Burger and Lobster Harvey Nichols

Nice concept.

I’d like to know from where Burger and Lobster source their crustaceans. They must be knock-off goods, a job lot a friend of the owner got his hands on. Either that or the burger must be made from the finest cuts of prime Charolais, reared only on its mother’s milk and the organic grasses of the lower Bourgogne. What I’m trying to get at is either the Lobster is cheap or the burger is bloody expensive. On principle I refuse to cede that the Lobster is cheap. No one will sell you a cheap lobster, especially not in Harvey Nicholls. No restaurateur is going to subsidise your shellfish desires. So we have decided that we can all agree that the lobster isn’t cheap. Logic would therefore indicate that the burger is dear. How can it not be? At Byron I can order a B-Rex, a dinosaurian concoction of meat, cheese, onion rings, bacon, more onions, jalapenos and pickles. And BBQ sauce. And chips. All for just a touch over thirteen pounds. I could go crazy and have extra sides of fried courgettes and coleslaw, and come in at the same price as B&L. Neither of us ordered the burger. I ordered the Lobster, C took the Lobster roll and we ate half and half. Both come with a tin of tasty fries and a small green leaf salad with shavings of a hard Italian cheese. Very nice and lovely. I must apologise for not previously mentioning the lobster roll option. On the value scale it sits lower than the lobster but above the burger. Most enjoyable. B&L at Harvey Nicholls is a pleasant, easy and fun place to have some lobster, or lobster in a roll, or an expensive burger. There isn't really much on offer when it comes to dessert but we left happy and content with just the main course and a glass or two. Unlike its sister restaurants there is no two hour waiting list as it conceals itself behind a lobster pot barricade in the corner of the food hall. I still can’t quite comprehend why-in the Mayfair version of the same eatery-people queue for several hours, in the rain, to then be levered onto a table in a noisy dining room. To pay twenty quid for a burger.