The best lunchtime meal deal in London isn’t to be found in the aisles of a supermarket, or even perusing a market stall. If you work in the City, it’s right on your doorstep – indeed if you’re based anywhere central you want have to travel far.
You can find this lunchtime meal deal at Spitalfields, Soho, Borough Market, South Kensington, and Battersea Power Station: the locations of the Wright Brothers’ five London outlets.
Every weekday between 12-5pm, the seafood specialists are offering a whole native lobster for £20pp. Wait, let’s do that justice: a whole native lobster, caught on the day, grilled with garlic butter and served with a green salad and fries, for £20pp. The offer runs until the end of August.
Considering you can break a tenner at the likes of Leon or Wasabi and still feel the hunger pangs come mid-afternoon, you really might as well fork out the extra few quid, and enjoy a lunch that will nourish both your body and your memories. (As Gwyneth Paltrow probably once said. She’d have been talking about lentils, mind, and she’d have been wrong)
The lobster arrives drenched in garlic butter, accompanied by an assortment of accessories
Needless to say, the lobster is delicious: you don’t build a mini-empire in 15 years if you’re serving up Captain Birdseye. (Although Captain Birdseye’s fish fingers are incomparable and I’ll fight anyone who says differently.)
We visited the original Borough Market outlet (we’re hipster like that), which is reminiscent of Boston’s legendary Ye Olde Union Oyster House with its open-plan kitchen, tireless shuckers, and vast oak bar, a thing of such solidness I suspect it would survive a nuclear bomb.
The lobster arrives drenched in garlic butter, accompanied by an assortment of accessories: we’re talking claw crackers (hands work just as well), steel picks (perfect for extracting flesh from the legs), and a bowl of water (you’re gonna need this one). Make sure you order some bread to mop up all the butter and juices, and possibly a napkin to mop your forehead as you go. Try not to get the two confused.
Now you could order tap water and nothing else – but where’s the fun in that? It would be remiss of me not to mention the cocktail of the month, a lovely light concoction called Los Primos (Legend of Kremlin vodka, Sipsmith summer cup, strawberry & ginger shrub syrup, lemon juice, London Essence peach and jasmine soda) that serves as a fine aperitif.
You really should be having a long, boozy lunch: you’re eating lobster for lunch
And if it’s a long, boozy one – and it really should be: you’re eating lobster for lunch – then a glass (or bottle) of Parcela 52 Verdejo by modern Spanish vineyard Finca Constancia accompanies the lobster fantastically. (Shout out to our server Balázes for the recommendation.)
Oh, you want starters? Well, you can’t go wrong with oysters at Wright Brothers, but you also can’t go wrong with the taramasalata and soft boiled egg (what a combo), or the king scallops, spiced squash purée and caramelised sherry vinegar.
And while I’m sure the idea of a lunchtime – well, probably teatime at this rate – desert won’t cross your mind, allow me to cough *dark chocolate and salted caramel mousse*, and then maybe even cough again *pair it with a Royal Tokaji 2015*, and then you should take the rest of the afternoon off.
As mentioned above, and I cannot stress this enough, you have until the end of August. For £20 lunchtime lobster, anyway; Wright Brothers will probably be around for slightly longer. Go treat yourself.
For more info, see thewrightbrothers.co.uk
