Lobster Kitchen: Review
Lobster baskets, wooden tables and colourful buoys adorn the rustic and cosy setting for one of London’s newest on-trend eateries.
Set slightly back from Tottenham Court Road, Lobster Kitchen occupies a ‘blink and you miss it’ type of location in a drab area. But once inside, the homely lobster shack comes alive.
It’s a small space that feels more like a café or pop-up (with long sharing tables, high stools and till ordering) rather than an upscale restaurant, but this lends itself well to the nautical, laid-back vibe and during our visit the venue was awash with customers.
Lobster is of course the focus of the menu and as it traditionally comes with a high price tag mains ranging from £12-£16 seemed reasonable, but without the silver service I wouldn’t expect to be paying any more than this.
The friendly staff talked us through the different lobster options available and armed with our drinks in jars, we waited excitedly for our ‘catch’.
My main – the lobster tail with a house salad and a side, for which I chose the sweet potato fries, tasted fresh with a zingy lemon dressing. However, it was decidedly small in stature – dwarfed by the large salad that commandeered the rest of the basket it arrived in.
The sweet potato fries stood out and my partner remarked that they were the best he had ever eaten, with just the right amount of seasoning and the perfect crunch- to-fluffiness ratio, which is no mean feat.
The lobster roll, described as a toasted frankfurter brioche bun stuffed with lobster claws and knuckles, was his choice and I definitely felt some pangs of food envy.
The meat spilling out of the roll was juicy and rosy in colour and the sweet chilli sauce complimented the salty, fleshy tones. The bun on the other hand did little for the dish and would have benefited from being warmed up in order to lift the flavours up a notch.
The lobster mac and cheese side was the star of the evening, with a gooey, creamy sauce, perfectly cooked pasta tubes and sublimely meaty chunks of lobster thrown in to excite the tastebuds.
The sauce, which can sometimes be overbearing and rich, was muted by the addition of what I discerned to be mustard, which added a new and welcome dynamic to the dish and I wished that I’d plumped for it as a main course.
Adding to our seafaring spread we also tried the deep fried clams and lobster legs and the lobster legs were the outright winner.
They tasted decidedly different to the meat used in our main courses, with a much stronger depth of flavour and saltiness to them, and the batter laced with chilli added an extra kick.
The clams lacked flavour in comparison and it was difficult to decipher where the tiny pieces of seafood were underneath the mountain of fried batter. This was a shame considering what an impressive accompaniment the lobster legs were.
There were no official desserts on the menu, but we were treated to some lemon bars (a creation they have been toying with adding) and these didn’t disappoint. The bars were like small explosions of sticky citrus zest and worked really well as a palate cleanser after all the salty and wonderfully rich lobster.
Although Lobster Kitchen seems to be in the process of finding its sea legs, there are some notable dishes on the menu and the charming venue is very welcoming. The restaurant will no doubt be a strong contender in the burgeoning London lobster scene.
Lobster Kitchen is located at 111 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NQ
Tel: 0207 300 3324
Website: www.lobsterkitchen.co.uk
Writer: Laura Hill
Twitter: @builtlikeaboss
Website: www.builtlikeaboss.com
