I scream, you scream, we all scream for... lobster ice cream?

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," moaned a mother, as she steered her children away from the ice cream counter at Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium in Oak Bluffs. The young man behind the counter had a different opinion. "It's actually my second-favorite flavor," he said. "The trick is to let it melt in your mouth because it has pieces of butter in it."

Not to mention little chunks of lobster. Yes, there is a lobster ice cream.

It's not terribly surprising when you consider you can get lobster gazpacho or lobster quesadillas at area restaurants, and lobster rolls are everywhere you turn. This is also an island of ice cream addicts, as evidenced by the traffic at Mad Martha's, Vineyard Scoops and Ben & Bill's.

But I wonder how many customers are daring enough to try a dessert that looks like innocuous vanilla with a few peculiar red streaks running through it? The signage on the counter flatly states, "Yes! There is (sic) REAL lobster pieces in the ice cream." How often do you see a come-on like that? I was too curious to pass up the opportunity.

As the employee said, it turns out to be heavy with butter. That's the first flavor you taste: rich, salted, frosty butter. Then come the little chunks of lobster, which -- no big shock -- taste exactly like frozen lobster. If someone took your lobster dinner, threw away the shell, pureed it all together and put it in the deep freeze for a few hours, the result would probably taste similar to lobster ice cream.

It's odd and a little disorienting, although it's perfectly edible (and, with apologies to that miffed mom, there are a lot more disgusting menu items out there) and, I suppose, it could grow on you over time. It must have some sort of local following because the clerk said Ben & Bill's has had it "forever" and that it's experiencing a little extra notoriety right now because it was recently written up in one of the local papers.

One scoop was enough to satisfy me since it leaves behind a dry, salty aftertaste that reminds you that what you're eating isn't actually sweet. But it's definitely a unique taste experience, and one that could not come from anywhere except Martha's Vineyard.