Park Street Deli Lobster Bisque and Clam Chowder

The first time I ever tried lobster bisque was when I was a teenager vacationing at Disney World. I was dining in the Coral Reef Restaurant at EPCOT, where diners have panoramic views of large aquariums full of live fish. Lobster bisque was on the menu. The bisque — which is traditionally a thick, creamy, blended soup featuring shellfish — was rich, creamy, buttery, savory, and filled with tiny bits of lobster meat. I was hooked.

From then on, I’ve always gotten lobster bisque if it’s on the menu wherever I’m eating. Most recently, I enjoyed some from a great little deli while my family was traveling near my childhood stomping grounds near the Indiana Dunes.

So when Aldi sold some lobster bisque as a limited-time special recently, I had to get it to see how it compared to other lobster bisques I’ve had. It was sold in a mixed case alongside some New England clam chowder, which I picked up as well. The grocer always seems to stock a nice variety of seafood-based products during the Lenten season, with some of this year’s favorites including a creamy frozen seafood stew.

Clam chowder has been a lifelong favorite for me. I grew up on the humble canned Campbell’s New England clam chowder and have fond memories of sitting at my family’s dining room table and eating it for lunch on relaxed days off school, often while watching cartoons or reading a book. It was the best comfort food for me as a kid, right behind canned Campbell’s Tomato Soup. I still like to eat clam chowder occasionally, either the Campbell’s brand or the one Trader Joe’s sells.

Park Street Deli Lobster Bisque and Park Street Deli New England Clam Chowder cost $6.59 each at Aldi at the time of publication. They’re sold in 24-ounce containers in the refrigerated case. That comes out to about 27 cents per ounce.

The Aldi clam chowder costs more than the refrigerated clam chowder that Aldi’s cousin Trader Joe’s sells, which goes for about 25 cents per ounce.

These are Aldi Finds, so they’re only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, they’re gone. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not in stock at your local store.

For ready-to-heat soups, the ingredients lists are better than I expected. These contain mostly recognizable ingredients such as seafood, cream, stock, and butter, and not as many processed ingredients as you might think. They do contain natural flavor, and the bisque contains dextrose, but otherwise these don’t seem too bad from an ingredients perspective. The lobster bisque contains an ingredient I don’t see often called nisin preparation, which is a preservative. The bisque and chowder are not healthy in terms of calories, fat, saturated fat, or sodium. More on that a bit later.

Each container has about three 1-cup servings.

These have instructions for heating on the stovetop or in the microwave. (Beware: the print on the containers is small and bunched together, but you basically heat these like you would any canned or refrigerated soup.)

To heat on the stove, remove the lid and film from the container. Pour the bisque or chowder into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally until thoroughly heated to a minimum of 165 degrees. Do not boil.

To heat in the microwave, remove the lid and film. Place the container on a microwave-safe plate and loosely cover with microwavable plastic wrap or a paper towel. (Alternatively, I don’t see why you couldn’t pour the soup into a microwave-safe bowl and loosely cover it to heat it, if you don’t like putting plastic containers in the microwave.) Heat on high for about 5-6 minutes or until internal temperature reaches a minimum of 165 degrees. Stir halfway through cooking. Carefully remove from the microwave and pour into serving bowls and stir well.

I heated these both on the stovetop.

Keep reading for more information on the bisque and chowder.

Park Street Deli Lobster Bisque

Lobster bisque.

This was okay but not my favorite lobster bisque. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what didn’t work with this. Perhaps it has more of a cream flavor than a lobster flavor. It also isn’t very salty tasting compared to other lobster bisques I’ve had, although it has its share of sodium. It has plenty of tiny lobster bits, though, and I still liked this enough that I went back for seconds. Other family members did not go back for more of this, instead preferring the clam chowder. It also has a very thick consistency and took a little longer to heat on the stovetop compared to the clam chowder.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk, shellfish (lobster), and wheat.

Lobster bisque nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions, part one. (Click to enlarge.)

Lobster bisque nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions, part two. (Click to enlarge.)

One serving has 380 calories, 30 grams of total fat (38% DV), 18 grams of saturated fat (90%), 140 mg of cholesterol (47% DV), 740 mg of sodium (32% DV), 16 grams of total carbohydrates (6% DV), 7 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugar (2% DV), and 9 grams of protein.

Park Street Deli Clam Chowder

Clam chowder.

This is a decent clam chowder that my family thought was on par with other brands we’ve tried, including Campbell’s and Trader Joe’s. It has a good salty, creamy broth and a good amount of potatoes and clam chunks. I thought the clam pieces were on the chewier side, but they’re all right. In terms of the occasional gritty bite of clam, I thought this was similar to other brands as well. My family happily finished off the entire saucepan of this chowder.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains fish (cod, pollock), milk, and wheat. It may contain crustacean (shellfish).

Clam chowder nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions, part one. (Click to enlarge.)

Clam chowder nutrition information, ingredients, and heating directions, part two. (Click to enlarge.)

One serving has 320 calories, 23 grams of total fat (29% DV), 14 grams of saturated fat (70% DV), 95 mg of cholesterol (32% DV), 990 mg of sodium (43% DV), 20 grams of total carbohydrates (7% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, no added sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

The Verdict:

Park Street Deli Lobster Bisque and Park Street Deli Clam Chowder are refrigerated limited-time seafood options at Aldi. Our taste testers liked the clam chowder best, noting its creamy broth, potatoes, and clam chunks. The lobster bisque contains a good amount of tiny lobster bits, but we felt like it was the lowest-ranking compared to other lobster bisques we’ve had. Either of these would be fine served with some crusty bread or a side salad.