Lobster Trap — Restaurant in Conway

While staying in Jackson we were perusing the area for somewhere new and exciting to eat. Being in New England area we were craving some good seafood. Found the Lobster Trap on google and after spotting the lobster stew on the menu I was extremely excited since the days weather had been pretty rainy and dreary. I love lobster bisque and thought stew might be a new twist. To my chagrin, I'd have to say this is quite possibly the worst excuse for stew I've ever had. A cup for nearly $8 I imagined would be full of hearty goodness. Instead, what I received was 3 good chunks of lobster and some form of broth that merely resembled severely watered down milk. The consistency was so thin it was off-putting. I'd love to tell you what the broth was but there was no flavor. Maybe a hint of butter and cream, but when I say hint I mean a vague essence. When I read stew, I imagined well you know, stew. Something hearty and thick with maybe some potatoes and veggies. We arrived around 3:30 pm so we were offered the early bird menu which was nice. Pricing for the entrees was very fair and portions were good size. We ordered fried calamari and white wine garlic mussels. The calamari was tasty. A good mix of tubes and tentacles. The breading on the calamari was tasty and well crisped. The marinara sauce had great flavor. The mussels however like the "stew" left alot to be desired. The mussles were steamed apparently with no seasoning and then we were just provide with melted butter and some other flavorless liquid I can only presume was supposed to be a white wine sauce. Somewhat of a do it yourself dipping concoction I guess. Another dish ordered was the baked stuffed halibut. The fish was tasty. The stuffing was adequate. However, if I'm at a seafood restaurant and I read "crab" stuffed I expect that to mean actual crab not krab, the imitation. I personally had the lobster roll with warmed butter. It was fine. Honestly, I've had better lobster rolls in Florida which I would've never expected. The lobster had zero flavor. Consistency was not quite rubbery but not exactly that velvety, buttery texture you'd want from your lobster chunks. The roll was good but soggy inside despite there being no butter on the lobster because they just put it on the side. Hence why the lobster has no flavor. Not cooked in the butter obviously. My fiance and his brother had the lobster ravioli which was on their specials board. The ravioli was full of lobster chunks as well as the sauce. The ravioli were large and cooked appropriately. The sauce definitely has more flavor than the stew but was still lacking basic seasoning such as salt. The fried haddock was probably the best of the meals. The breading wasn't overdone and had just the right amount of crispness. The tartar sauce however was nothing more than glorified mayonnaise. As far as ambience, definitely a nice lil spot. Cozy with a nice fireplace and cute decor. There only seemed to be the bartender, another woman working the other side and maybe a cook. The bartender was also our waiter. He was adequate but nothing above or beyond that. Im sure being short staffed wasn't making his day but he was neither warm or friendly. Kind of just a bland attitude just like the food unfortunately. I was really excited for this restaurant but sadly I have to say it was far below my...

We have been to this restaurant three times now over the last three years on our annual trip to Storyland with our kids. This past year was a disappointment for me and my wife, but the kids meals were really good. To start, they sat us right smack next to the bar in a high traffic area and the bar was very warm. They get help in the summertime from young Canadian teens and the one who sat us didn’t even provide us menus so we sat for five minutes before the manager realized it. This was a Tuesday evening at 5:30PM by the way. We ordered and our food was prepared and delivered in a reasonable amount of time. My wife ordered broiled haddock with squash. The haddock was unappealing visually and she said it was bland, but the squash was delicious. I had the broiled seafood dinner. My first bite was a scallop and I noticed it was really chewy. I remove the chewy part and couldn’t believe it. The cooks did not remove the abductor muscle from the scallop, which is such a rookie move. Clams were incredibly sandy, muscles were tiny and dry as a bone and the haddock was weak in flavor. I also did not care for the bit of stuffing on the lobster. The entire meal seemed like it was covered with a glaze of oil with breadcrumbs carelessly scattered across it so when I picked up the lobster claws the crumbs stuck to my hands like wet sand. The drawn butter had no flavor and I don’t really know how you mess up butter?! They never brought the milk out for the kids until we had to ask 1/2 way through dinner. They asked how our meal was and I was kind when I explained to them I was not happy with my meal. The manager wanted to give us a free dessert, and that was a nice gesture, but we don’t get dessert at restaurants. I really just wanted them to know, especially about the scallops. In full disclosure, in years past I have always gotten a 3 pound lobster steamed and have been extremely satisfied with that meal. So maybe if you’re coming here for specifically lobster I would be willing to bet you can’t go wrong. However if you’re looking for a seafood meal that isn’t fried I would look for...

I hate to do this because my family has been coming here for so long, some of us our entire lives. The food is amazing. But last night was the absolutely worse. We called to make a reservation, but no one ever answers the phone. My husband stopped by earlier in the day to make a reservation for 9 people, waited a half an hour for someone to finally speak to him, and placed one for 6:30. We were so excited. It’s truly a highlight for our family - from the baby to our 90 year old grandfather. When we arrived we noticed how busy they were and patiently waited with those who had just placed their names on the list. Not one person acknowledged us or really anyone for that matter for almost an hour. No one was told how long the wait was, everyone was getting brushed off. I grabbed a staff member and told her we had had reservations for 6:30 and that we were here and she ran off with a nod. A grabbed another staff member a half an hour later and said the same and she said she needed to go talk to the wait staff. Twenty minutes later Guy Fieri walks in with a huge party and is seated immediately. Realizing who clearly took precedence, we decided to leave - except it’s North Conway on a Wednesday in the summer and if you don’t have a reservation or are already waiting in line, good luck getting a table anywhere except for Applebee’s or McDonald’s (no shade). Honestly, if they had been upfront with everyone, it would have been disappointing, but not this upsetting. So many members of our party said they will never come back and I could hear so many others waiting...