The Lobster Shed — Restaurant in England

I think my review will echo many of the points made by others recently. This is a real shame as I have awarded them 3 stars on this occasion when they came soooooo close to me actually saying it had been one of my best ever eating experiences in Cornwall.

Good points:

Location - absolutely stunning settings. Amazing views, great on-site features including their own Kitchen Garden, the manor house etc. All done VERY tastefully. The shack itself wouyldn't have looked out of place in the South of France or Italy.

Car Park - ignore the website that says parking is limited as there is masses of good, safe parking.

Food - very expensive (for what it was), but in fairness, the ambience and quality compensated a little.

Initial service/Maitre De - we arrived early, apologetically, and the young (Spanish?) guy found us a table for us and our dog, close to a grassed area for the dog to enjoy. Water was brought to the table, and we were shown how to look at the menus on the app. Nice guy, and by far the stand out staff member on duty.

Bad Points:

Delivery of food - they describe it (only after it had occured) as a 'as or when' approach. There are no starters as such so you would be naturally inclined to choose some of the small plates as such. But whilst half way through these, the main courses turned up. It wouldn't really take much effort to stall the mains a little, and it felt a bit too rushed for our liking. You can't really try and create a meditterean vibe but rush it through like an American service. This was greedy and un-necessary (if it's a tapas bar and tagged as such, then fair enough).

Service - pretty terrible to be honest. The Oz guy that served us was ok, but he didn't have very good product knowledge (not my words, the words of the female waitress below that picked up his shift) so what we received isn't exactly what we thought we'd ordered from what he'd told us (the rum coffee desert which actually has no rum liquor at all if you order the 'non cornish' method evidently and as persuaded to do, contradicting the description on the menu) But the changeover service of staff at 4pm was really woeful. The Oz guy left, without explaining to his seated guests and a slightly 'brisk' female took his place. Except she preferred to stand around yapping to others and not paying attention to the guests, some of whom like ourselves were waiting to pay. The whole ambience just bombed.

'Add ons' - I appreciate businesses need to make money but £1.50 for a bottle of tap water, a previously unexplained £1 'Lobster Hatchery' addition on the bill plus 12.5% service charge meant we were already done about £15 (total bill for 2 with no wine etc was £110). Ironically, I'd have tipped more than the service charge but having it forced on me, when prices were high anyway (£40 for a very small lobster, £5.50 for small can of local lager etc) meant they received simply what they actually eventually billed us for.

This could be the best pub/casual dining spot in Cornwall. But staff with chips on their shoulder/superiority complexes (same female was seen speaking to neighbouring table of 4 x 20 somethings about trying something other than lobster if they've not had it before!), non uniformity in service and general lack of knowledge spoilt this very slightly for us, but with fine tuning by management could see this place really get a proper pat on the back. We will go back, but probably out of season as I suspect there are issues with getting staffing in over peak season as seems to be the problem across whole of Cornwall this year.

But please - employ people with less...

This is a bit of a mixed review for the Lobster Shed. I will start by saying that I enjoyed the setting and the lovely weather made it an ideal location for sitting and enjoying the sun with a nice drink. The atmosphere is pleasant and perfect for a holiday feel and the staff were pleasant and well mannered. Going in we knew that (being a place catering to lobsters) it would not be cheap but we were eager to try the food and experience a well reputed Lobster meal.

Unfortunately the lobster, whilst okay, didn't seem to be worth the price paid for it. It could do with more flavour (perhaps a garlic butter option (as a suggestion)). At £34 per person this is expensive and there was little sauce that came with it. It is served with a small salad and no chips (which are an extra £6). Perhaps adding a few sides within the price would make it more reasonable to the conscientious consumer. A 500ml bottle of coke came to over £4 and our total meal for 2 people was over £120. This is before the discretionary service charge. This seems rather inflated and, whilst this is a restaurant that should be considered a treat, I would not advise someone who is concerned with price to avoid.

Finally, we were horrified to discover in our bill a 12.5% discretionary service charge. This was infuriating to discover. Whilst the service was acceptable it was not what I would have considered to be 12.5% and, in my opinion, disisentives staff from giving their best efforts whilst charging customers even more for an already expensive meal. All in all we were disappointed as there is so much going right for this place and a few tweaks could make this a gem within the local area. As said by my dinner guest, who has been a local to the area for over 20 years said “If that had been semi reasonable that would be a lovely place to go, the menu is a good selection, (maybe some more crab options would be great), ambiance is great and the people are nice. It's such a shame” I think this says it all, my fingers are crossed that one day I shall revisit with a much more...

Long time fans of The Pig and it’s litter of delightful hotels, so this seems a nice little extra feature of this one in Harlyn Bay.

Less formal than the normal Pig Restaurant, The lobster shed is ostensibly an outside eatery, as happily al fresco as you can get in the UK. It’s got plastic side panels to keep the wind off you and if the suns out, you’ll top up your tan no problem - it’s quite warm sat there - and I’m not complaining. It really is a lovely space, tiled floor, doesn’t really feel ‘outside’.

Dining room is well laid out, rustic tables and slatted chairs, with the standard sauces on the table already.

Menu is ‘small plates’ (think tapas) plus mains. Three lobster versions at various price points (two hot, one cold) as well as four mains including one vegan option which the other Pigs could do well to steal - a sort of bang-bang cauliflower; really spicy and lovely.

I went for the chilli chicken and it was brilliant - charcoal grill, marinated , lovely flavours. I think all dishes come with the same picked salad and house slaw which I must say was really good - who doesn’t like green leaves and some picked veg?

Fries were a side and very well cooked.

My recommendation for the small plates - one is enough for two people; one each for two and a main is going to leave you well fed.

I had the spicy squid with Marie Rose mayo and it was a non finishing it off. Not a hard job, but I was sated by the end of the meal.

I thought the service was attentive but not in your face - just how I like it.

Ended up about £50 a head (service included) and that was no desserts and only one alcoholic drink, so you know what you’re letting yourself in for.

It’s great eating, lovely location and good service. We chose this as one of our destinations because we could take our three dogs. They gave us a quiet table at the end of the dining room - a class move by them and one we greatly appreciated.

I’d happily go here again....