Chunky Lobsters
Chunky Lobsters dangles an outrageous promise: 90 whole grams of premium marine crustacean flesh (harvested from cold Canadian waters) crammed into a brioche bun happening at an inconceivably affordable price. Yet this was once just a lofty romantic concept placed on the back burner for years, until founders Leonard and Chris resurrected it through a flurry of deals with seafood suppliers plus an initial outlay on a tiny shop space in Oxley Tower. From the look of things their F&B wager is paying off, given a sibling brand Chunky Crabs has also since opened for business in China Square as part of ongoing expansion efforts.
Chunky Lobster's outlet at The Cathay along Handy Road
A closeup of Chunky Lobster's red-armored mascot: you are one mean luminous mofo, but hey you are our kind of mofo.
It was love at first sight during an incidental stroll past its outlet at The Cathay: diners seen blissfully feasting on rolls bursting at the seams with succulent lobster meat. A cursory glance at the digital menu display made our jaws drop: only $16 for one of those??? Now we were definitely sold, in addition to feeling hot and bothered on account of upsized expectations. Green light to lunch at Chunky Lobsters, yahoo.
No shit, each lobster roll will only set you back by sixteen bucks
Sampling and thoughts:
Every lobster roll (available in three varieties: original, conneticut and cheezy) comes with a side of wasabi-flavored cassava chips. To begin, Chunky's Original was an affair at its elemental best: saccharine lobster meat (whole claws also seen crashing the party) mildly enlivened by a slight drizzle of mayo plus pinches of customized herbs and spices. Our palates parsed an exquisite firmness of bite which went well with toasted bread buttered at the core. Talk about unadulterated heaven sliding down throats........
Chunky's Original ($16)
Looking so darn plump and ripe there; are you drooling buckets already?
Chunky's Cheezy will likely delight cheese addicts - lobster mania crowned with an abundance of parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella. In our opinion however it was unfortunate that the trio of melts outmuscled pretty much everything else and took centre stage in the taste department; even the roll's rock star ingredient ended up playing second fiddle. To this we suggest: ease back on the dairy overload to enable a proper separation of flavours, because sometimes less is more.
Chunky's Cheezy ($16)
Chunky's Connecticut was devoured in the final act; hubba-hubba lobstah paired so dizzyingly well with opulent brushes of warm butter sauce (hot damn the bun even glistened) we nearly jizzed in our pants. Now that's some genuinely sumptuous grub to die for. Does this bad boy surpass Chunky's Original reviewed earlier? Absolutely.
All buttered up: Chunky's Conneticut ($16)
In Singapore's brutally unforgiving food and beverage scene beset by cutthroat rents, terribly fickle-minded consumers with short attention spans and too many pretentious copycat enterprises, Chunky Lobsters has thus far managed to differentiate itself from the pack while operating in a lean and mean fashion, but whether it can avoid becoming another mere fad of the month and really rise above the competition remains largely a work in progress. A little prayer for this baby to hang in there.
Note: Prices subject to change without prior notice. Kindly clarify with outlet before visiting or ordering.
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Score: 8.7/10
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Editor's Note: Chunky Lobsters shuttered its operations at Oxley Tower and The Cathay on 19 November 2019 and 28 July 2020 respectively, subsequently opening three other outlets at VivoCity (permanently closed on 8 July 2020), Bugis Junction (permanently closed on 27 November 2021) and Orchard Gateway - its address is included below as well for convenient reference.
Locations
| Orchard Gateway |
| 277 Orchard Road, |
| #01-10 |
| Singapore 238858 |