Red Lobster (Lynnwood)

Okay, why am I dining at such a defaultish chain restaurant as my first real restaurant experience in the States since 2019?  Well, I truly do like their cheddar biscuits and also, my kids have never been there before.  Seeing how they are now starting to love seafood, it was as good of a time to head to Red Lobster.  Looks like we weren't the only ones as the parking lot was littered with BC plates.

So here we are, the famous Cheddar Biscuits in all its glory.  Kid you not, these are some of the best I've had and no, I'm not going to let haters in cyberspace take that way from me.  Hate away!  I love them!  These featured a lightly crispy exterior that gave way to an airy and fluffy center.  Intertwined with the fluffiness were pops of cheddar.  The topping was a bit salty, but that didn't detract from the pleasure of eating it.

We did end up ordering one appie in the Bacon-Wrapped Scallops (didn't want to order more since some of our meals were large).  These were really good with huge scallops encased in fairly lean bacon.  In fact, the edges of the bacon were quite crispy and there wasn't a lot of flabbiness.  Beyond being huge, the scallops were cooked beautifully being still delicate and moist with its classic sweet bouncy texture.

I was trying to decide which soup to order and went head with both the Clam Chowder and Lobster Bisque.  So they arrived barely lukewarm, which was not appealing at all.  At the very least, the clam chowder was pretty decent in terms of viscosity, taste and amount of ingredients.  It did have some briny clam hints while it was creamy and satisfying.  However, the bisque was terrible.  It felt artificially thick and was super salty.  It tasted like roux with little else other than salt as a seasoning.  No lobster aroma at all.  I would avoid this.

For my main, I went basic with the Fish & Chips.  I thought the portion size was a bit small, but then again, it was one of the least expensive items on the menu.  The fish itself was flaky and moist with only the thinnest layer of batter on the outside.  It was a bit oil-logged though, which made it somewhat unappealing, but it was crispy.  The fries were standard-issue chain restaurant fries and even with that, they were not fried properly.  I found that they were limp and not crunchy.  The tartar was bright with sharp onion flavour while the slaw was crunchy but overdressed.

Viv also went light with the Lobster-Topped Stuffed Flounder with rice and broccoli.  On the menu, it stated that the fish was stuffed with seafood, but in reality, it was mostly on the bottom of the fish and a bit too pan-fried.  Again, this was a very salty concoction which totally required the fluffy rice/quinoa on the side for balance.  The fish was soft and tender though.  Side of broccoli was perfect though being cooked through while still crunchy and completely seasoned.

So far, the meal had been so-so, but with my son's Seafarer's Feast, it got a whole lot better.  It consisted of a broiled Maine lobster tail, garlic shrimp scampi, Walt's favourite shrimp and grilled sea scallops with rice and broccoli.  Beyond looking quite grand, the items were prepared perfectly.  The lobster was moist, flavourful and had that desired rebound texture.  Shrimp was also on point with plenty of garlicky butteriness.  Fried shrimp was crunchy on the outside with a meaty snap on the inside.  Scallops were aggressively grilled, yet were still delicate and buttery with a bite.

My daughter's meal was similar with the Seaside Shrimp Trio consisting of Walt's favourite shrimp, garlic shrimp scampi and creamy shrimp linguine alfredo.  Predictably, the fried shrimp and scampi were the same as the previous platter.  In terms of the linguine, it was surprisingly al dente and bathed in a creamy alfredo that had a good amount of tender shrimp in it.  Now as you can see, the last two, more expensive meals, were quite decent.  However, the rest of the meal (other than the scallops and biscuits) was rather sub-standard.  Also, they really love their salt here.  Sure, I guess this was to be expected at a large chain restaurant and I should have reasonable expectations.  With that, I guess if you spend some money and order the good stuff, you can have a decent meal here.

The Good:
- Those biscuits!
- More expensive platters are actually decent
- The service we got from our server was excellent

The Bad:
- Other items were mostly meh and far too salty
- Hostess was very indifferent
- Worst lobster bisque I've ever had