Quality Seafood Without the Sky-high Prices

While Lobster King serves up traditional Cantonese-style cuisine, it’s best known for its high-quality live lobster that derives from the East Coast and Canada. Unlike other lobster eateries, Lobster King aims to make the crustacean affordable.

“A lot of times, lobster is very expensive, and not just anybody can afford to eat it,” says owner June Stewart.

In order to make lobster accessible to the masses, Lobster King has a number of good deals. Notably, the restaurant offers a 1-pound Live Lobster for $11.99 with purchase of one entree. This crustacean can be prepared in a variety of flavors, including Butter Garlic Lobster (pictured here). Other sauce selections include black bean or ginger green onion.

If it’s just lobster you’re after, the restaurant also offers Live Lobster ($14.95 a pound, starting at 3 pounds). Live Lobster can be prepared with a black bean sauce, ginger green onion sauce or butter garlic.

“But the best way to eat Live Lobster is with sashimi,” Stewart says of her personal favorite, Sashimi Live Lobster ($25 per pound).

She also recommends Dungeness Crab ($30.95) sourced from Vancouver, Canada, and served with your choice of black bean sauce, ginger green onion, butter garlic, or Stewart’s personal favorite — steamed.

And while most of Lobster King’s menu is dedicated to Chinese cuisine, it also recently added a Korean noodle dish to the mix. Seafood Jajangmyeon ($10.95) features squid, scallops, shrimp, squash, onions and cabbage.

“This is very popular in Korean drama shows,” Stewart explains. “People kept asking me when I was going to add this dish, so we put it on the menu, and our customers really love it. It features a black bean type of sauce, but milder.”

If you’re looking to try this Korean-inspired dish, pay a visit to Lobster King on Valentine’s Day, when it will be offered as a sampler for $3.

In addition to its regular menu items, Lobster King does its best to feature a special each month. Currently, diners can check out Sea Bass Tofu Casserole ($14.95), which features large, tender pieces of sea bass and deep-fried soft tofu with mushrooms, garlic and Chinese peas stir-fried in a white sauce.

On the Side

Prior to opening Lobster King, owner June Stewart worked in a retail shop, a coffee shop and a bar. Yet, during those times, she dreamed of opening a restaurant.

“I always wanted to have my own restaurant,” she says.

“My partner is a a seafood buyer,” Stewart explains. “He and I wanted to provide lobster for the public at a good price, so that everyone can afford it.”

So far, that concept has proved extremely popular. “Everybody loves it,” she says. “The community has been really happy because we provide the best quality at a reasonable price for all of our seafood, not just lobster.

“A lot of our customers tell us that they love the taste of our food, and our service is great. They are really happy,” she says. “And especially having lobsters starting at $11.99, they really appreciate that.”

Contact Christina O’Connor at diningout@staradvertiser.com

Lobster King

1380 S. King St., Honolulu
944-8288
Daily: 11 a.m.-3 a.m.