Wright Brothers Soho

My wife had booked a table for 9:30pm on Saturday 13 October 2012. Sadly, I am unable to pass comment on the food as the extremely poor front of house service so infuriated us that we left without sampling it. In spite of arriving promptly and prior to another party (who I shall refer to as Party B hereinafter), we were kept waiting for approximately 10 minutes before any member of staff deigned to ask us why we were loitering in the doorway, only then to see Party B ushered in before us and given what I suspect was our table (notwithstanding Party B audibly confirming that their table was reverved for 10pm). When my wife and I remonstrated, we were offered two options: i) a place at the bar (which my wife had expressly asked not be seated at when we made the reservation) or ii) waiting 20 minutes for another table. Neither option was acceptable so we walked out in a huff. Thankfully, we managed to get a late night dinner ar Arbutus which was excellent and whose service, from the moment of walking through the door, was impeccable.

Wright Bros Soho really must do better on service if this restaurant wants to avoid alienating customers. Judging by some of the reviews on this site I am clearly not the first to be unimpressed with this aspect.

NB. I have given a mark of 5 for food, atmosphere and value for money in order to complete the review. However, I am only doing this in order to be fair because I cannot properly comment and there is no "not applicable" option.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, October 15, 2012

Last Saturday night saw us seeking a tasty supper in Soho after a late afternoon braving the madness of Oxford Street and Selfridges department store in particular (note to self: never again venture into Oxford Street other than at 10am on a mid-week morning). As big fans of the Borough Market branch of the growing Wright Brothers empire this new central London restaurant had been on our "must visit" list for a while and the prospect of a plate of creamy, salty oysters soon raised our flagging spirits.

The Soho branch is very much the grown up big brother to the much smaller and intimate original venture in Borough. There are two large more formal dining rooms on the ground floor with a more casual bar and dining area in the basement which has a fine view of the bustling open kitchen. My choice would be for the basement area where you will be sitting on stools at the high, long tables right at the heart of the action. Despite the pretty steep prices this is not stuffy fine dining; the staff are friendly, the specials of the day are chalked up on a blackboard and the vibe is what you would expect from an industrial type space in the heart of Soho.

No trip to Wrights would be complete without some oysters and we ordered 3 speciales de claires and 3 oysters dressed with apple, shallot and cider vinegar. Beautifully presented they all slipped down a treat - a great way to start any meal. We teamed the oysters up with a 460ml flask of a very nice Albarino Igrexario - a lot of the wines on the wine list are available as 460ml flasks which is helpful if you don't want to break the bank (the bog standard, very ordinary house white is £22 a bottle).

Despite being a Saturday night we were under no pressure to move the meal along quickly so we waited until after our oysters to decide on our mains. A good idea as the oysters had perked up our appetites and we decided to share a starter portion of delicious moules mariniere before moving onto the plaice with pancetta, sage and capers for me and the pork belly with clams and salsa verde for B. Sides are not included with main dishes so we added on a portion of firm, creamy new potatoes which we shared.

Given the growing tendency of many restaurants to charge for bread it's worth noting that at Wrights you will be provided with an excellent selection of two or three types of loaf and a generous portion of lovely butter. Bread and butter will be replenished upon request - essential if you want to enjoy every last bit of the sauce with your moules mariniere!

Desserts never seem quite the thing at Wrights and this visit was no exception. The bill was by no means a bargain but seemed a far price to pay for this quality of food in central London. The Borough branch remains my favourite but I have no doubt that we will be dropping in again before too long.
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Nunhead Neil
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, February 18, 2012

Dismal.

You get very little back in terms of food or atmosphere when balanced against the price.

Whole place feels as if they just can't be bothered. Or rather as if the customer margin calculations and P&L forecast has absorbed all the Wright Bros' focus, rather than cooking or hospitality.

I mean - bog standard taramasalata and toast as a starter? If Wright Bros list cod's roe on the menu you kind of expect something either a little more imaginative.

Location doesn't help - ersatz shopping mall in Soho.

Avoid.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, February 08, 2012

I love this restaurant. Always reminds me of New Orleans or New York whenever I visit. The blend of old London and seafood is extremely romantic. I have brought clients and friends alike and they have all been impressed. The focus is evidently oyster centric but their fish is second to none, arrives fresh, and is cooked skillfully by the kitchen on show. The wine list contains all the seafood classics and retain a good element of surprise with some intriguing natural numbers. Service is personnable and extremely knowledgeable. Add to this consistency of products and service and throw in a charismatic Irish host and you have got yourself a restaurant you can't stay away from.
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Jackson Dallas
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Keep on going back for more. This is an exceptional place and I struggle with recognising it by reading some negative reviews. The Wright Brothers I know in SOHO serves the freshest seafood. The staff are pros in the bivalve department and always come up with interesting facts. The food that comes from the kitchen is superb and I like the fact they have recently added a few meat dishes. The wine list keeps on getting bigger and better. This is a quality restaurant which delivers confident service and food and takes pride in its all aspects of their execution. the building is gorgeous reminiscent of old london mixed with industrial NY. I work around the corner and often use their Rawbar area to break during the afternoon as they have an all day menu. I was recently told that these guys supply fish and seafood to the Wolseley, Hix, Scott's & Sheekeys and I am not surprised, in fact, I prefer it to the others.... A fantastic place and a welcome addition to the SOHO scene!
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senequier - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 01, 2012

I couldn't belive the negative reviews when I went there today. Friendly staff, excellent tasty food and reasonable prices. I thought for a while that I was in the wrong restaurant!

I didn't like the coffee but that is a small price to pay.
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Frank Hynes
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, December 02, 2011

I went to wright brothers and it has been a great evening. location is great, good decoration, friendly and qualified staff, nice wine ( a bit expensive though) and the food is great !

I will definitely come back and suggest food lovers should go asap !
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Rather poor really. Food okay but prices on par with J Sheekey. Service poor and wait staff seem to have come straight from a student refectory. Music too loud and generally not worth the money!
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Lord Snooty - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, September 26, 2011

If you're in the mood for overpriced and overcooked food, with delightfully rude staff, then stop by the Oyster house on Kingly street, fancy a pint? how about a pint of prawns for 15.5 pounds, at least that's what the menu says before they add on charges like service fees that the waitstaff and even the Manager can't explain properly, The worst dining experience i have ever had, and I am a lover of Seafood, but if this were the only seafood restaurant around, I'd be searching frantically for a McDonald's fish sandwich to ease my craving, at least i would get some satisfaction, and 10 times more customer service out of that experience
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Reformed Seafood Lover
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Very, very average really ... paltry portion of whitebait as a starter and an embarrassingly inadequate ' Neal's Yard' cheese-board to finish at £11 - and the waiter tried to tell me it was quality over quantity .... then call it cheese samples not a cheese board! Three transparently thin slices of cheese and 4 crackers is not a cheese board. The gnocchi seafood main was virtually all gnocci with incidental seafood ... 4 clams and two mussels in a tiny dish the size of a saucer, hardly a main course at all .. . If Wright Bros were the only restaurant choice in Soho then you'd be onto a winner however since there are far better places close by it is certainly not a catch of the day at all. Zilli fish in Brewer St is better quality and value if you need a fish hit. Despite working round the corner I wont go back for another wholly underwhelming seafood experience... I would rather have a fish finger sandwich on a cross channel ferry for £30.
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Bob in Soho
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Friday, May 13, 2011