Long John Silver's Buttered Lobster Bites | Junk Food Blog

01 March, 2006

Long John Silver's Buttered Lobster Bites

Long John Silver's Buttered Lobster BitesThe Long John Silver's chain of fast-food seafood restaurants is now offering Buttered Lobster Bites.

Made with real langostino lobster, and prepared in a buttery breading, it brings the taste of lobster to folks on a tight budget, costing only $2.99.

They're only available for a limited time however, so you better try them out quick. The company notes that this is a great way to break free from eating traditional fish for Lent.


Anonymous said...

Langostino is not lobster.

Rubios was sued over this.

Anonymous said...

Langostino lobster IS lobster. At least the FDA says so (but what would they know?).

Just because it isn't Maine lobster doesn't mean it's not lobster.

LJS clearly identifies the product as "langostino lobster" -- something Rubio's did not do.

You should be better informed.

Anonymous said...

Thats like saying a cat-dog. There is no such think as Langostino Lobester. There are Langostinos, and then there is the lobster family. Langostinos are more closely related to crabs than anything else. YOU need to be better informed.

Anonymous said...

See also: langostino lobster

Anonymous said...

Langostino is a Chilean prawn. A shrimp. look it up. If you can have Langostino lobster, then you can have shrimp lobster, or crawfish lobster or... wtf. maybe pig lobster. who's uninformed?? get over it

Anonymous said...

"The Seafood List (FDA's Guide to Acceptable Market Names for Seafood Sold in Interstate Commerce) lists 'langostino' as the acceptable market name for the following species: Cervimunida johni and Pleuroncodes monodon. We would not object to the use of 'langostino lobster' for these species."

Duh. Get over yourself and take on another cause.

Anonymous said...


Anonymous said...

LOL. You said it dude. they are more like crawfish bites. I have done alot of researching and have called several research universities and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and they have all said that lagostinos are not lobster but are in the prawn or shrimp family and their latin name has been classified as such. Regardless, they are good...and i could care less what they are called - let's eat!

Anonymous said...

Maine senator attempts to stop 'impostor lobster'

October 5, 2006

By David Sharp Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine — A senator from the No. 1 lobster state wants restaurants to stop serving a type of lobster that she says isn't a lobster at all.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said a shellfish known as "langostino lobster" is an impostor to the real thing — Maine lobster — and she's asking the Food and Drug Administration to yank approval for restaurants to market the product on their menus.

"Langostino is not lobster, nor should it be marketed as such," Snowe wrote to FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach.

Langostino is Spanish for prawn, but Kristen Millar of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council says the langostino is actually a pelagic crab. To serve it up as lobster is an "insult to Maine and to the lobster industry," Millar said.

Some seafood lovers might question what all the fuss is about. But the Maine Lobster Promotion Council says it's all about giving consumers what they're paying for. The council also contends langostinos cost Maine fishermen $44 million in lost sales to restaurant chains since April.

The issue came to light after a California-based restaurant chain, Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, was sued last year by customers for using the less expensive langostino instead of lobster in its "lobster burrito."

"Rubio's decision to put cheaper and inferior langostino meat on its menus as 'lobster' is a material fraud uniformly affecting hundreds of thousands of California consumers," plaintiff lawyer Ray Gallo wrote in court documents.

The case was settled in April with no admission of wrongdoing by Rubio's. The Food and Drug Administration ultimately sanctioned the use of the term "langostino lobster" for the South American variety of langostino.

Millar said the term "langostino lobster" does nothing to clarify anything because consumers are getting "smushed up crab meat," not lobster.

"Sure it's easier to sell a 'lobster burrito' than a 'pelagic crab burrito.' People love Maine lobster for the flavor. They don't love pelagic crab," she said. "The public is not expecting pelagic crab when they order a lobster."

Snowe, who chairs a fisheries subcommittee, said in her Sept. 25 letter that the FDA "will be remiss in its duties if it continues to allow restaurants or other entities to perpetuate this hoax at the expense of Maine's lobstermen and America's seafood customers."

Anonymous said...

I too felt fooled. I went to Long John Silver's and bought the Lobster Bites. Yes, Langostinos are a Prawn but the definition of a prawn is a crustation such as loblster, shrimp, or crayfish. Go to http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/how_to/food_dictionary/entry?id=4104
The definition comes from a food dictionary

Anonymous said...

This gives you the definition from a food dictionary.
A langostino is a prawn. A prawn is a crustation such as a lobster, shrimp,or crayfish.

Anonymous said...

First of all, just because the FDA allows the use of "lobster" in conjunction with the word "langostino" doesn't make it a lobster. The reason -- and the only reason -- the FDA allows this is because it is a crustacean that tastes like lobster. So...

The "langostino" lobster being sold by LJS, Rubio's, and Red Lobster's bisque is actually a crab, that looks like a big prawn, but tastes like a lobster.

I suppose if these were sold as an exotic Icelandic crab, we wouldn't be having this discussion, and restaurants could probably charge *more* for the meat.

In their defense, when you take the tail out of the shell, note the lack of a mud vein which is present in shrimp. Added the definitely lobster-ish appearance and taste, then you have an ambiguity that would leave any jury in a hung state.

Anonymous said...

Eating langostino lobster is more like eating crawfish. I like crawfish, but don't lie to me and tell me I am eating something that is not true. Advertising it as a lobster bite by LJS is totally false advertising.

Scott on 11/01/2007 01:41:00 PM said...

aThe most important thing, imo, to be learned from this is that we all need to take responsibility to check things out and not just take what we're told at face value. You'll find you'll save yourself a lot of aggrevation and money if you take the time to confirm the product is or will do what you expect. A healthy skepticism has served me well for many years.

JeRRTep on 11/04/2007 05:44:00 PM said...

why don't they just be honest and call them "crusta bites"...LOL....
then they're not fooling anyone...

Anonymous said...

its "lobster" for 2.99. what do you expect, lobster?

Claire said...

My god, this is the weirdest and creepiest blog I have ever read. I find it incredibly difficult to believe people spend their time defending the fast food industry in a weblog.

Langostino, as you have already read, isn't lobster. Dictionaries say so. Chefs say so. Encyclopedias say so.

If the FDA says they can be called "langostino lobster" that does not make it an actual lobster. That makes it a crustacean with a misleading common name. And I think the FDA has a pretty healthy history of misleading the public.

But in all honesty, you folks shouldn't be eating at Long John Silver anyway. And if you do, you shouldn't be bitching about the fake lobster bites they serve for $2.99.

Anonymous said...

ok ! i can sell the questionable idiots of lamer thinking that langostino ,is lobstaer into buyin gator tail cause it taste like chicken,
come on people did any one take science or marine biology in school or was ya,ll token doobies in the nature trails?
The Biological fact is that langostino refers to a species of crusteaceans most closly and genetically related to hermit crabs and further in the DNA make up crabs!.it is not a lobster in any form at all.nor does it taste like chicken!
to call a crab a lobstaer is just plain ignorant and absurd to contrue it as anything else that for what it is genetically is a bold and ignorant lie and injustification of scientific facts.and to low any company to refer to the langostina as anything but langostina is an act of fraud. not to mention an insult to the entire scientific community yea that encircles your doctors too.

BFD said...

I beg to differ. Langostino is NOT lobster. Period. Case closed. In fact I saw on National Television that may seafood products from other continents are actually farmed out of sewerage canals. Ick. I felt like vomiting after eating those Lobster Bites. Makes me ill!

Anonymous said...

Living in New England all my life, I would've heard of "Langostino Lobster" at a very early age. I'm 37 now, and just heard the coined phrase this year.

Did this species come from outer space? I watch the Discovery Channel on a regular basis, and I guess I missed the ground-breaking discovery of this new Lobster species.

Okay - time to get real. The marketing industry has no respect for their customers' intelligence - that's the bottom line. This is simply a different angle of elusive advertising, not much different from what Hyundai is doing with their "Duh" commercial campaign - no repect for the consumer.

Just do what I do - hit them where their wallet hurts, and don't buy from them- plain and simple.

Anonymous said...

Langostino is more like a crawfish than a lobster! I hate being tricked when I go out to eat. When I want lobster and call if they have it, and say yes they do, then to find out that it is not lobster at all but langostino, it really pisses me off! I'm willing to pay extra for real lobster. It is very disappointing. Visit my web-site for more information on this: icatharsis.com
Thank you.

brent on 4/22/2008 07:48:00 PM said...

What happens when you're given a full sheet of coupons from Long John Silver's? Only one thing is possible: Using them all at the same time. This is an odyssey of epic proportions told in pictures.


Anonymous said...

Sounds like fake/imitation lobster to me. I agree with Olympia Snow, Maine senator. If people are ok eating fake lobster and paying less for it, that's their business as long as they are informed consumers. I prefer the real thing--MAINE lobster. :) :) It's still a free country, right?
Eat MAINE lobster first, then decide.
Support MAINE fishermen--buy MAINE lobster.

signed, Maine Girl :)

LithodidMan on 11/16/2008 11:06:00 PM said...

Just to clarify (I am a crustacean biologist). The langostino such served in Red Lobster and others is not a shrimp or a crab or a 'true' (clawed) lobster. The main species sold under that name are Cervimunida johni and Pleuroncodes monodon, and belong to a group of crustaceans distantly related to hermit and king crabs. They are collectively called "Squat lobsters" but are not at all related to the clawed lobsters. The common name squat lobsters for this group is at least 120 years old, so is hardly worthy of a lawsuit. Why not sue over blind lobsters, slipper lobsters, spiny lobsters, fuzzy lobsters, etc.?

Anonymous said...

Grow the fuck up, you fucking losers!

You're arguing over junk food!

What a bunch of fucking wastes of space.

Anonymous said...

Langostino is Spanish for Prawn BUT the crap they claimimg to be lobster at LJS arent even prawns! There is NO such thing as Langostino lobster. The garbage they are selling is "squat lobster" which is closely related to the crab, HERMIT CRAB that is! I cant believe that people would actually pay for this trash much less put it in their mouths. NASTY!

Anonymous said...

I eat pizza sometimes.

Anonymous said...

How fat are you guys?? By the way I'm the pizza guy.

Anonymous said...

I come from New England and over 20 years ago when I was a kid, SubWay used to sell crabmeat sandwichs. {anyone remember this?} Well, if asked, the employees would tell you it wasn't real crabmeat but a thing called Langastino. At the time langastino was described as different types of FISH processed together, hence the smooshed reference from a previous answer. If you go in any supermarket in the fish department, you'll see they sell fake crabmeat and lobster strips and chunks which are white on the inside and have this extremely fake bright pink to red skin copying real lobster or crab. It has a slight crab to lobster hint to it but it is also disgustingly sweet which immediately sends your taste buds into instant lobster withdrawal.If your really hungry you can gag them down, but after a while you wish you never bought them. lol Give me a bowl of turtle soup and make it snappy.

Anonymous said...

I'm really going to have to try "true" Lobster again. Years ago my friend took me to a "Red Lobster", well this was obviously before a make over. It reminded me of a fast food place for seafood. She ordered the "lobster", I had never tried lobster and so I ordered something else (can't remember what exactly), to make a long story short, she had me try her lobster and it was disgusting. The sweetness of it was just wretched. From what I've learned about true lobster, it should have been so horribly "sweet".

Now about the langastino controversy, did you know that even Crayfish (aka, crawfish, crawdads) are also considered a type of "lobster" referred to as langastino and that they even resemble a miniature version of a lobster? How do I know that "Long John Silvers" aren't serving crawdads as Lobsters?

Anonymous said...

Okay, folks, get down to what it's about;
- Langostino Lobster is a marketing term, for a crustacean, that has just enough resemblance to 'lobster' to be slapped with the marketing label.

Has this happened elsewhere?
I can think of a few.
-- Calico scallops; the most perverse, but depending who you listen to, these are punched-out pieces of shark meat.
-- Chilean Sea Bass; a tasty fish, but did not market well until renamed a 'bass'
-- Orange Roughy; had an indigenous name 30 years ago, but got a 'cleaner' name to get it on the market

And, my favorite action after Mad Cow Disease. Most fast-food and large restaurants tout 'Angus' beef, like that implies that it is special select and not subject to contamination. (It is indeed its own breed, not just renamed).
But, give me a good sirloin from any(?) Kansas steer, and I will be happy...

I think the major question about Langostino Lobster bits should be, are they farm-raised (fed with hormonal death crap), or naturally raised and caught?

We assume (all) lobsters are all natural, but any mass- product (salmon, cow) tends to fall into this fast-grow, fast-food production that will reflect in our next generations health.

Crawled off-topic, sorry. Must be too much lobster.

Anonymous said...

it amazes me that people cant find anything better to do with their time than argue over whether its lobster or not...especially enough to research it and post it in this kind of blog. all i wanted to know is if people like it or not and i get this. come on people. come on.

someone with a life

Anonymous said...

Bears repeating....


Jennalynn said...

I've been a little confused about this. When I was in Scotland, they served a type of crab called Lagostine. So I thought it was a type of crab.
I was eating these "Lobster Bites" at LJS one day and noticed a black spot. So I pulled the breading off, and guess what...a mud vein! Do Lobsters have mud veins? I checked the rest of the box and all but 2 had mud veins. I won't buy them anymore. If I want shrimp that haven't been deveined, I will go to a Chinese restaurant..yuck!

Anonymous said...

I can has cheezburger?

John on 6/21/2009 08:07:00 AM said...

You know it only cost LJS less than a buck for these, so how great would the quality be?

Anonymous said...


OK now that is definitly badass when you post it with having the title anonymous

Anonymous said...

trying them this weekend... I will follow uo!

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