I am by no means an authority on oysters, I just know I enjoy eating them. I was introduced to native oysters by a friend of my fathers some time ago, he was Irish and passionate about them, he ran the local pub near where I was bought up. The taste, feeling and texture of eating oysters seemed quite odd back then but now it is something I crave on occasions.
Like Cornelius showed me back then, I still like to dress them with a squeeze of lemon, black pepper and a spot of Tabasco.
I had read about Wright Brothers in Borough market and had wanted to go for sometime, last St Georges day, April 23rd(yes a very delayed post this one, there are reasons for that but...) I booked a table for lunch and had, I must say, a fantastic experience.
The Wright Brothers were originally just a wholesaler of oysters selling to all of London's top establishments, it is only in relatively recent years they have become restaurateurs.
Situated on Stoney street right next to the bustling heart of the market, it is an atmospheric room with suitably nautical/fishy decorations that work really well. It is an oyster and porter house so the menu is dominated by shellfish and fish with the welcome addition of dishes like steak and oyster pie. There is a bar running most of the way around the place, and even the tables in the center of the restaurant are high with stool seating. It works. We were greeted by an excellent front of house (Jeremy if my memory serves me well) and after some 'jiggery pokery' we managed to talk ourselves onto the bars stools right in front of the kitchen, the 'chefs table' said Jeremy tongue in cheekily.
Happily seated we began with West Mersea Native oysters, I had requested Helford Natives but due to an algae bloom in the Helford river stocks are dead and four years growing time is now required to replenish the beauties. No matter, the West Mersea natives were superb, a delightful taste of the sea. We were nearing the end of the native season so it was particularly pleasing to be sneaking some in. I am sure you all know natives are the wild, naturally, organically grown oysters, unlike the predominantly farmed rocks, they have the classic oyster shape, being rounder in appearance rather than the slightly elongated rock oyster. I have been led to believe they taste better than rocks, some would disagree with that but I tend to stick to eating natives, I like the seasonal and local tip that surrounds them.
Next up I noticed that Wright Brothers has Frank Hedermans smoked salmon on the menu, it would have been rude not to have had ordered that so we did, it was magical. I think it is the best smoked salmon I have ever tasted, subtly smoked, thickly cut and served at perfect temperature, it was devoured in minutes.
Things were going swimmingly, a brilliant inexpensive Argentinean sauvignon(La flor Mendoza, nineteen pounds) was slipping down a treat and I was really enjoying watching the serene and clearly very capable chefs at work in the kitchen.
For my main course I had dressed Cornish crab with mayonnaise, it was very good indeed. A fine amount of the essential brown meat to compliment the white, topped with very finely chopped egg. The mayonnaise was also a top, home made emulsion, I liked the piquancy given to it by the cayenne pepper that had been added.
My colleagues had steak and oyster pie, they both said it was the best pie they had eaten for years.
The bill came to about forty five pounds a head which was great value considering what we had eaten, oysters, crab, salmon and drunk, four of five bottles of wine. It was St Georges day!
If you like oysters, or in fact fish of any kind this place is a must in my opinion. The service, standard of cooking and atmosphere is fantastic.
Oh and if you are on the Lizard peninsula or anywhere in the south of Cornwall at anytime you can visit their Cornish outpost, the Ferryboat Inn in Helford passage. I have been there on a couple of occasions and it's position on the banks of the beautiful Helford river is stunning. It is more of a pub than the Borough market site but equally as good.
four out of five stars
Wright Brothers
11 Stoney Street
Borough Market
London
SE1 9AD
www.wrightbros.eu.com
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