Saturday 1st August, 2020 – Côte at Home (Lobster and Frites)

As people who usually go out to eat quite a lot, I’ve enjoyed doing my own more adventurous than normal cooking at home, but now and again it’s nice to let someone else do all the heavy lifting. A review in the Guardian in July from their food critic, the fabulous Jay Rayner, had alerted me to the existence of Côte at Home, who were now delivering nationwide. Now I’m not a massive fan of chain restaurants, so I was somewhat surprised by the glowing praise in the review. Then I discovered they were offering a lobster and frites box and after some thought, decided to give it a go.

After I had put the two whole lobsters with frites, rocket and dill mayonnaise into the basket, I was £45 down and the wanted £4.95 for delivery, unless I spent £60 or more. I made the mistake of looking at the Prestige Steak Selection (£50.00) and decided that it sounded good. For that we would get two slabs of dry aged cote de boeuf (at 400g each that was more than enough to feed four people), two 200g fillet steaks, two 227g sirloin steaks and a pair of hand-pressed beef burgers. I selected the delivery date and hit “Pay”.

On the appointed day, the parcel arrived in good order, everything nicely packed and chilled. I unpacked, flung the steaks into the freezer, and stashed the lobster and its accompaniments away in the fridge, ready for the weekend.

Saturday evening arrived and I heated up the oven as per the instructions (180°C) and from then on it was an absolute doddle. The instructions were clear and correct and after a pre-dinner drink we were able to settle down to a very good dinner. The frites could perhaps have been crisper, but the lobster was delicious, tender and not overcooked. And on the plus side, crustacean shells for bisque again (as per the crayfish ragout).

Over the following week we ate and enjoyed the burgers, which were juicy and delicious, and then had friends over for dinner when we demolished the cote de boeuf. I’m looking for an excuse to order the meat selection again and must admit that some of the other “ready meals” are tempting. The lamb parmentier in particular has the potential to make us very happy diners.