” They entertained my embarrassingly horrible New England accent with a friendly Texas smile and reminded me not to forget a whoopie pie.
“A what?”
“A whoopie pie.”
You know, those ooey, gooey, don’t-look-at-the-nutrition-facts good cookie sandwiches that Maine-ly has perfected. I’m sure there was an assortment of equally impressive flavors available, but I stopped the roll call of names at blueberry spice and regretted nothing.
After placing the order, I sat at a wooden picnic-style table anxiously waiting for my name to be called. Sea-foam green walls, sky blue ceilings, a lobster trap delicately perched in corner — the Maine-ly Sandwiches people are really taking the New England theme seriously.
I only had a few moments to question my judgement of ordering a wheat roll instead of the traditional white before my name was called. While I’m a long-time fan of lobster, this was my first actual lobster roll and I was surprised that it was served cold. Regular lobster rolls are $8.95, while a large lobster roll is $17.45, or market price. I’ll shoot straight with you: A regular is pretty dinky, in my opinion. This is not a cheap lunch spot.
From a presentation standpoint, the steamed claw meat was piled generously on the toasted, lightly buttered roll. There was nothing green on this sandwich; I had opted for the simple lobster-on-bread sandwich. Spotted with black pepper flakes (like those of to-go pepper packets) and tangy mayonnaise, the lobster and mayonnaise mix would have benefited had the kitchen used salt and some fresh cracked pepper. The missing seasonings made it somewhat bland, and I felt it could have had more lobster flavor if it were better dressed. The texture was surprisingly right (no rubberiness and no mushy mouth feel) but it lacked interest, and I was underwhelmed.
I was lucky to score the last serving of the clam chowder ($3.25 for a regular bowl, $4 for a larger serving), which was served in a little to-go bowl with a lid. Creamy and rich with celery and potatoes, it also needed more seasoning and, unfortunately, it seemed as though all the clams were missing. Perhaps since I had the last remaining spoonful from the pot, the clams had been served and sold to someone else?
While my main focus for this visit was a lunch and not dessert, I couldn’t get my eyes off the blueberries peeking out through the tightly wrapped plastic around the whoopie pie: light creamy filling dotted with whole blueberries encased in two spiced cookies. My only advice is to keep some of the plastic on the cookie to shield yourself from sticky fingers. Whoopie pies come two different ways: They’re available regular sized, like the one I tried, and they are also offered as a half-dozen mini whoopie pies.
With a quick serving time and a variety of dessert and entree options (the menu has several different sandwiches on it, including Italian, tuna, crab roll, “I Love Bacon” BLT and roast beef options), Maine-ly positions itself well as a lunch or dinner option for in-and-out diners looking for a change of pace from their usual Quiznos and Brown Bag Deli sandwich purchase. As the Greenspoint location has developed quite a following in the last year, it may just be that the Shepherd location needs to find their groove. After all, it hasn’t even had a grand opening just yet. It is currently in the soft opening stages as it quietly opened its doors to patrons last week. I’ll be back to visit Maine-ly in a few months or so, to compare notes.
MAINE-LY SANDWICHES 3310 S. Shepherd between W. Alabama & Richmond, mainelysandwiches.com