Soho oyster bar is a serious catch
Wright Brothers Soho Oyster House
13 Kingly Street, W1B 5PW Tel: 020 7434 3611, thewrightbrothers.co.uk
FOOD ****
SERVICE ****
ATMOSPHERE ****
Cost per person without wine: £40
THE Wright Brothers’ establishment in Borough Market is a temptation that is sorrowfully hard to indulge because it is tiny – and rammed. The former contributes considerably to its charm: at few other places would I wait half an hour for a stool at a beer barrel. But when it comes to oysters, beer and top-drawer seafood in the Wright Bros style, more space can only be good.
Enter the new(ish) outlet in Soho: known as the Oyster House rather than the Oyster & Porter House of Borough, it’s bigger and quite possibly better. Decor doesn’t suffer – set over two levels, it still manages to feel cosy, but with the clattery vibrant atmosphere one desires of Soho.
In London, oysters have always been popular, though in Dickens’ day they were not considered the delicacy they are now and were often shoved in pies alongside god knows what else. These days, they tend to come with high prices and a degree of pomp. For example, the famous oyster bars at Scott’s (first opened on the Haymarket in 1858), J Sheekey’s and Bentley’s are all excellent and historically-weighted. Wright Bros, by contrast, feels more casual and accessible to the after-work crowd, rather than the business people or tourist crowd, and it is much cooler for it.
Staff are lovely and helpful, ideal conduits for the astoundingly succulent plate of oysters we’re about to have (washed down with some English sparkling wine – what else? – before moving onto a white Rioja).
The Duchy Natives and Lindisfarnes were good, but the Cumbrae blew us away (the cheapest of the lot at £6.50 for three). I am not the biggest poster girl for oysters as I have a fear of being sick, but any reservations I’d had were firmly stamped out with this paen to the marine: the Cumbrae were enormous and salty, but in a fragrant way that only the best are. After this, the caviar and cream-topped pearls we’d decadently ordered just lost their sheen. I am pleased to report that none of the oysters made us sick, nor were they likely to.
Then order the fish of the day, especially if it’s anything like the great big roast brill for three we shared between two, with perfect new potatoes and broccoli. Fish can pack just as much a punch as beef: I was felled by far less than half the fish as my companion deftly continued scoring and serving it up. There was a touch of sea bass to the brill, but meatier, with a silky texture and buttery flavour.
By now, full on the finest the sea has to offer and drunk on the best of Spanish grapes, we thought puddings would be a fine idea. Bakewell tart (tart of the day) tasted terrific but my connoisseur friend was concerned by its flimsiness; chocolate pot with hazelnut praline hit the spot.
Wright Bros does not expect everyone to want oysters and massive whole fish. There are playful and less playful alternatives: seafood biryani, sardines on toast and garlic butter, fish pie and even braised pork belly with clams and salsa verde.
Go for the raw bar alone or go for a proper dinner with all the fixings of oceanic decadence, from caviar to oysters to crab. Either way, go.