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This is an eigtheen-pound lobster tower. Will we be able to eat it all? I do not know, know man. In Toronto, there's one seafood restaurant that stands above everything. Fishman Lobster Clubhouse. A thousand people a day. Seafood so big you have to see it to believe it! But it did not start this way. And the owner told us a story I never would have expected. Going to try some dishes you'd probably never guess they serve here. Wow! And then at the end, one of the greatest lobster meal experiences in the world!
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Scarborough. And it was about a thirty-minute drive from downtown Toronto to get here. But this is a pilgrimage destination for you, for me, as food lovers, this is one of the most iconic restaurants in all of Canada. This restaurant has been on my bucket list for, I think it's been about 10 years! I am so, so excited! We are in for a life-changing seafood feast coming up very soon. And here's Clement! We're gonna be hanging out with Clement. What's up, InstaNoodles? Ey. Eeey. It's been less than twenty-four hours, but we're back. Whoa! This is extra chilies. Yeah, extra chilies, extra onions. And still sizzling hot!
We're ready for perhaps one of the most epic meals in all of Toronto. Yeah. Probably one of the most epic meals in the world! In Canada. Yeah, in the world with Canada. For sure. Like, you'll never see something like this, For sure. In, in Canada, in the world, in North America. right? This is super unique. I haven't even tried this myself. I'm super excited. Man. What a place. Let's go! Wow! Oh, my gosh! Oh, look at this place!
Oh, it's packed! This restaurant is already buzzing at 11 AM. Tables throughout the entire restaurant. Round tables, Chinese style. And then around the entire outside you will see the tanks, the aquarium of seafood just surrounding the entire restaurant. And an entire cabinet of steaks and meats as well. And we are meeting up with the owner over here. I think our table's over this side. Wow. Hello. Hey, Ray. Nice to meet you. Yes! Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. Nice to meet you. Hello. Yes. Hi.
Hi. Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming by. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Yeaah. Nice to meet you. Oh. So happy to be here. Clement, yes. Yeah. So happy to be here. Yeah. We are getting extremely rare access to the kitchen at the Fishman Lobster Clubhouse. It is such an impressive operation here, feeding hundreds of people every day. Up to a thousand people here. Uh, but the kitchen is buzzing.
It's huge, it's spacious, it's clean. And because we're here for the morning or lunchtime, a lot of people come here for dim sum as well. And so the dim sum is still steaming. It's like an entire steam bath behind me, all in the, the wooden trays. And then in the back, we're going to see some of the steamers, some of the other dishes, and then the wok station where we're gonna see some of the dishes being made before we eat them. And of course, the lobster tower still coming up. So, the steaks are really popular here as well. Oh, yeah, for sure. We go through, uh, probably like hundred a night.
Wow. But maybe more. Yeah, it depends. Dry aged? Dry aged. Okay. Yeah. So, you come here, you think you're just gonna eat lobster and seafood, but then it's a surprise steak, which is gonna be, like, unbelievable. So, I can't wait to try the steak that it could. Can't wait to try. It's boiling. Oh, my gosh. Oh, wow. Oh, it's ready. It goes onto the. the plate. That's butter? Butter. Butterfied butter onto the plate. Exactly. That's exactly what it is. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Ooh, that sizzle! Yeah.
Garlic, rosemary, the aromatics. Oh, wow. Wow! Like, Clement. Yes. I, I kid you not. This was completely unexpected. I had no idea we were going to be eating steak before the lobster. I don't think I've ever had a steak at a proper Chinese restaurant like this in my life. And of course, we're gonna dig in with chopsticks, but twenty-two, twenty-two day dry-aged, served on the.
The boiling buttered plate. This is spectacular. Let's go get that fat. Yep. Ooh, yeah. Oh, my God. That's so thick. Oh, look at it. Oh, I need to. Yes. Yes, my friend. Perfectly seared. Perfectly medium rare. Salt, pepper. Okay. That, there's a reason they don't give you a knife. Oh, wow! Okay. That's unbelievable. Like, I didn't. That actually kind of surprised me that I didn't need to bite.
My teeth just sunk through that. Your famous words. I don't know if you've used it recently: You don't need teeth! I've been using that line. I took it from Mark. You don't need teeth for that. You can chew with your gums. You don't need teeth, man. That's why there's so many senior citizens here. They know where it's at. Wow! But at the same time, it's, like, so flavorful. Yeah. It's dry-aged to a point where it's not.
It doesn't have that funky flavor, but it has just that increased, um, that less moisture, so that it increases the intensity of the beefiness. Oh, it's very beefy, very buttery. The juiciness, the coarse black pepper. Yep. This is healthy. Is a hundred percent. Natural. Ontario beef. This is high protein. Then chase that with a clove of garlic. Oh, wow.
All the pungency, the power of the garlic just seared in that butter. Oh, that is extremely tasty. And now, some of the dim sum items have come out. We've got some buns, some bao. We've got some shumai. We've got some other dumplings. And these are like big bamboo steamers, like family. Everything is served giant here. And we were also noticing that everything here, it, that's served is, like, they really care about the display and the, the decoration.
You eat with your eyes first. So, let's dig into a, a shumai. Okay. Here we go. Oh, man. Everything is, like, giant-sized as well here. Yeah. Put some vinegar in. Dig in. Dip it in. Yeaah. Sauced up. Yeah. That porky sensation. Maybe a mix of pork and shrimp. I love that bounciness of it, that texture. You notice, like, people here, they're not just coming here for, you know, the lobster or the steak.
They're ordering dim sum here as well. They're ordering everything, right? Yeah. You don't want to miss anything when you're here. Yeah. Let's try this next. Yeah. Okay, let's pour on the soy sauce. Yeah. It can be soy sauce. Here, you got it. Freshly made. You can see every individual piece has a whole shrimp on the inside with that fresh rice noodle made right in the back on spot.
Made to order. Wow. That's like childhood in a bite. Freshly steamed. When I was a kid, it was one of my favorite things, yeah. Oh, me too! I think every kid, probably. Yeah. Noodles and things in noodles. The gummy silkiness of that rice. Then that bouncy shrimp on the inside. Oh, it's so good. Oh, and I think something else might be coming to the table.
I think we're getting to. Oh, my gosh. Wow. The fish. The sea bass. The steamed green bass. This is not a cheap fish. Thank you. Wow! This is not a cheap fish. No, this is premium. And then, like, steamed hot oil scallions. Oh, looks unbelievable. This. This is one of my favorite Cantonese, um, dishes in one of the higher-end restaurants ever. So, first thing you do, pour over the soy sauce mixture. Oh, it's hot. Wow. Oh, the aroma. Yeah. The oil, the hot oil, the soy sauce, the scallions.
Here we go. The green sea bass. Another signature. We're just, uh, revealing the meat. Part the, part the scallions. Yeah. Going on that filet on the side there. I think they probably pour hot oil on this, too. That's probably how they. Yeah. Cook it again, huh? Oh, this flakes apart. They steam it. Oh, the freshness. Wow. It's so firm, too. Firm and flaky. Oh, yeah. I got a piece. I got a chunk, which I'm gonna submerge into that oil with some scallions.
Yeah. Yeah, we gotta roll the bones but. Oh, wow. That is so clean. This is the omakase of Cantonese cuisine. You're just trying to taste that fish. Nothing is covered up. The pureness, the freshness of the fish. It's flaky, it's buttery. It's rich! Dude, and that oil. Is, like, just perfect. It's not too salty, it's not too heavy. Yeah. It is so clean. Complementing the flavor, the natural flavor of that fish.
The fish is very clean tasting. If you have the best quality, the freshest fish, there's no better way than steamed. You don't want to do too much to it. No. Yeah. Oh, it's so good. Oh, I love it. And, yeah, I love how none of the seasoning is overpowering. The natural flavor of that fish. Okay, let's go for the next. Man, look at the size of these. Alright. These ones are ginormous. It's like a. It's like a mini meal all in one.
Oh, yeah. It's heavy. It's huge. Yeah. The water chestnuts in there give it an amazing crunch. Green onions, a little bit of minced pork maybe in there. Yeah. I like that crunch. Wow. It's not a one-biter. It would, it would be impressive if you could eat this all in one bite. It is massive. Not even Mark Wiens.
Definitely a two-biter, no. Not even Mark Wiens could do it too one bitter. I'm not gonna risk here. In there. A little bit of minced pork just to give it flavor. But I think it's all about that water chestnut that gives it that incredible crunch. Really good. This place is. It's not just a restaurant. It's like a. It's a complete, like, fairyland of delicious Chinese food to eat. We went to Steak World. We went to Dim Sum World. We went to Sea Bass World. We're visiting all the stations. Lobster World's about to come.
You can be sure the lobsters are still coming. But while I was eating those first courses, I kept wondering, how does a restaurant that looks like it's in a strip mall end up serving a thousand people a day? So, I asked Ray, and his answer kind of surprised me, because in the beginning, this wasn't even a seafood restaurant at all. We started with a very small, uuh, a location with, like, ten tables and. And then. it started off like a very small restaurant? So, A, a very small restaurant. Yeah.
We didn't. We didn't start with seafood because. Any kind of seafood business requires a, a, a large investment of capital. Oh, yeah. So, it was just a regular. Chinese restaurant with fried rice, fried noodles, all the ordinary menu items. Oh, okay. Alright. And then six months into our business venture, we, we, we found out that it wasn't making money at all.
Wow. Because the menu, you know, the items were very low, low budget items. So, you know, a, a few of our family members we came together and, and, uh. discuss the options of, uh, maybe let's scale a little bit, uh, bigger to a different type of menu, different like in the seafood, and maybe that will attract a different crowd of customers, right? So, that's how we got into lobster, right. Back, back then, there wasn't that many lobster, uh, restaurants around. So, so we got into lobster, and, you know, the rest is history.
Wow. So, the lobster and changing to seafood and lobster really Yeah. Yeah! helped the business. Yes. Oh, yeah. People started coming more. Start coming more. Today, they're so successful, they opened a second location, Jumbo Lobster Clubhouse. It's double the size, and it's considered one of the premium Chinese banquet restaurants in all of Canada. How did you guys start the. the Lobster Towers? What's the story behind it? The story behind it, we came from China. thirty, forty years ago China wasn't the China that we, we see today. It's very, uh, old and back in.
I shouldn't say the Stone Ages or very, life, life was very, uh. primitive. And. how we cook potatoes and yam, we use the, the, uh, some sort of a, a, a stone. uh, stove. Ooh, okay. So, so the shape of that stone stove is, is that shape of that, the tower. Stacked up like, like a tower. It's like, stacked up, like a tower. And, and that's, you know, it's more like a childhood, uh. memory, uh, kind a, kind a image. And. And then, you know, so we agree, my, uh, nephews and my brothers, uh, were chefs in, in from another restaurant. So, their career was a, as chef all their lives working out. As, as new immigrants in Canada there weren't that many choices for us,
you know, for, to make a living here, right? So, they have that, that side of the experience, uh, to run the business. Very cool. So, yeah, so they came up with the idea of the lobster tower. Stack it up like the. Stack it up like a tower. The stove. Yeah. With the new, the Internet era, you know, the Instagram, the YouTube and, and stuff like that, uh, people wasn't into this or how, how, how tasty the food was. It was just all about hype and how. Yeah. The giant tower. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How, how, how. I think you guys were before the Internet, man.
It has beat the social media. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The social media phenomenon. What, what took the lobster tower Yeah. into the fame of today. Yeah. Wow. And that dish is what we came for. It is time for the lobster, and they have all the tanks outside, and then they have more tanks on the inside of the kitchen for easy access. We're gonna get some massive lobsters. Whoa. It's huge! Oh, wow! Oh, my gosh. Wow! Okay, we've got two lobsters. Look at that eigtheen pounds.
Okay, so something that they do here, the ritual they do here is they get your lobsters, then they bring them back to your table, and you can check out your live lobster before you then eat it. So, we're gonna go back to the table, we're gonna see the lobsters before we, we then cook. Here it comes they wheel out your lobster. Oooh. Wow! Thank you. Oh, my gosh! Wow! There's a lobster. Oh, yeah. It's a live lobster. Oh, my gosh. Is it safe? Yeah!
They are huge! No. Bro, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry we gotta eat you. Together, these lobsters are eighteen pounds of lobster. So,y're like nine pounds each. Whoa you can feel the strength of it. This is heavy, man. Dude. This is a workout. Kind of scared. Caught. Yeah. His. Whoa. These guys could probably take their arm off.
They're so good. So much skills. Literally, in like. thirty seconds, the lobster is parted out into pieces, uh, for the next process. How it's gonna be cooked. That is giganormous. And there's two of them. Wow. Whoa. Straight through that body. Oh. Piecing it out. You know.
And like a, I, I know it's like, it's not an easy task, you know. As well. Oh, man it look really good. Yeah. And the. That is insanely huge. Wow, it's so hard. We're gonna see the next process, how they prepare it, and there's four different ways you can order it, but we're gonna get, uh, the Hong Kong style.
Oh, it goes over to the. Like, the flour station. Just getting a coating of flour. Oh, yeah. And the heads. Can't miss the heads. Okay, they're going over into the deep fryer. Yeah. All the heads go in. Lobster dusted in flour. Now to the deep fryer. Heads and all.
Okay, more goes in. It's never ending lobster. That is mesmerizing to look at. The amount of bubbles in that oil. Eighteen pounds of lobsters in the fryer. Oh. Oh, the shake. Oh, oh, wow. It's starting to get crispy. Oh, plops directly into the wok. No way. Oh, and there's more. Fries go in. This is absolutely insane!
It comes right out of the fryer with fries into the wok. And chef already had all the seasoning within the wok. And then it just, they, like, give it like a toss he stirs that up, tosses it up with the seasoning. Then he's building our tower right now. This is insane. Unbelievable. Once in a lifetime experience. Wow. It's growing. It's getting bigger every second. He's reconstructing the beauty of the two lobsters back to wholeness. he's doing construction with a lobster. He's, he's, Construction.
Oh, and then the lettuce on top. No way! Check this out. The lobster tower! Eighteen pounds of lobster. It's actually construction. It is a work of art. Like, it's held together with French fries, lobster, it's, like, taller than my upper body. It is huge! It's coming to the table. Thank you so much. Micah. Oh, wow. It is unbelievable. Like, you see the photos of this thing, and they just cannot do it justice compared to being here in real life, seeing it for yourself right before you.
This is life changing. It's right up there with, like, the greatest events of your life. Um. Like, it is a masterpiece. This is a hundred percent pure Canadian lobster from Nova Scotia. I don't even. I'm getting a little stage fright here. I don't even quite know how to dig in. Stage. What do we do? When it's, like, it's plastered together with fries that's genius. And I think you have to start with the top and move your way down. You have to start from the top. It's. So, so, we, uh. I don't know what the strategy is, but. Or you can. I think we can grab one from the. From the sides?
Let's see. I mean, it's pretty sturdy it's pretty stable. I got, I got one right here, but I'm so scared to. Like you take the middle, it's all you say drop. No, don't take the middle. So, we got to go from the, we got to go from the top. Okay. And, and this is the cover. Right. Okay. Oh, they go with gloves. We're doing it all wrong. We've disrespected the restaurant by using the chopsticks! Gloves. You need gloves.
Okay, let's go in for gloves. Yeah. I think we just want to spread it a little bit. Yeah. Lettuce on top. Yeah. And we go. Were. It's garnish. I think it's. Let's. Let's put the lettuce to the, to the side. There we go. You take it from the top. Yeah, you take it from the top. Yeah. There you go. Okay, I'll take this one. I'll grab this guy here. Oh, my gosh. Okay, first bite.
It pops out, man! It's blooming out of the shell. I'm just gonna bite it. I can't wait any longer. Yeah. Let's go. The shell. The sweetness of the lobster coated in that flour. Then it has this lovely, like, garlicky, slightly sweet sour sauce that it's been tossed in. These are the David Goggins of lobster, man. They've been in the cold, frigid waters of Canada for all their life. Building flavor, building muscle, Building. and then transforming into a tower. Yeah.
Okay, I'm gonna go in for another piece. Oh, my gosh. There's bite you got to see. Oh, my gosh. It's like, just giant nuggets of lobster just pop out. Oh, my. Look at tha you can just. Plop it out. And that's an entire giant chunk of. Oh, my gosh! Pure lobster. Look at this one. That's the Wagyu of the sea! It, like, melts in your mouth. It's so plump and juicy. And yet at the same time, it's not chewy or rubbery. No. It's perfectly.
The texture is. Flawless. It's immaculate. That is unbelievable. That is the best lobster, man. It's never ending. We take. Hey, we've done a. We've taken the, the top off the, the pyramid, so far, we're doing well, so far. We've. We've climbed level, uh. negative, level zero. I think we need a fry on that. Oh, wow. Oh, I'm just gonna pull some fries from the. From the construction. They're laced in garlic.
They are. Oh, man. Oh, my gosh. They're crispy. Those are, like, triple fried. They're coated in all caramelized sauce. That's a flavor bomb. The more you chew, the more flavor keeps on coming out of it. So, the top meat is at the very top. Yeah. It takes skill to construct it like this, right? Because I think more of the harder pieces to crack open might be at the bottom. You know, it's like. It's like ancient building techniques. No, where they had to choose the pieces to fit together. Like the ancient Roman aqueducts, where they all fit together perfectly with no cement to.
Yes. Right. To hold them together. You know, like stones. Like ancient Egyptians. Just stones together. If you're wondering how the Egyptians built the pyramids, wonder no longer. This is the answer. Fits together like a puzzle. Micah, grab a piece. Go. Oh, the, the foody. Micah's going in, yeah! Yes. Micah going in. Oh, here's a, here's a big one. Oh, oh, yeah. Check out the size of this nugget. You can squeeze it. Look at the juiciness of it.
Oh, no. It's cooked perfectly. Wow. You're popping it out. Micah, come over here. Come grab a, eat a piece with us, Micah. The lobster tower is definitely, like, bigger than you, Micah. Wow we gotta eat it together. Here we go. The lobster tower dance. Lobster tower. Micah. Micah, how is it? Yummy. The stamp of approval. From the legend himself. What I like about this place also is they don't, there's not a lot of things on the menu, but what they serve, they have absolutely mastered to perfection.
It's a very tight, focused menu. And everything has a great display. You feast with your eyes first, second when you bite into it. It's top tier. No jokes. Everything is so visual. And actually. There's a lot of talk about the lobster. But don't sleep on those fries. Those fries are insane. Oh, yeah. We're making a little progress. But what I love about the way they've constructed is this.
Is that they chopped everything into big nuggets, and then they construct it, and then it's all mixed up whatever part fit together. So, you never quite know what you're gonna get. And every time you just keep digging, you find a new. A new part of the, the lobster you never knew existed, and you just keep rummaging through the mountain. The Everest. Of lobster. Let's find a new part. To explore. It is so much fun. Oh, my God. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's the knuckle. Oh. Everything's falling.
Little avalanche. Oh. I think that's a knuckle. Oh, one of the best parts. The knuckle's the best part, eh? Knuckle is great. Yes. Just can scoop it out. Oh, that knuckle. It is so addictive, the flavor, that you literally cannot stop eating it too. This is the most amount of lobster I've ever had in front of me in my life.
You're eating different body parts of the lobster. Every bite is a new adventure. Okay, another part. We're moving in. Oh, I think this is a piece of the claw. Oh! Are you ready for it? You can just slide your thumb through it. Oh, gosh. These are like lollipops. These are like lobster lollipops. Oh. Oh, the claw. The stringiness of the claw. Look at the interior of that. You know, what I love about this tower is how you can eat a piece of flesh of the lobster. When you think you're, you're maxed out on the lobster, eat a fry. Eat a fry,
cleanses the palate. You're in for more lobster. You're taste, you never get taste bud fatigue. And also. We didn't forget about the iceberg lettuce. There are vegetables on this plate as well. Prebiotics. Eat your prebiotics, folks. Even the lettuce tastes better here. Even Micah wants to eat some lettuce. Probably because there's lobster on our taste buds.
You know what? I was not gonna eat that lettuce, but it's actually quite refreshing. You know. Yeah. It has that crunch to it. I'm feeling like yesterday, but in one place. I think at this stage. You needed almost forgot,we already had a steak. We had a steak and a, and a steamed bass. And some dim sum. We need to do a little tai chi workout before we eat another bite. Slow movements. Okay. I think I feel a little better.
I think I'm ready for my next piece of lobster. Oh, my gosh. This is part of the ankle again. No, the elbow. Here, Clement, you have this. I'll go for another. I'm actually tapping out. I am tapping out. I don't know if I can do any more. Here we go. Next body part. It's the full anatomy of the lobster. Oh, my God.
Well. Yeah, I mean, it's not only delicious, but it's just so much fun to eat. It's so entertaining. Bring your friends here. You will be a hero. I, I'm actually really impressed you're, you're Yeah. still climbing, Mark, man. I think, um. No, I don't give up. I'm gonna take a pit stop. You know, I'm gonna. Yeah, we need to. Although, that being said. I can kind of feel that I'm starting to lose my mind a little bit.
I'm not thinking straight. You're getting drunk on lobster. Totally intoxicated. Lobster intoxicated. But really, it's so good. Wow. Clement, are you okay? I'm in a food coma, man. Dude, your, your eyes are closing. You, you love. I, uh, I'm glazing. Is this how it looks like to go to heaven? Oh. I think we're admitting defeat. Oh, but we have to say a huge thank you to Ray.
Yes. Ray, here. Bring the. We got. Get a. Come join us, Ray. Sure. Okay. Oh, man. Thank you guys for, uh. We need to nurse ourselves with some tea. Ray. Thank you, Ray. Thank you. Thank you for, uh, coming. Yes. It's an honor. Yeah. It's an honor. It's an honor to have you here. Thank you for having us. Thank you.
Thank you, Ray. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thanks, Clement. Hey. A pleasure, my. It's my honor. Oh, my honor to be here. This is absolutely unmissable when you're in Toronto. So, we weren't able to finish the lobster tower, but, hey, we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow. This sandwich hasn't changed since 1928. Wow. Now I know why Montreal is one of the world's greatest food cities.
