Hey all!
Have you heard of Tank Talks??
It's a new idea from Burger and Lobster where you can attend their restaurant on a Wednesday in March and hear all about the restaurant, try all of the food and matching cocktail items on the menu and generally have a fun time!
We went last week for the first session and were very excited. We both love food as we have mentioned many times and had never been to Burger and Lobster yet so it was a great experience to go to this event first.
We were shown to our tables and there were 10 of us in total so it was a nice manageable number.
Amelia the restaurant manager was so lovely and easy to listen to, she told us a bit of background about the restaurant itself, where it came from and how many there are now.
I wrongly assumed Burger and Lobster came from the US, it actually came from London which now has 9 restaurants, plus a further three in the UK (Cardiff, Manchester and Bath). They also have a few others around the world in the US, Sweden, Kuwait and Dubai so it is still quite exclusive really.
The tables were decorated so half of us were Team Lobster, and the other half Team Burger. Our table was covered with fishing nets and it was a really nice touch with the aim of the evening to decide which team you were on.
The menu is quite simple - there actually isn't one! Instead your server will explain your options to you - basically you choose burger or lobster! The lobster can either be as a lobster roll or server freshly cooked in the shell, either steamed or grilled.
All options are served with salad and chips - pretty easy to decide what you want!
As part of Tank Talks however you get to sample everything from the menu with respective cocktails all for the standard price of £20 - the burger or the two lobster options also cost this for a normal visit to the restaurant. First up, was lobster!
We had a talk from the Sous Chef who told us lots of interesting facts about lobsters, including that you can age them like trees by counting the rings on their antennae, and also that they urinate from their mouths! Crazy!
Burger and Lobster go through around 11 tonnes of lobster a week which is a crazy amount to think about. They have a few tanks on each site with an absolutely huge one in London, I think they said it was the biggest that exists!
The Lobster roll was the first item we tried, this is cold lobster in a japanese mayo with lemon juice in a brioche roll made using their own recipe. I can't tell you how absolutely amazing these were and i really did savour every mouthful!
The lobster roll was also paired with the Ab Fab cocktail, shown above on the right (pink drink) which was light, floral and refreshing. It contains peach vodka, rose wine, lemon verbena and red currant. Unfortunately i was driving but that didn't stop me trying out the range of non-alcoholic drinks and the Hawaiian Cooler (left in the above photo) was really tasty. It was based on pineapple juice which i haven't had in ages so it was a great change.
Next came the real lobster and the respective bibs!!
What a feast!!
Half of the lobster was grilled and the other half steamed. The grilled side tastes a bit meatier and chargrilled, the steamed side is more tender and also fishier so it depends what kind of meal you are looking for.
We got stuck in with the tools and cracking the shells, we've probably never got so messy with food but when you're given bibs it's kind of expected!
This was served with a Jalisco's Rose cocktails, which contained tequila, vermouth, apple cordial and soda.
Next up it was burger time!
The meat for these burgers comes from Hereford and Aberdeen beef from Nebraska. They are corn fed to produce the marble effect. To make the burger they only use 3 cuts of the beef and add absolutely nothing at all, not even seasoning and they advise that you order it medium rare for the best taste.
The bun used in the burger uses the same recipe as for the brioche buns for the lobster rolls, this is then piled high with salad, bacon, cheese and their own recipe burger sauce.
Take a look at this beauty:
The burger is huge! It's amazing though, the whole meal was really tasty and I'd find it hard to choose which one to have if i went again.
In fact we have already been back and shared the burger and a lobster roll!
This came with a cocktail called '8 Steps to the West' containing whiskey, pear, elderflower, rosemary and ginger ale. We think this was collectively our favourite cocktail, I ordered it on our second trip just so I could savour it after having to drive on our original trip!
As if we weren't already stuffed, out came dessert!
As we were Team Lobster by this point we were given the cheesecake with a 'sand' topping, there was also a 'soil' topping for those who were Team Burger (basically digestives or oreos!) which was a lovely touch for the event.
They were very tasty but after all of the food we struggled to finish them!
The last drink we tried was the Hot Bergamot Toddy which contained Bergamot orange, honey, ginger, bitters and hot water. It was lovely for those of us who currently have a cold and I'd fully recommend it.
The whole experience was absolutely wonderful and although we were invited for reviewing purposes and didn't pay for the food we were so impressed we actually went back to watch the Wales v England match that same weekend. It was a tense day for our friendship but even though England won our friendship survived....!
Have you been to Burger and Lobster? Have you booked in for Tank Talks?
We would fully recommend it for any foodie!
Let us know if you try it, and if you're Team Burger or Team Lobster!
L and M xxx
