IIRC, McDonald's Chicken McNuggets used to actually contain part fish. At least this is the same species/family.

I dont know why they all just dont sell crawfish.

Least crawfish are cheap, plentiful, and tasty.

@Jim Topoleski:
Mmmmmm. Crawfish.

Whatever, they still tasted good when I had them on Sunday. :)

It's all sea bugs to me. Eat up!

Isn't that a shrimp in the pic? Anyway, you get what you pay for...

Globviously they're low-quality lobersterishness--it's like $3.

And they taste SO GOOD! :)

@PartOfIMAXConspiracy_GitEmSteveDave: It may have been listed because they used to be fried in the same oil as the fish. If not...eww...

@Jim Topoleski: But its so hard to crack open the claw. And the amount of meat isn't that much. And when you use them with surf in turf, sure the small tail makes the steak look bigger, but it just isn't enough.

Mkay, iffy advertising, but since I like both crab and lobster... I'm up for it. Has anybody tried these? Are they tasty?

more ubfi us available here: [www.seafoodbusiness.com]

Note that the langostinos are just as closely related to American lobster as Spiny lobster are. When you get lobster tails you are usually getting spiny lobster and not American lobster. Crayfish though, are closely related to American lobster.

I used to think langostinos were the same thing as langoustines, but per the link I provided above, they are not. But langoustines are what the Italians call scampi which is something that I like to point out when people order "Shrimp Scampi" at a restaurant you are basically ordering "Shrimp Langoustine" which is like ordering "Tomato Eggplant."

I vote for fast seafood places selling crawdads. They're cheap, plentiful and naturally bite size. Tasty!

Yeah, I remember looking this up last time they had this promotion a couple years ago.

@Jim Topoleski: Now I want some Popeye's fried crawfish. Yum.

Something about fast food seafood smells fishy...

@PartOfIMAXConspiracy_GitEmSteveDave: My current care about what food I put into my body aside...man, their old McNuggets used to taste so good!

And as an aside, I used to love their shakes before they went to that "Triple Thick" crap.

Don't care. They taste good.

Bleh. Both are barely a step up from a giant ocean-going cockroach. No thank you.

I'll give Long John Silver's a (personal) pass on this one: I don't eat their seafood, but I would kill a man for their hush puppies.

Hush puppies make things all better.

@CyGuy: I was curious about that, especially because they use langoustine on Iron Chef pretty often. For a bit of perspective on all this, check out this Cracked article that discusses the low class origins of today's high class foods.

This has always really pissed me off. Sure, it may be tasty and affordable, and no one is expecting a big ole' lobster like you'd get at a classy restaurant, but it's underhanded at best and false advertising at worst.

Frankly, I don't think enough people care enough to research this, understand the distinction, and force LJS to change its ways - nothing short of FTC intervention would. It reminds me of how most Chinese food restaurants around where I live advertise "crab" this and that, when it's actually crab-flavored surimi. It's a lie, but no one seems to give a damn.

I wonder what would happen if McDonalds started selling 100% Grade-A Hemiptera Beef Burgers (now tastier than Angus)? Ground-up bug meal is as much beef as langostino is lobster.

I think that the labeling procedure is to blame here, not LJS. Why allow three or four different species to be sold under the same label?
Or is it really American consumers' relative unwillingness to try different kinds of seafood? Why does everyone just eat cod, salmon, tuna, shrimp, crab, and lobster? These companies are petrified of giving you something new, no one would buy it.
For years, very few people were interested in Chinese Gooseberries, but when someone started calling them Kiwifruit, they became an international standard.
With food, it really pays to be an educated consumer.

@Megan Squier: Unfortunately, crawdads arent cheap everywhere...

Popplers!

@PartOfIMAXConspiracy_GitEmSteveDave: I don't see why Chicken McNuggets would contain fish, that would increase their allergenicity considerably with little benefit, since fish is not cheaper than the cheapest terrestrial meat products.

Old McNuggets contained beef tallow and flavoring, and actually had more saturated fat than ground beef, however.

Pigs are closely related to pigs...the very ones that spend all day rolling in their own (and their friends') slop. That's just gross.

@PartOfIMAXConspiracy_GitEmSteveDave: Also, Lobsters & Crabs/Langostino Lobsters are *NOT* in the same species or family. It just happens to be that Longostino Lobster tastes kind of like lobster:

Lobster: Animalia Arthropoda Crustacea Malacostraca Decapoda Nephropidae

Langostino: Animalia Arthropoda Crustacea Malacostraca Decapoda Galatheidae and Chirostylidae

(Families in bold)

They are in the same Order, but that's still pretty distantly related.

Since "Langostino Lobster" is a trade name for a particular fish, it doesn't matter that it isn't that closely related to lobster. I think its unnecessarily deceptive, like if I found some species of elk that tasted sort of like Kobe Beef, and called it "Langostino Kobe Beef", even though its a different animal, and not Kobe beef.

@Stephen Schenck: It's not just LJS, Rubios serves Langostino, along with some other local mexican and fast-food type establishments near me.

But my understanding is that Langostino actually tastes like lobster, whereas surimi is just fish cakes made of pollack and dyed red.

mmmm seabugs.

@Jim Cortina: "Langostino Lobster" is a trade name, kind of like "Chilean Sea Bass" is a trade name for the Patagonian Toothfish. There is no requirement that these namings are biologically accurate.

There was a class action lawsuit regarding this a few years ago involving this deceptive practice, but apparently there was no ruling.

@ludwigk: I was heating up a grilled chicken caesar Lean Cuisine bowl a few weeks ago and while the bowl was garlic pasta with chicken, I noticed on the ingredients that it contained gelatin from tilapia and perch. So fish could definitely pop up in chicken products.

Well crap. I knew the 'Langostino Lobster' at Rubio's was disgusting and overpriced and I would never get it again, but I didn't know till know that it wasn't even LOBSTER. Bastiches. One more reason Fin's was infinitely better.

@andrewe: "They look like little monsters... but they're good little monsters!"

is all shellfish, its not like a lobster is some magical food. As I am sure all consumerati know, its used to be the food of the poor. Might as well eat a crawdad or a hermit crab than a lobster.

I never understood the appeal of eating lobsters. Its fun to catch and eat them every year or so, but other than that, I dont think they taste that good, or look good to eat either (except in an "awesome, alien-scary" sort of way, vs the "I kind of want to eat you" way of a goat/lamb/many other animals.

@redkamel: "ITS all shellfish" I meant. Dang, can we EECB for an edit button?

I don't think anybody harbors any illusions that what they're getting at Long John Silver's is actually lobster, do they?

If they do, this country needs to add critical thinking to its public school curriculum.

Regardless, lobster is grossly overrated. I've had lobster a few times, including once in a 5-star restaurant (on the company dime), and remain thoroughly unimpressed.

@redkamel: In my experience (at Rubio's) 'langostino lobster' is much gamier than real lobster is. It just tasted nasty and semi-spoiled.

I realize that the taste of lobster for most people is just the melted butter, but in this case the alternative shellfish is actively nasty. And I like crayfish!

"Real" lobster is a giant sea bug. This is worse?

@pecan 3.14159265: Caesar dressing usually includes fish products in the ingredients. It shouldn't be the chicken.

Langostino lobster = cheap & tasty
Lobster = expensive & tasty
Hermit Crab = cheap & I don't even want to think about it.

*COUGH*sensationalism*COUGH*

At least Long John Silver isn't implying you're eating hermit crabs.
Like ... hmmm ... now who did that? Consumerist? O_o

Shouldn't the Consumerist be a bit more responsible themselves? Maybe hold their own reporting up to AT LEAST the same non-misleading standards that they expect from other companies?

@Stephen Schenck:
"I wonder what would happen if McDonalds started selling 100% Grade-A Hemiptera Beef Burgers (now tastier than Angus)? Ground-up bug meal is as much beef as langostino is lobster."

Your comparison is severely flawed.
There is no such thing as "Hemiptera Beef", but there IS such a thing as "Lagostino Lobster".

Additionally, this is less a matter of "imposters" or "misleading", it's more a matter of mass ignorance. Just because the vast majority of people don't realize that "Lobster" refers to a large group of crustaceans (including the Langostino), and that the "Langostino Lobster" is a closer relative to crab doesn't mean LJS is being misleading.
IMO, this Consumerist report is nothing but sensationalism.

But Chinese "crab" ragoons have always bugged me.
Less for the fact that imitation crab is often used, but more for the fact that at many Chinese restaurants they'll put a teaspoon of imitation crab in a couple pounds of cream cheese. Meaning that the vast majority are mostly just fried won tons filled with cream cheese.
I still buy them though, because they're quite tasty. ^_^

Next up on the Consumerist report:

IMPOSTORS: "Peanuts" More Closely Related To Clover Than To Cashews
If you see the word "pea" in front of "nut" at your local grocer's food chain (*cough* EVERYWHERE), make sure you understand what it is you're about to eat. In the US, peanut can refer to Arachis hypogaea, Monkey nuts or groundnuts - a type of legume, and more closely related to beans and, yes, clover than to nuts. "Nutty Buttery Cashew Handfuls" wouldn't be any more accurate than "Nutty Peanut Bites," but it wouldn't be any less accurate, either. And no, EVERY GROCER EVERYWHERE, it doesn't count if you put the peanuts in the nut section.

OR BETTER YET!...

IMPOSTORS: "Monkey nuts" More Closely Related To Clover Than To Simian Testicles
If you see the word "Monkey" in front of "nut" at your local Grocer's food chain (*cough* Some English speaking places), make sure you understand what it is you're about to eat. In some places, Monkey nut can refer to Arachis hypogaea, groundnut or peanut - a types of legume, and more closely related to beans and, yes, CLOVER than to Testicles. "Sweet Buttery Testicle Handfuls" wouldn't be any more accurate than "Buttered Monkey Nut Bites," but it wouldn't be any less accurate, either. And no, grocers, it doesn't count if you put the nuts in a APPEALING SACK either.

@Paul D: I agree 110% (which is closer to Pi than Pie)

@changed my name: Yeeessss. They used to have that crawfish etoufee or something..I haven't been there in a while though so I don't know if they ever brought it back..'twas delicious indeed.

@Coop: Those crag rangoons are delicious...I think they would actually be LESS tasty if they left out the cream cheese..

@Starphantom12: IMHO, they're ok. They are a bit salty and after eating a few the taste gets too strong or something.

I usually hit LJS when I'm craving fried, greasy goodness but regret it when I'm done because I start feeling the effects of all that grease in my system...I do rather enjoy they freshside meals or whatever, those steamed veggies are deeeeeeelish, and so is that little "baguette" they give you.

This is a bit confusing if your native language is Spanish (like in my case). Langostino in Spanish means "prawn"... I guess is a good thing I do not like seafood, now I am not sure what is the difference between prawn and langostino!

@Coop: You seem to be coughing a lot, perhaps you should see a doctor