Burger & Lobster Soho — Restaurant in London

This used to be our favorite restaurant many years ago, when it was £19 for the lobster meal, which went up to £25, which was still fine and the service was efficient, attentive, and good.

After many years due to the pandemic, we decided to revisit and reminiscence our dining memories here.

Unfortunately we were left beyond disappointed and gobsmacked how it's being run now because the service was lacking in so much areas.

Upon being seated, no drinks or water offered to be taken immediately like you would expect in this type of setting. We then had to wait more than 15 minutes just to get served. And we had to ask twice to get water for the table even though, it was not busy at all. (it's now been over 25 minutes without water on the table)

Most of the staff were hanging around and putting plates on tables (I guess they were getting ready for dinner service) but well you had customers in house at that moment.

Food used to be so much better, better value, and staffs were very attentive and friendly. I understand everything has gone up but what I have paid for plus the service made me regret deeply.

Dispite the negative service, the lobster dishes and fries were still tasty. However, the side salad was soggy like it's been prepared for quite some time before being served. The lobster has shrunk compared to how it used to be dispite prices have skyrocketed around 200%.

There was a gentleman who was formally dressed that served us for a short while. He was very nice, friendly, and attentive. He seemed to be the only know who knew what he was doing.

I would also like to highlight one of the waitress behaviour. I went to the counter to pay and afterward my brother in law asked for the bill and she presented the bill to us. Which I have flagged out to her that I have already paid. She replied with snobby face “HOW!?" and said "can not be paid because the bill still opened”. Whoa, talk about accusations like we're trying to run off without paying. Instead, I would suggest to say something like “let me double check”. This would be much more professional approach to go check than to assume a customer was lying.

The bad attitude was like the final bitterness to the already not so good experience.

Highly not...

Burger and Lobster started off 2011 in London and since then you will find them in other countries. The menu was simple back then as it was either burger or lobster for £20 which makes it an obvious choice for lobster. Unfortunately, I didn't try it earlier so tried it recently because of the buy one get one free promotion which wasn't the best deal because they did £10 deals on lobster day but they probably can't afford this promotion this year. Although he bogof promotion isn't the best deal it still works out the same price as when they started in 2011 because a whole lobster will now set you back at £38 which is the maximum you would pay vs £40 for two. Since I missed the £10 lobster day, it is now or never so I treated myself to Buy one get one free offer. Why share or bring friend when you can have it all to yourself. I went to the Soho branch because I didn't like the Leicester Square branch which was not my scene. Ordered the whole lobster and the lobster roll to try, ideally it would be a better to just order two whole lobsters for your moneys worth but I had to try the original lobster rolls since there are many clones about. Before, I mention the lobsters, this has to be my most memorable experience out of the 9000+ restaurants I have reviewed collectively on various platforms. The waitress literally put my plate of food on top of my phone which I have never experiences before at any other restaurant. To be fair, the lobsters were good especially the steamed but I was not made aware of the choice of sauces when ordering. It would be nice if the whole lobsters came with the green tomalley stuff as it is tasty but it was handy the claws have been cut so you don't even need the tool. Will only return if there is a similar or better offer but I think I should treat myself to this lobster place for that one...

The restaurant was lovely looking with lots of greenery. The food itself was not bad, quite tasty. Well presented, though we felt the lobster roll could have been more generous (it was filled so that it looked a lot from the top..but it actually wasn't. Ended up eating a lot of the bun by itself), but maybe that's just because we are use to eating properly filled lobster rolls when in California and New York. The burger (in my opinion) was better than the lobster roll and the lobster. The garlic butter (again, in my opinion) is better at Balthazar.

The service wasn't the best today. It took a while to get someone to take our order then it took a rather long time for us to get our drinks. It took a little over 40minutes for us to receive our food. The restaurant wasn't even full! The staff who took orders were polite though the staff bringing out the food seemed absolutely miserable. The first plate of food was practically dropped onto the table with a clatter and not a hint of apology! Someone clearly hates his job!

Toilets were grotty with bins overfilled, wet floors and toilet seats not fixed properly. Taps seemed faulty with little water coming out.

When the bill is over £200 and service charge is added on top.. I personally would have expected the meal and general experience to be a lot better.

I have been to this branch before, albeit quite a long time ago... the standards have sadly dropped. I am not sure if I will be back as there are better branches and seafood restaurants with better service. I think this branch is just lucky to be in a tourist hotspot.

Also.. I can't understand how there are so many 5 star reviews? Were we just very unlucky with our meal and experience? A bit dubious when a lot of the reviews are new reviewers with just 1 or 2 reviews...