Lobster Trap Restaurant & Fish Market — Restaurant in Bourne

Our mission is to bring you the true Cape Cod experience. We pride ourselves at the Lobster Trap for serving an elevated cuisine, in a fun and casual environment for the entire family. Our community means everything to us, so when you're here you are family. Come in and relax on our patio, bar or dining room and let us turn your day around..... Directly from their webpage, what a JOKE!

Wow, all hype, Lobster Tourist Trap Restaurant, what a mistake! Read the reviews, had huge expectations, even watched Dave Delancey's self promotion video! Massive disappointment almost too hard to put into words.

First and foremost, very friendly staff, amazing views, great decor. However you come for the food, aside from the delicious stuffed quahog, everything else quite frankly sucked.

My wife's $15 shrimp roll, when two thirds of the tray is french fries, beware. Speaking of the fries, frozen throwaway garbage. Apparently "Executive Chef" Drew Grosse loves to cook food from the freezer, where's Chef Robert Irvine when we need him?

Now the main point of contention and incredible disappointment, my "Seafood Dinner" was barely a snack. Once again lots of frozen fries, the four "bay scallops" were tiny, slimy, and cold, one WB clam, five clam strips. The shrimp and cod were the highlights, if you can call them that. Wow, what a disaster...

p.s Last photo is a genuine seafood dinner from real seafood restaurant, Lobster Tourist Trap, take note.....

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Contemplated whether to respond to owners’ email, response was very defensive… not here to embarrass anyone… don’t blame a customer for a direct and honest review on how you missed the mark by a mile… To be clear, customers aren’t always right, but when a business presents an “expectation of perfection” and they don’t deliver, be ready for criticism… take your lumps, fix the problem, and move on…

Paraphrasing the following…

“I’ll give you $100 to never return”… Pathetic.... Need not worry, we won’t, invest the money elsewhere, training perhaps.

“You ‘attacked’ my chef”… an “executive chef” who serves frozen French Fries welcomes and deserves criticism, I never “attacked him”, I criticized his cooking, I called him out.

“We welcome criticism and advice to fix what’s wrong”… that’s what I did in my review.

“Why didn’t you contact your server, host etc”… Why should I? You have an “executive chef”, you put him and your company up on a pedestal, told the World how amazing you are, “expectation of perfection” based on webpage… Server should have noticed the how poorly the dish was prepared before it was served, "executive chef" should know the difference between scallops and bay scallops, host should review all meals before they are served, there should be a "standard" for every dish, etc…

Had the response been “Randy, we certainly let you down and didn’t live up to the high standards we set for ourselves and The Lobster Trap Restaurant, please accept our deepest apologies, we’d like to earn back your business, please accept this $100 voucher for you next visit…”

You didn’t, it wasn’t, I stand by my review… I wish you...

While on a recent trip to the Cape Cod area; Wareham, Falmouth, and nearby we searched for places to have at least a good meal. For dinner, this was our third stop one evening. The first try, closed, second nearby was more like a small bar, so we retreated, and lastly after a fairly short drive we decided to give the Lobster Trap a chance. Just off the road and on a shallow inlet Bay, the restaurant sits. From the outside; a weathered single story building, reminiscent of an old well worn fishing boat. This is quite clearly a place locals frequent and is family friendly, so expect young children and babies. Everyone was on their best behavior while we were there, no crying or fussing detected. Inside, a nautical theme prevails as you perhaps can detect on the [12] pictures included as well as what other reviews show. While I parked, my travel partner aka lovely spouse procured a nice table for two. The aesthetics were comfortable as I had a nice view toward the water; although the chairs were hard and unforgiving on my sore legs. The service was very good considering the crowd. The servers as a whole appeared like a well established team working to clear tables quickly and make appropriate visits to their assigned tables. The staff was friendly which also speaks to the level of service. Ok, the food overall was fresh, tasty, and well prepared. The only negative was the crab cake, pictured was only (ever-so-slightly) warm. Upon inquiry, indeed it should have been much warmer/hot upon arrival. I very much enjoyed the hot, creamy, and clammy chowder! My beet salad was very good, but I was challenged by the unexpected presence of blue cheese which I've never liked much. I will admit then that had I perhaps noted it on the menu, I could have substituted? The salad with scallops looked fresh and I didn't hear any complaints. The oysters were good quality and apparently originated from waters near Plymouth, as in Rock. They tasted clean and just slightly salty on the palate. The manager, Russ was friendly and listen to our "grievance" with the under-warm crab cake. He took it off the bill even though we ate it all. Thanks. Overall, the rating should be in the range of 4.1-4.3 stars. The bathrooms are basic, no paper towels, just germ...

When it comes to fresh-tasting seafood, I mean COME ON! This place knocks it out of the park.

I was visiting from Maryland and drove from Leominster to the Cape based on a Yelp review. While I have a bit of buyer’s remorse from that long drive (since I didn’t get a chance to actually enjoy the scenery - just the dark 😒), I can’t say I regret the food.

For context, I’m a Maryland transplant from Cali (a coastal kid if you will lol). Maryland is the home of the crab, but I’ll admit, I donnnnno know. I might need to do a little more hands-on research 😝 before I decide who really does seafood best - especially crab lol.

I ordered the clam chowder and the lobster roll. Just a heads up: that roll was $40 buckaroos - phew, but it was absolutely worth it. The lobster was falling out of the bun, and it was hearty. The only thing I would do different is remove the lettuce, it doesn’t need it - it is a star on the roll all on its own. My total was $57.57 before tip.

Oh! The restaurant was VERY clean, which genuinely impressed me. Outside, you still get that seasonal “by-the-sea” smell (you know the one), but the restaurant somehow keeps it completely out of the space. That’s impressive, because that smell often has a way of following you in.

The restaurant itself is well lit, like a beacon of light after driving through that dark stretch of town. We had no trouble parking, though I can tell it fills up fast. Spaces are limited, so carpool if you can.

The service was great, relaxed, approachable, and balanced. Our waitress didn’t hover, she did not pull the disappearing act either. Her timing was juuuuust right lol. (As I wrote that, I thought, “who am I, a reviewer from the Three Bears story” lol). I think at a certain hour they also let guests seat themselves in the dining room. Any other time they have very sweet staff to welcome you in.

Side note: I think that front area, is where you can purchase your own seafood that you can cook at home.

When I come back, and I will return, I’m definitely trying a Bloody Mary and one of their fun-sounding cocktails. And honestly, probably that lobster roll again. Oh, and the crab cake. Sorry, Maryland, I need to see if the Cape does it better lol.

Thank you...