What's Cooking At Lobster Kitchen?
Okay okay that's right - LOBSTERS! :) But stay with me here for a second to find out why people were queuing up to this London's hidden gem located a stone-throw away from Tottenham Court Road station when it launched back in October last year. There you have it: Lobster Kitchen serves lobster tails, lobster rolls, shrimp rolls, lobster mac & cheese, lobster bisque and deep fried clams in rustic New England-inspired interiors getting you to have a chilled evening away from the crazy busy London lifestyle.
Being a huge fan of seafood and lobster in particular, I didn't need much time to decide what to have from the menu displayed on the boards just above the counter where you make your order. Garlic Lobster Tail for me and Lobster Thermidor, a steamed lobster tail cooked in egg yolk, mustard & cream for Sarah of Energy For Life, topped with house salad, sweet potato fries, deep fried clams and lobster mac & cheese on the side.
Having been a regular visitor of Burger & Lobster (£20 for the lobster meal; it drives me crazy though that in the Soho brunch you might wait as long as 2 hours or more to get a table!) and its premium sister restaurant Beast in Marylebone (serving King Crab and Steak and charging £75 per head for the set menu and the experience - which, to be fair, was brilliant and in my opinion was absolutely worth it), I first thought hmmmm the lobster tail is quite small (but VERY delicious!)... :) To be fair, it's a very good value though: for £14 your are getting a lobster tail, side and house salad (check the full menu here).
And then I tasted THE Lobster Mac'n'Cheese - which without any doubt or hesitation should be awarded all possible stars for the best mac'n'cheese served in London EVER! It's rich, smooth and actually does have big pieces of lobster in it - true delight, the best cheat meal you can have and simply irresistible. Ok, I will stop here - I think you get my point about the mac'n'cheese... :) Oh, and it's served in a box (see below) - rustic style, remember?
The sweet potato fries were okay and I wasn't a big fan of deep fried clams (too deep fried for me, and quite hard to taste/identify clams in it), but Hugo cocktail, made from a mix of prosecco, elderflower, soda, mint & lime – balanced it out. Refreshing and delicious, the cocktail was a perfect touch to my lobster evening making me feel like I was somewhere in New England.
On a Monday evening Lobster Kitchen wasn't busy: with a group of girls celebrating the beginning of the week and two couples dipping in and out for a quick lobster fix. While some of you foodies might want to spend your evening in a busier place, I consider this a massive advantage - it's hard to find a restaurant in Central London where you don't have to book too long in advance and don't have to queue up for hours with your stomach rumbling from one thought of the delicious dinner you are (about) to have.
With its seafood is sourced from suppliers applying sustainable fishing practices, eco-friendly recyclable packaging and its cool story of the co-founders, friends Abi and Valeria, who opened Lobster Kitchen out of a number of trips to New England, where lobster shacks can be found up and down the coast of Maine, the restaurant is the one to keep on your London quirky places list to check out.
http://www.lobsterkitchen.co.uk/
111 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NQ, London
