Lobster bisque?

[MarilynFrancis]

Where can I get great lobster bisque around LA?

[cthome]

The best lobster bisque is at 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro! Hands down the best!

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22nd Street Landing
141 W 22nd St, San Pedro, CA 90731

[barryaz]

about 30 years ago I made a reasonable facimile of the HH bisque by combining Campbells Tomato soup, 1/2 can of chedder cheese soup, sherry and lobster and/or crab meat. I also would add some of their Cream of Mushroom soup to taste. I know the cheese sounds wierd, but try it.

[lmillmanbella]

The best lobster bisque, hands down, without a doubt and every other superlative cliche you can think of is.........Larsons Steakhouse in Encino. You must, must go and try this even if you don't like bisque, it is heavenly. SS if you are reading this, call or email me. The lobster tastes like it is poached in butter, and it is served in an upside down triangle, which keeps the soup perfectly heated until the very last spoon. Just amazing.

[sbritchky]

Larsen's Web site menu lists the lobster bisque only for lunch. Is that when you were there, or do they actually serve it at dinner?

[wildcateats]

In the Valley: Fins in Calabasas has a great bisque and La Frite is great too. I agree with the Morton's votes also...

[Jwsel]

I think La Frite's bisque is crab bisque. I love it, but it can be a little on the salty side at times. It comes with several pieces of garlic bread to sop up the soup.

[aimbonics]

Surprisingly, the BEST lobster bisque can be found at Hama Sushi in Venice. I know it sounds odd, but really,it is bar far the best lobster bisque i have found in LA. Hammy hamlets is pretty good too, but it is way too salty.

I think the address for Hama is 213 Windward Ave, Venice, CA.

[laurafoodfan]

The lobster bisque at Cafe Bizou is absolutely to die for. The texture is perfect and not to creamy. Highly recomended.

[crpcc2]

New York Grill in Ontario, CA

[foodfever]

Surprisingly, the lobster bisque at the Ralph's downtown is very tasty. It is near the self-serve soup counter near the seafood department.

[jennejenn]

I am a huge bisque freak and have tried everywhere in LA...my list is as follows:
1. Ruth's Chris
2. Morton's
3. The Palm
4. Chart House
5. eat
6. Whole Foods Market

[RealityGirl]

JenneJenn,

If you're a HUGE lobster bisque freak as you attest you are, then how could you have NOT been to Enterprise Fish Company yet? Far and away the best bisque of my life. You cannot beat the puff pastry crust on top as well.

I also tried Hamberger Hamlet's bisque the other day (which, by the way, they dropped the Hamberger from their name now they're just HAMLET, whatever.) and their bisque was ok. It quenched my thirst for bisque but didn't cause an orgasm in my mouth the way Enterprise does.

[Shagg]

Last I had heard was Whole Foods stopped with the lobster bisque. I used to get it regularly at the Torrance store but about 3 or so years ago they stopped making it.

[J.L.]

My 2 cents':

Hotel Bel Air - By far, the best crustacean bisque in L.A. (when they make it).... Call ahead to see if it's on the menu.

[RosieN]

Another vote for Arnie Morton's. It's nice and creamy, but not overly fatty tasting. And once in a while you'll get a big chunk of lobster and really get your money's worth.

[ipsedixit]

Grace.

www.gracerestaurant.com

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Grace Restaurant
7360 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

[gsw]

Lobster (or crab) bisque is one of those wonders that seemed to be everywhere when I was young, and so very rare now.

I admit that I even enjoy the one at Gladstones.

[gundy1814]

the lobster bisque (among many other things) at Cafe Bizou in Sherman Oaks is very good. http://www.cafebizou.com/shermanDinne...

[wizardx]

Charlie G's Steakhouse on Ventura has a great Lobster Bisque
http://charliegs.com/

Also REALLY enjoyed the Bisque at Ruth's Chris (Woodland Hills).

[Das Ubergeek]

I love the lobster bisque from Fish King in Glendale -- Hamburger Hamlet is also tasty. And even if it is made from tinned soup (give me a break, maudie5, green pea soup? The colour would be disgusting!) it's still damn tasty.

[foodmonster]

Le Petit Four, tasty and inexpensive. http://www.lepetitfour.net/main/index...

I can't stand Morton's bisque, I find it way too creamy.

[CaliforniaCat]

I have only tried it once (because the restaurant is too pricey for me), but I enjoyed the lobster bisque at The Cellar in Fullerton.

[Faulkner99]

I haven't had it in years, but the lobster bisque at The Palm used to be fantastic.

[aching]

I was tempted by the lobster bisque at the Palm at lunch the other day, but it was I think $12, which seemed unecessarily steep.

[chris1621]

It's not quite lobster bisque, but the Thai Lobster soup at Grace is amazing.

[lotta_cox]

omg...it is DEE-lish.

[woofer]

love the bisque @ arnie morton's. also, a little more affordable is hamburger hamlet.

[maudies5]

HH Lobster Bisque is a combination of Campbell's canned soups with a couple of extra ingredients

[ChinoWayne]

And you know that Hamburger Hamlet's lobster bisque is just a combination of Cambell's condensed soups because you have been in the kitchen and seen it prepared?

The best two things on the menu at Hamburger Hamlet are a Hamlet burger with bacon and cheese, preceeded by a bowl of lobster bisque and their cheese bread.

You might want to check this out, it does not come from a can:

http://www.melindalee.com/recipearchi...

[TravelPath]

One of my favorite meals (sans the cheese bread)...this being said, the quality of the bisque seems to vary from location to location...the Sunset Strip location and the Hamlet in Bethesda, MD are my favorites. The new owner seems to agree with my observations and is trying to improve consistancy...check out

http://www.hamburgerhamlet.com/index....

[ChinoWayne]

The cheese bread comes in handy for sopping up any of the bisque that can't make it from the bowl to spoon. You don't want to waste any of that nectar. ;-)

[TravelPath]

I will have to try it...but I do have well developed spoon skills as my waist line will attest to!!

[maudies5]

I haven't been in the kitchen but did know a HH Chef who gave me the "secret recipe." It is all about canned tomato, green pea, cream of mushroom soups, sherry, cream and lobster. I've been making it for years and it tastes exactly the same as the lobster bisque at HH,

[maudies5]

In order to make a true lobster bisque, it requires lobster shells for the stock and a great deal of preparation. I am convinced that most restaurants (aside from "fine" restaurants) do not go to this trouble.

[ChinoWayne]

Are you sure this "chef" wasn't just passing along an urban legend?

I contacted management of the Hamlet Group and they responded as follows:

"The current lobster bisque that we serve is based on our traditional recipe which can also be found in our current menu. Next time you dine in at any of our locations, simply look for the Lobster bisque recipe inside our menu. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you. -Sam Samra (General Manger) "

[TravelPath]

We really must be thinking along the same lines...I contacted the Hamlet Group today as well and received a similar e-mail response...and I contacted the Melinda Lee web site and they responded that the recipe they have posted is accurate to a couple of years ago...and the lobster bisque IMHO has not changed in that time frame!!

With all of this talk, I know what I am having for dinner...and I am ordering the cheese bread!!

[ChinoWayne]

Great minds think and eat alike.

[salutlemonde]

They call this a recipe? (from HH web site, Pasadena location). I don't remember seeing a recipe on the menu, but I was there for a burger.

Hamlet Lobster Bisque
Rich & creamy. Garnished with lobster, crab and a touch of brandy
Bowl 6.50 Bigger Bowl 7.95

[monku]

I have it from good sources(not just one person) and have seen a store recipe book for the Bethesda, MD HH, that it was indeed basically Cambell's golden condensed mushroom soup, sherry and mainly king crab and some lobster (if you looked at the menu closely it said "crab & lobster bisque"). For the west coast stores it was made under contract by Banquet Foods and delivered frozen by the HH comnissary to the individual stores when it was at the Hollywood Blvd store.

It was a closely guarded secret, but not as closely as the Coca Cola recipe. They never allowed it to be sold "to go" because they were always scared someone would take it somewhere to be analyzed and copied. My suspicion was that they didn't want someone to find out it was mostly king crab and almost no lobster in it or very little.

The recipe on Melinda Lee's website by Marilyn Lewis is some recipe she concocted to make it sound more complicated and exotic than it is. If you look at the recipe closesly....there are only 3 1/2 cups of liquid ingredients and adding 4 tablespoons of tomato paste it would beome a red looking sauce wouldn't it?
http://www.melindalee.com/recipearchi...

[ElsieDee]

Try posting your request to the Home Cooking thread.

[holybull]

The bisque at hamburger Hamlet is great

[jjbelsky]

I'm a big fan of the lobster bisque at the Enterprise Fish Company in Santa Monica. They put puff pastry over the bowl and bake the thing. It's quite good.

Unfortunately, it's really the only item on their menu that I've been impressed with.

[renata47]

You are so right--the lobster bisque at Enterprise is, indeed, the only dish worth ordering there. But what a great bisque!