I headed to 30 North Quay, Douglas today for a spot of lunch. The Velvet Lobster is a rather small but nicely decorated eatery situated on the newly refurbished side of the quay.

The decor is modern and neutral and with open dining tables with fixed seating for either two or four and it is rather cosey but pleasant at the same time!

The menu suits the lunchtime trade and has snacks and dishes ranging from cheese on toast, classic BLT, vegetable tart to Mackeral salad, plus some nice looking homemade cakes and there is always a decent specials board, usually with a a couple of meat dishes and vegetarian. The Jamaican Curry Goat to my fancy so ordered this with an intriguing milkshake called a coffeebanoffee!

The service was efficient and polite and I didn’t have to wait to long before my lunch arrived. One thing you notice straight away when I was tucking was that the food is freshly prepared and cooked each day with good quality ingredients, I was happily impressed. The portion size was just right for a lunchtime, the curry was delicate and the flavour of the goat really came through. And as for my coffeebanoffee, well, this is the substance that empires could be built on, it tasted fantastic with the cool, icey, toffee-coffee combo flavours really working well. It slipped down nicely – a somewhat strange choice as an accompaniment with a curry!

All in all I had a very pleasant meal and I would certainly recommend it for a spot of lunch, they have a licence now so you can also have a beer or glass of wine with your meal and they even serve on Friday and Saturday evenings. I will certainly go back again.

Gourmet Shark Verdict – A very good lunchtime all rounder that consistently hits the spot!