The Wright Brothers

Credit: www.thewrightbrothers.co.uk

I am American, and one of my favourite things about America is the coastal seafood of the northeastern seaboard; places like Maine, Nantucket, and Maryland. There is nothing more delicious to me than sitting on a big rock looking out at a rough sea eating a lobster roll and sipping a glass of cold white wine. There are places in Europe, however, that do cater to these tastes, and the UK certainly has some very good oysters, lobsters, and the general cold sea crustaceans. The Wright Brothers has this style down very well and is a mix between a smart English pub and an oyster bar. So it is casual but classy in that upscale oyster bar sort of way. I love this place. There are two branches, and honestly the menus only vary slightly and there are good and bad in both changes equally so I wouldn’t recommend one over the other. But the borough market locale is great for lunch after cruising the market…

The oysters here are always fresh and mostly local. I also really love the gussied up ones too. The Japanese oysters served with a tiny bit of soy, wasabi, and ginger are delicious. You can also build your own seafood platter, which is great when sharing with smaller eaters (like myself). They serve some absolutely sublime whelks, big and small. You can also order brown shrimp in its tasty crunchy shells as well as poached red shrimps by the pint. There is fresh super delicious whole crab, as well as steamed whole lobster. They usually have a good daily side veg dish or the tomato salad with shallot and olive is a perfect pairing with the seafood platter. If you are not in the mood for fishy cold stuff, there are plenty of other warm dishes to choose from. The sardines on toast is simple, elegant, and fresh. The smoked salmon is very good, although the serving size is extremely small; I have noticed this several times. They also have a great “picked crab” dish which sorts it all out for you if you don’t feel like getting messy; it even gives you chive and egg to add to your white and brown meat. All very civilized.

I highly recommend checking this place out, its great for a friend date or casual lunch, or just simply to taste what the British shores have to offer.