Houston’s Best Lobster Sandwich?

Happy Hour menus are fun, and if you know where to go, full of items worth ordering. Nuts and chips are fine, but there’s no reason to not enjoy some real food with your sparkling wine, beer, or Riesling.

Here’s something I had recently at Houston’s Backstreet Cafe, and it’s a wonderful little sandwich, full of flavor and textures … and lobster. There’s also arugula, onion rings, a slice of tomato, and a succulent brioche bun, moist and buttery. Plus a red pepper remoulade that completes the whole, a sandwich that I found myself craving the minute the final bite was savored.

To begin, the lobster is fried with a deft touch, battered lightly and served warm. I took a piece from the sandwich and tasted it on its own, and smiled. It possessed that lobster mouthfeel that inspires: not chewy, but not “tender” in the common usage of the word. There’s nice bite in a good piece of lobster, and this had it. I would be happy eating lobster prepared this way all by itself, in a bowl with a touch of the remoulade.

But to the sandwich, the happy hour selection: Trust me when I state that the only thing that would make it better would be a slice from a home-grown tomato, a tomato plucked from the plant at the height of ripeness. Other than that, this lobster creation is on my repeat list.

The onion rings are not greasy; the taste of the onion is not overpowered by the flavor of oil. The arugula adds a pleasant spiciness, and the remoulade is savory and rich and a touch tangy. A bite containing all of the ingredients is something you’ll remember long after your visit to Backstreet is over. It’ll cost you $7, and I’d recommend that you pair it with the  2014 Pazo de Señorans Albariño.