Anyone who grew up in or around Boston will recognize the name of James Hook & Co. An institution since 1925, James Hook was situated at the entrance to the Fort Point Channel. Their sign with the angular white lettering against their brown building was a landmark. That is, until 2008 when a fire consumed its main building, along with 60,000 lbs of lobster. Over $5 million in damages to the property didn’t stop the Hook family from rebuilding. And although the landmark facility is now gone, Hook remains in business to this day.

We were on our bikes and decided to swing by Hook to split a lobster roll. The place was crowded, so we stood in line for awhile. When our turn came, we noticed that there were completed lobster rolls in the display case, a la Roy Moore’s. Luckily, the clerk asked if we would like our roll toasted, which we did, so our roll ended up being made to order. We took our lunch out to the old drawbridge leading to South Boston to enjoy our roll in the sunshine.

This roll was very good. Buttery, toasted split-top hotdog bun filled with delicious, fresh and flaky lobster meat. This roll had a bit more mayo than necessary, but not so much that it detracted from the tender lobster meat. We were surprised to hear people mention light celery in their reviews, because as far as we could tell there was no celery in ours. In many ways, this roll was very traditional, and reminiscent of Shaw’s or Harraseeket, but was even simpler in that there was no lettuce lining the roll, winning additional style points for Hook. And at about $12.99, you’ll have a very difficult time finding a better value in all of Boston.

We really liked James Hook & Co.’s lobster roll, and awarded it a rating of HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

• T’s Rating: 90
• P’s Rating: 90
• AVERAGE: 90

James Hook & Co. is located at 15-17 Northern Avenue in Boston, MA. WEBSITE: http://jameshooklobster.com. PHONE: 617.423.5501.

James Hook & Co.’s lobster roll is delightful in its simplicity. We had no camera with us on this visit, so we borrowed this snap from Jo Boston. We’ll be happy to remove the image upon request.