LOBZILLA! at BELGO

The knife placed in my hands, I took it above the lobster’s head. The point of the blade came to rest on the carapace, touching down with a barely audible ‘tink’. I was at the exact point through which to drive a knife to quickly dispatch the lobster. The point itself is easy to find. In one of nature’s cruel tricks, it has given every lobster a tragic birthmark, a set of ‘crosshairs’ that are situated just behind its eyes. The operation involves no pain for the lobster as it is put in the freezer for around 45 minutes, putting it in a comatose state.

Now I was given the chance to finish off this lobster. The reason why? In order to have it prepared for our starter of lobster cocktail. I positioned the knife above the crosshairs and gently whispered, ‘Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.’

‘What?’ asked the supervising chef.

‘Nothing,’ I mumbled, ‘it’s nothing.’

Down came the knife, perfectly bifurcating the lobster’s head. I turned the knife around and crashed it through the lobster’s thorax and tail, creating exact sagittal symmetry. Rinsing each half in water to get rid of the tomalley, the lobster’s liver and pancreas. I dug out the main meat of the body, cracked open the claws and winkled out the knuckles. All of this went together with sugar snap peas, baby gem lettuce, chicory and a zestful lemon dressing.

This is all part of the new menu at Belgo’s Lobsterfest. This year they are doing something a little different, launching their ‘Buy One, Set One Free’. The idea behind this promotion is that for every lobster ordered, the restaurant will donate £1 to the National Lobster Hatchery, enabling them to continue their work of setting baby lobsters back into the sea.

A staple of Belgo’s Lobsterfest is their whole grilled lobster. Served with a whole heap of fries and salad, it is a dish of epic proportions. I set about it like a dervish, ramming whole fist fulls of fries into my mouth and then scooping out the grilled lobster. It was a vision of gluttony with every part of the exoskeleton smashed or ransacked.

It would be easy to say that Belgo does simple food very well but there is much more to the dining experience than that. The restaurant is blessed with a beer sommelier who is able to pick amongst the restaurant’s many beers to provide with one that will either be exactly what you’re looking for or what you never knew you liked. My particular favourite was the fantastically named Delirium Tremens. It was smooth yet with an expertly crafted punch at the end. Exactly right for starting the day – no, no, no, no, no. I’ve really got to stop doing that kind of thing now.

Lobsterfest runs until August 31 at:

Belgo Centraal
50 Earlham Street
Covent Garden
WC2H 9LJ

Tel: 020 7813 2233