burger – ¡Comemos!

Hard to believe it’s been around four months since my last dining out experience. Never could we have conceived of a global crisis in which every restaurant, bar, pub and café in the country would be closed, what that would mean for our social connections, and more significantly, what that would mean for the thousands of businesses out there, thrown into such an uncertain scenario.

I’d avoided venturing out for the first couple of weeks following the easing of lockdown rules – in my head, I pictured rowdy raucousness throbbing through the streets, and despite a little of that going down in places, it didn’t seem as intense as I’d expected. So when I did finally decide to book that much-anticipated first restaurant visit, it had to be somewhere special.

Scottish restaurant Mac and Wild was that place, having sat firmly atop my restaurant bucket list for two years, ever since drooling over a photo of their ice cream-topped sticky toffee pudding on Instagram.

Ironically, I didn’t end up trying that very sticky toffee pudding (which probably means I’ll have to make a return visit one day), but here’s how the rest of it went…

With Fitzrovia all booked up, we arrived at their Devonshire Square branch, having booked one of the lovely-looking socially-distanced huts, complete with a seating for up to 4, and your very own self-serve drinks cabinet. In my head, I’d pictured these being outside, but their three, I have to say it as it is, sheds, were opposite the bar inside. Nonetheless, they still created a sense of privacy and intimacy, shielded from other diners. Had I booked one of these huts outdoors in winter, complete with blankets, and heating, I think it would’ve been beautiful – both atmospheric and cosy, but as it were, dining in one of those indoors in 27 degree heat, it was a little on the sweaty side.

Being a Scottish restaurant, there are a number of haggis-inspired dishes on the menu, including their Haggis Pops, which we ordered to start. I should also mention at this point that their menu was limited, compared to what their Devonshire Square-specific online menu stated they had. I had been so desperate to try their Venison Scotch Egg, but it was nowhere to be found, so settled for the Haggis Pops.

Never (ashamedly) having tried haggis before, it’s difficult for me to judge, as I’m not familiar with the standard flavours and textures, however, the pops came as little fried bites, the meaty haggis filling encased in a crunchy shell. Whilst I enjoyed the outer crunch and the flavours, the texture wasn’t necessarily to my liking – oddly, despite being meaty, it had the texture of a potato croquette filling, and I’ve expressed my views on potatoes here before… To accompany the pops there’s a cranberry-mustard, or ‘Red Jon’ sauce. We spent a good few minutes trying to pinpoint what exactly the sauce was comprised of, intrigued by the sharp and sweet notes, before reluctantly giving in when ‘mustard’ was all we could come up with, and resorting to consulting the ingredients list.

Once again, when it came to ordering mains, I was disappointed to see that amongst the side dishes, the Haggis Mac and Cheese I’d set my heart on didn’t feature. Luckily, they were still offering their Truffle Mushroom Mac and Cheese, which I chose to accompany their signature ‘Venimoo’ Burger. The Venimoo features beef and venison patties, with Béarnaise sauce, cheese, pickles and caramelised onions. The burger was very good. Juicy patties, full of flavour, with a sharp, tanginess from the pickles and the warming, creaminess of the Béarnaise sauce and melting cheese. I can’t say it was mind-blowing (I’ve unintentionally ended up with pretty sky high standards), but the quality and flavours certainly made it worth ordering.

Interestingly my highlight was the Truffle Mushroom Mac and Cheese. Despite not being a speciality dish of theirs, I loved the consistency – a super creamy cheese sauce, without the overwhelming sickliness that truffle can sometimes bring. The mushrooms were cut into large cubed pieces, which I surprisingly enjoyed, cementing its place amongst the best mac and cheeses I’ve tried in London.

As previously mentioned, I didn’t get round to trying the Sticky Toffee Pudding in the end, which only calls for a return visit, however, I’ll be sticking to the soft drinks next time, as the cheapest bottle of white wine came in at £36, despite the drinks menu on their website listing white wine prices as ranging between £20 and £74. For me, this was the most significant issue; service had been good, the food was good to excellent, but for those of us not rolling in money who fancy a drink, £36, when you know full well the bottle isn’t worth that, hurts. It feels almost wrong to say anything negative about businesses that are fighting to survive right now, but having been furloughed myself, and seeing a drop in income, I can’t ignore such limited options when it comes to drinks pricing, particularly as the food prices are very reasonable, which just makes the wine list prices seem even more out of place.

Having said that, I’m so glad to be back eating out, and sharing my thoughts, having enjoyed months of home cooking and takeaways. There’s just something that can’t be beaten about the whole restaurant experience, from the social aspect, to holding a physical menu in front of you and spending an unnecessarily long time indecisively asking the waiters for another 5 minutes to decide.

Restaurants need our support now more than ever, so if you’re craving a high quality burger and wonderful Mac and Cheese, Mac and Wild is a solid choice.

¡Comemos!

Haven’t done a review for a while so here we go… This review actually should’ve taken place a couple of years ago, except for the fact that I got confused, and booked a table at the underwhelmingly shit Steak and Lobster, instead of Burger and Lobster.

Before I dive into the actual review, just for comparison, Steak and Lobster has a near identical (although slightly less interesting menu), obviously is based around the same ‘surf ‘n’ turf’ concept, but the interior is weird and sterile, the service was a bit shit, and the food was dead. Literally of course, the steak and lobster were dead, but going beyond that. Dead af. Bland and uninspiring. I’m not sure I could paint a less glowing picture.

So after this unintentional restaurant visit, I’d been pining for the real deal. Pining for two years in fact. And today was finally the day that I got my Burger and Lobster.

I can probably concede that the only thing Steak and Lobster did better was the lighting. I have a thing about poorly lit restaurants. Really does my head in, and the Burger and Lobster in Soho at least was like this. That is, however, pretty much where the negativity ends.

To start, the three of us shared the Lobster Croquettes. These were super creamy with a lovely level of spicy flavour from the bed of Chipotle mayo. The little avocadoey blob on top doesn’t add much but it does look pretty. These aren’t cheap. You get 4 croquettes for £9.50, and you can bet that we divided that last one up between us into incredibly precise thirds. But at the end of the day, it’s a lobster restaurant, so if you’re on a budget, just don’t bother in the first place.

I’d always thought that I’d end up having the Lobster Roll here, but ultimately after some intense social media stalking, I decided that the B&L Beast Burger looked exciting. It consists of a thicccc AF beef patty (medium rare ofc) with a solid chunk of lobster meat on top, gooey melting Brie, truffle and tarragon mayo, fennel and Chinese cabbage. It is such a satisfying burger. Part of me thinks the flavour of the lobster gets a bit lost when it’s served like this, but despite that I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. It really is a bit of a beast.

I was super tempted by the melty Gruyere Spinach on the side, but decided to be slightly less naughty, and opted for the tenderstem broccoli instead. As far as veggie sides go, it was nice and buttery, but obviously there are more interesting options. I did however, have to try one of my friend’s Truffle Chips of course. I was surprised that they were proper thick cut chips rather than fries, and if I’d known I might have been tempted myself, although we all agreed that despite the truffle smelling quite strong, there wasn’t much actual truffle flavour from them.

Finally we come to dessert, which I had told myself I wouldn’t have. But why stop myself if I change my mind? Gutted I didn’t get there last Easter for their Creme Egg Cheesecake, but rather than going for their plainer White Chocolate Cheesecake, I was taken by the Cranberry and Hazelnut Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream.

First off, it definitely ticks the gooey box. It was super soft and melt-in-the-mouth. The hazelnuts and cranberries were both really nice additions, both in terms of texture and flavour. My only complaint would be the warmth of the brownie. Normally when something is served with ice cream on the side, it’s so hot that the two kind of melt together, and the hot-cold contrast works beautifully. With this dessert, the brownie seemed to be kind of lukewarm in the first place so that delicious contrast wasn’t quite there.

Service was great, super friendly, and the menu has a decent selection of mains combos.

There is probably a gimmicky element to the lobster craze, which accounts for the high cost of the food, but if you’re willing to look past the food as a trend, for me at least, it was a good quality, tasty meal. £25 for a burger with a small amount of lobster in isn’t ideal, but I’m in London, I know what I’m getting myself in for, so there’s no use in complaining.

As I often tell people with a sickly sweet smile at my place of work when they scoff at the pricing,’It’s fine, you don’t have to buy it.’ 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

So if you want to, do, and if you don’t, don’t.

🙂 🙂 🙂

¡Comemos!