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Red Hook Pound has such a seaside feel you’d half expect to be able to eat your dinner while dangling your legs off the side of a dock. The cramped kitchen and counter (host to a tank of deep-blue shellfish, brought in direct from Maine several times a week) neighbors a separate picnic-style dining room filled with wooden benches and buoys hanging overhead. It’s the perfect setting for enjoying the Pound's classic lobster rolls, each served in a cardboard hot-dog tray complete with checkered wax paper, a bag of chips, and a pickle. The menu is short and to the point, with just three main courses: a Maine roll with celery, house mayo, and light spices; a shrimp variation on the same; and a Connecticut option with a crunchy, butter-fried bun. All are served overflowing with clumps of soft, fleshy lobster meat too generously portioned to eat without a fork and a handful of napkins. Steamy bisque and a clam chowder make for appealing openers, and chocolate-cream pies imported from the Pine Tree State end the meal on a Down East note. — Patrick Coffee

Connecticut Roll, $15