-
Went here last night and it was great fun! I could smell grilled lobster as I walked up the street... I arrived before 6.30 and the wait was already 1.5 hours. We went back at 8pm, even though they hadn't called us yet, to have a drink at the bar. Two seats came free so we decided to eat at the bar and skip the queue. We ordered a burger med-rare with everything, and a grilled lobster with plain and garlic-lemon butters. The burger was great, as it should be for £20! Loaded with cheese, bacon and pickles. The lobster was lovely and sweet and smoky round the edges; not massive, again as you'd expect for £20. Chips were golden and crunchy but slightly greasy. Salad was crisp and well-dressed. Service was surprisingly good: the guy on the door was polite and friendly, and the bar staff were very chatty and fun. We even joked with the people next to us at the bar - must be the American influence!
I'd be interested to see how long it lasts. The cocktails are £9 and aren't that strong so they must be making a decent profit there, but about 95% of people were eating lobster which I would imagine to be the least profitable item. I wonder what sort of burger/lobster split they had planned for?
I'll definitely be going back to try the lobster roll!
›7 Replies-
re: gembellina
zuriga1
Feb 19, 2012 03:51 AM
Thanks for the feedback. I haven't tried it yet, but I'd love it if the lobster roll was the kind I've had in Maine. They are scrumptious. So many people talk about the rude service and staffs in London, but we always seem to have good luck. We were at Bistro Bruno Loubet last night, and it couldn't have been more friendly, and the waiters were terrific.
-
re: zuriga1
The lobster was great, and was quite impressed with the whole operation. Expect to see a few of these popping up very soon as it was absolutely packed.
Difficult to argue with the value (in Mayfair that is) of £20 for a whole lobster, chips and salad. We were 4 so had the lobster 3 ways (steamed, grilled, and the roll) and 1 burger. The burger is ok, nothing special at all (I believe pretty identical to £13 Goodman's one), and would definitely never order it again here. For us, the favourite was the steamed lobster, as the grilled was a tiny bit dry in parts (it was 9pm sat night, so could be because they were busy). The lobster roll was pretty tasty too, but clearly had a lot less than a whole lobster in it, and I doubt it was how they do it back in Maine as it had a very light wasabi mayo (or butter) on it. The roll was a brioche-type roll, in that it had a subtle sweetness. Not sure my description makes it sound very appealing, but we all enjoyed it a lot. Dividing it in 4 did not give people much to try though! The lack of starters was fine, but pretty sure they could rustle up a lobster bisque without too much trouble, and given the restaurant's appeal for lobster lovers, I suspect many tables would happily order this (and I think it is a reasonably profitable dish if you are serving up this quantity of lobsters anyway). We semi-joked when we left that we should have got the lobster roll to share as a starter (between 2) and then get a whole lobster each, and on reflection, think that's exactly what we'll do next time.
They comped us 2 desserts as the waitress accidentally spilled a little wine, which was quite nice of her, as none of us were that bothered (maybe a fault of our "englishness" and not wanting to cause a fuss). The desserts were fine, one lime mousse thing, one chocolate mousse thing, nothing too memorable, and were served in paper cups, so had a bit of a mass preparation look to them, but between 4 they disappeared quite quickly.
The booking system is very annoying, but I knew that in advance, so we basically stopped by at 6pm as we were in the West End, then came back at 8.30 when they estimated the table was ready. So despite the (we take no bookings policy) this was apparently what everyone had done. I understand they have such a booking policy to maximise covers (it appeared completely full at 6pm, which to me is a weird time to eat). As all reviewers have noted, the best value, and most popular dish, is the whole lobster, and clearly both the burger and roll are cross subsidising this. I think they could easily keep the menu and pricing simple (and without need for an actual menu, which they seemed very happy with), with £15 for burger, £20 for roll, £25 whole lobster.
Having said, I shouldn't really be complaining there is somewhere charging less than they should for lobster and chips in Mayfair.
-
re: mattc666
zuriga1
Feb 20, 2012 04:48 AM
Thanks for the long review of your experience! I think you're right that the lobster roll doesn't sound like anything I've had in Maine, not that it makes it worse.. just different. I suppose Maine people now know what wasabi is, but they probably did not back a few years. :-) I do get a craving for lobster on occasion so we'll certainly give this a try.
I don't think 6 is a very odd time for dinner if people are going to the theatre, a concert etc. Many do not enjoy eating late at night.
-
re: zuriga1
Good point! Apologies for dig at 6pm eaters. Have been living/working in Italy for too long, and definitely slipped into the continental fashion of eating quite late.. It's better than Spain at least, I remember working in Madrid and a lot of restaurants not even opening for dinner until 9pm.
The lobsters are Canadian lobsters, so perhaps similarish to the ones in Maine. I was actually surprised the lobster roll wasnt bigger (especially given its price) and more along the lines of the "traditional american" version of the dish to be honest, given the concept and relationship with Goodmans suggests an affinity with the american style.
Anyway, apparently the lobsters are flown live across the atlantic, and kept in fish tanks in the basement. Logistically I was curious to find out more about this (easily 100+ covers a day X 7 days a week = rather a lot of lobsters to fly/ship over the atlantic every week). Presumably they have some arrangement with a lobster farm, which they can scale up if they open more restaurants.
-
re: mattc666
I too wondered where they were getting all their lobsters from, and I think your estimate is conservative! There were probably 60 people eating, and I think they could get through 3 seatings a night if people take 1.5 hours to eat, from 5.30 til 10, and I would say 90% of people eat lobster. Do they do lunch too? I'd put it at closer to 200 lobbies a day. Yikes!
The shipping and storage make it even crazier that they're selling them for such knockdown prices (well, comparatively). Even if they're making a massive profit on the burgers, they're surely not selling enough burgers to make much of a profit overall. Is it a loss leader to get people into Goodman's proper? Very interesting.
-
-
re: zuriga1
Lobsters are pretty common, and are native to UK waters, as they are to the Med, Atlantic, Caribbean, and almost everywhere i think. I know nothing about fishing, but I would assume the species must be slightly different around the world.
I haven't heard much about taste comparisons either between the different regions. Perhaps age, size and freshness are more important?
The best I had was in the Caribbean, we were snorkelling/diving with a guide and caught about 6 massive lobsters, and cooked them immediately on shore. As with any meal, part of the enjoyment was the whole experience, but no restaurant has been able to beat that yet, I think because of the freshness.
Gembellina, I agree with you about the profit issue, I bought 2 live lobsters for new year's eve and paid £32 total. Maybe their pricing is temporary whilst they work out the supply chain, demand, etc? Either way, they can only be buying from a farm. Which brings me to an issue I've never resolved, why do people readily accept farmed meat, but not always farmed fish. Obviously there are different quality farms, but given global population issues, etc, etc, clearly farming is the only sustainable way forward, and hopefully market forces would allow "good" fish farms to differentiate themselves as such.
-
-
-
-
-
-
