Wright Brothers Soho is a must-visit restaurant for all seafood lovers. Apart from owning restaurants, Wright Brothers are wholesale suppliers to over 200 of the city’s finest restaurants. From their early, humble days in 2002 when they started, they’ve grown into running one of the largest oyster farms in the UK. They cultivate and harvest over 10 millions native and pacific oysters per year.
It’s no surprise that the name Wright Brothers has grown into a respected and trusted name in the seafood industry.
Their restaurant in Soho in Kingly Court has that kind of clean, bright, airy feel that is almost compulsory for all seafood restaurants these days. There is a chalkboard with classic quotes from literary greats such as “The world’s mine oyster” which Shakespeare wrote in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’.
Photos courtesy of Paul Winch-Furness.
The clientele did include plenty of tourists who have no doubt read about the exceptional produce offered by Wright Brothers. There are so many options for shellfish on their menu, it could get confusing for the uninitiated with oysters from different regions of the world and dressed and cooked versions. We opted for the house platter, which had some of the best selections on offer.
The Carlingford oysters were meaty and had a sweet aftertaste. The Atlantic prawns might be fiddly with their shells but the meat is firm and bouncy. The English mussels and the French Palourde clams were outstandingly fresh. It goes to show, when you are having a seafood feast, it is important to trust brands that have a close connection with their suppliers and there is a great turnover daily of their seafood.
We actually had the seafood platter as a main course, whilst for starters we chose a scallop with tobiko and wasabi soy sauce and a watermelon, feta and sumac salad. Their cooked dishes tend to have an Asian touch which you might not find in other traditional seafood restaurants in the city. The scallop was divine, although you would expect more than one piece for any starter portion.
They have plenty of healthy sides for you to complement your meal with including an earthy tasting roasted blue Hokkaido pumpkin, spring onion and yoghurt. The fruit inside isn’t blue, but the colour comes from the blue-grey outer skin. There is also the superfood heavy fried brown rice with kale and courgette.
baldwin@townfish.com