Pronounced "pounds" - also an acronym for "Lobster, Burger, Salad" - Lbs. opened its doors last month on 100 Yonge Street at the ground floor of Scotia Plaza.
There are two entrances to the restaurant; one is from Yonge St., and the other from the Scotia Plaza's atrium, where there's also an indoor patio.
Lbs.' 3,700 square-foot space seats 140 guests. This is the main dining room. It's casual yet sophisticated.
Lbs.' other dining area, this one facing Yonge street.
Lbs.' glassed-in kitchen, where it also houses its 2,000-pound lobster tank.
My friend and I sat at the large wraparound, horseshoe-shaped bar. Usually, I love sitting at the bar but I didn't particularly love my seat here. There was a wall behind me, so it didn't feel as roomy or spacious compared to the bar seats opposite of me in the photo. It was also a bit more difficult to walk in and out (i.e. to the washroom) since I had to squeeze by the long row of diners who sat on the same side of the bar as me, some of whom also had personal belongings hanging on their chair or on the floor.
Lbs. offers a total of four main menu items: a 1.25 lb steamed Nova Scotia lobster served with fries & salad, a lobster roll served with fries & salad, a 6-oz burger that's ground in-house and made with hormone- and antibiotic-free Ontario beef served with fries & salad, and a lobster salad - all of which are priced at $22. A lobster poutine "to share" and large-format lobster dinners that come in two, three or six lbs, are the two other items on the menu. There's certainly no "market price" here!
Since their menu is not available on the restaurant's website yet, here it is.
The drinks menu. Custom sodas are also available and changes seasonally.
I didn't want to order their burger since I'm at a restaurant that specializes in lobster. I know the "b" in Lbs. stands for "burger", but honestly, I can find burgers everywhere in the city, I can't say the same for lobsters, though!
1.25 LBS NOVA SCOTIA LOBSTER ($22)
Drawn butter, hand cut fries, salad with house vinaigrette
A very striking presentation with the lobster head placed up-right. Love it. I took a few seconds to admire the plate.
I opted for the regular butter (sauce add-ons are $4 each). The lobster was steamed just right, not under- or over-cooked. Fries were crisp and well-seasoned, and the salad was pleasantly dressed in a light house vinaigrette.
Lbs. does an outstanding job in ensuring that their customers exert very minimal effort in getting lobster meat out of their shells. I personally have never had a lobster tail cut and served lengthwise to me before, and I totally dig it. I feel like I can savour that delicious and meaty lobster tail much longer this way (with more opportunities to dip it in butter, too)! It's also easier to share the lobster tail this way - that is, if you want to share :) Much like the tail, the claw meat was also extremely easy to take out. The only thing missing on the plate is the tomalley, the tasty orangy/greenish substance that you normally find inside lobsters.
WARM LOBSTER ROLL ($22)
Butter bun, pickles, hand cut fries, salad with house vinaigrette
I don't remember the last time I had such an awesome lobster roll. Heaps of lobster chunks - not shreds or bits of lobster meat, but chunks - meant you could actually taste the lobster. The overall filling was dressed just right too. It was smooth, not overly creamy, yet dressed enough so that all the ingredients were held together nicely. I could also taste the butter in the bun - super essential in any lobster roll - and the bun was soft, yet still sturdy enough to handle everything inside till the very last bite.
LOBSTER POUTINE ($20)
Fresh cut fries, lobster gravy, cheese curds
The fries and lobster chunks were excellent, but most of the cheese curds, although soft, were not melted enough for my taste. Perhaps this was because the gravy wasn't hot enough? Anyway, the lobster gravy also had a thinner consistency than your typical rich beef gravy, so I felt it didn't marry all the components of the poutine as well. And because the gravy is made from lobster, I found a hint of sourness to it.
LAST WORD ($15)
Bombay sapphire gin, green chartreuse, maraschino, lime
THE ONTARIO NORTHLAND RAILWAY ($16)
Sherry, scotch, coffee, boomtown bitters
A shot of all our food and cocktails.
LBS FRESH ICE CREAM SANDO ($6)
Von doughnuts, ed's real scoop
Basically doughnut ice cream sandwiches! Doughnuts are from Danforth's Von Donughnuts, and you can pick between chocolate or vanilla ice cream from Ed's Real Scoop (we ordered both). A nice sweet treat to end the meal.
I would definitely go back to Lbs. again. I like the fact that I can have a 1.25 lb lobster, served with fries and salad, at any time of day, whenever I want, without having to splurge on a whole meal that usually comes with ordering lobster at fine dining restaurants. Lbs. makes lobster accessible to everybody, and with only four items on the straightforward menu, eating at Lbs. is just so easy and effortless.
Lbs. (Twitter: @LbsToronto, Facebook: lbs. restaurant) also has a take-out counter which offers Sam James coffee from 8AM, $16 lobster rolls in the afternoon, and doughnut ice cream sandwiches. The take-out window hours are 8 AM to 5 PM.
*This meal was complimentary. The opinions and views expressed on this post are my own*