Eat This Now: The Crustacean Sensation at Blu Hwy

The Crustacean Sensation from Blu Hwy. // Photo by April Flemming

A dish called the “Crustacean Sensation” seems like something you might find in a stall at Oceans of Fun rather than in a brand new fine-dining space. But if you find yourself either ordering this dish as takeout from the new South Plaza restaurant Blu Hwy (which as of this writing has kept its dining room closed due to the current impossibility with staffing), you’ll quickly move past the slightly awkward name and will start to crave this lobster roll as a perfect, cool-down summer meal. 

Blu Hwy, broadly speaking, is surprisingly good, even in its current takeout-only form. Named after the novel, Blue Highway, the restaurant was designed to evoke a vintage road trip across America. Chef Daniel Walker created a menu of stepped-up American classics, including a Hatch chile corn chowder and fluffy buttermilk biscuits served with chile de arbol. While I also can’t recommend the tempura-fried pork tenderloin highly enough, the lobster roll stands out for its near perfection—a difficult feat to achieve in far-as-you-can-get-from-an-ocean Missouri.

Walker flies in fresh Maine lobster and cooks it gently to achieve an ideal, tender texture. The rest is relatively simple—add a little lemon juice, a little mayonnaise (not too much!), scallions, chervil, and a butter-toasted roll. Like you’ll find them in Maine, the roll is served with house-made potato chips, which offer enough salt to balance the creaminess of the lobster roll. It’s as close as a Missourian is going to get to lobster roll heaven. So call it whatever you want—lobster smackdown, sea bug sandwich—we’ll take another.