Yesterday was Homer’s birthday. We went to “The Lobster” located next to Santa Monica pier for dinner. It’s the restaurant I often saw right above PCH and has a great view of the ocean and Santa Monica beach. Every time I went by Santa Monica pier I always wanted to go in for a taste, but just never had the chance to. Finally last night my wish came true!

Since yesterday was NBA final, I figured there might not be a lot of people in the restaurant. Turned out I was wrong. The restaurant was packed with people, even the bar was filled with customers waiting for tables. It proves how popular this restaurant is. Fortunately I had reservation ahead of time and secured a table without waiting very long. We had a table with full view of the Pacific ocean. If the restaurant weren’t that crowded and noisy, I would’ve enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the romantic atmosphere more.

For appetizers, we ordered fried calamari. It was the crispiest crunchiest calamari I’ve ever had. Even the ranch sauce they made was great. For entree, Homer ordered the pan roasted lobster and I ordered the crab cake. We were trying to decide whether we should get their famous freshly cooked lobster ($27/lb!!). When we saw other people wearing tissue around their neck and waiter brought them full plates of big red lobsters, our mouth almost dropped to the table. But we had to give up because it was way too pricey   Our pan roasted lobster was pretty good, tasted fresh and very chewy. I really liked my crab cake also. It was decorated with sweet corn salad on top and crab cake sauce on the bottom. Very well done with authentic crab meat filled inside.

After dinner, we shared the mango raspberry tiramisu for dessert. It has cheese cake on top of the tiramisu and raspberry sauce placed on the plate. I’ve never had such a tiramisu and I just couldn’t describe how good it taste!

I would totally recommend “the Lobster” for everyone just because of its great food and beautiful view. But you could easily spend $40-$50 per person if you order full course of food. So it’s probably one of those restaurant more suitable for important events like birthdays or anniversary.