Although New York is on the Atlantic coastline, and I lived there for two years, somehow I couldn’t imagine a crustacean cruising around the major metropolis area. So I went two years without eating a lobster roll. And for anyone who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, like I did, the lobster roll is a thing of seafood lore, something only to be heard of and spoken about in hushed voices while picking up the latest line-caught seafood from Half Moon Bay.

But now that I have moved to Connecticut, lobster abounds in the summertime. Steamed, grilled, and of course rolled, these succulent babies are served up in a variety of different ways, at a variety of different establishments. But for my very first lobster roll, I went to Chick’s in West Haven. Chick’s is truly a relic from the past, not much has changed here since the 1950′s. While the food is standard, large and usually fried, the location can’t be beat– it’s literally across the street from the beach. Moments after ordering, my lobster roll came out of the kitchen, piping hot, dripping with butter, on a toasted hot dog bun.

The Connecticut lobster roll is ideal for a mayonnaise-phobic fiend, such as myself, because it is simplicity itself. All you really taste is lobster, moist and slightly chewy, and butter, lots of butter. The cheap white hot dog bun, toasted to perfection, is merely a vehicle for getting the lobster into one’s mouth.

My husband, though sampling my lobster roll, ordered the special, deep-fried, soft-shell crab. It was served with toast in order to make a sandwich that looked like it could literally walk away with its claws peeking out from under the bread. The crackly carapace offered a welcome crunch to the sweet crab meat hiding within.

(That’s my husband’s hairy arm. I think it is the perfect backdrop for his fried feast.)

Was the food at Chick’s amazing? No, there is better fried fish to be found, and I am sure now that I am a Nutmegger, I will eat a better lobster roll. But Chick’s was the perfect introduction to this state. Sitting outside, on hard concrete benches, with our plastic plates of seafood before us, with a watery dish of coleslaw, and a lemon wedge as accompaniments, the cool breeze of summertime by the water, and the waves lapping the rocky shoreline across the street– Chick’s was great. I definitely think I will be back again.