David Gerrie samples the seafood and fish fare at Wright Brothers Restaurant in Battersea Power Station.
“What might I want to eat after being catapulted 109 metres up a repurposed power station chimney in a sealed glass capsule for a 360 degree view over The Big Smoke?” is a question which surely must have crossed your mind during idle moments.
This is the quandary facing hardy souls who have braved, to give it its full name, the Battersea Power Station Chimney Lift Experience. Or, as it is known to aficionados, the infinitely more menacing sounding Lift 109.
Fear not. Any visions of your having to wandering around Docklands wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “I Am Not a Number” are quickly dispelled on entering the cavernous, gorgeously symmetrical edifice, now transformed into a panoply of shopping and hospitality, all set within neck-cricking ceilings amidst enough exposed ironworks to leave you in no doubt as to the building’s 1929 origins.
There are plenty of dining options elsewhere in the development, but on a wet, blustery day with the Thames splashing against the quayside we felt in a fishy mood and turned left out of Battersea Power Station’s front door to head for Wright Brothers, one of a three-strong micro-chain serving up many of the delights caught in the waters off British shores, plus a few nods to more exotic climes. If you need an endorsement, they’re also seafood suppliers to the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Jason Atherton and Angela Hartnett
It’s a bright, happy place with a long bar and open kitchen, smiling staff, an almost embarassingly-helpful maitre d’, good-sized tables for the inevitable detritus you’ll accrue, comfortable seating and, always worth noting, a lovely loo.
You could start with one of their nine signature cocktails, but this was not a day for mid-afternoon fuzzy heads. Thus my chum stuck with rose champagne throughout his meal (£16.50/glass) while I went the white Burgundy route – first a glass of the much underrated crisp and light Saint-Aubin 1er Cru (£25.50/glass), followed by a heftier Mersault 1er Cru (£29.50/glass).
Whether your fancy is taken by things in shells or things which swim, you’re likely to find it here. The freshest of raw oysters from four different locales sit on the menu (£22.50-£31-50/half-dozen) alongside three different treatments if you want ‘em cooked (£11.50-£12.25 for two), or you can make up your own selection plate (£24.00-£34.50/half-dozen). The day of our visit, really briny scallops somewhere between a King and a Queen in size, simply grilled in garlic butter, were on offer at a fiver a pop, and very scrumptious they were.
As an aside, a few days earlier, I’d been served six oysters of similar provenance and price to these at one of the country’s most famous and salubrious dining rooms. The Wright Brothers’ offering were plumper, sweeter and much more correctly presented.
Our table neighbours, I noticed, were greedily dissecting a plateau de fruits de mer the equal of any I’ve enjoyed in a Parisian brasserie. The former, when you do the math, is quite a deal, particularly if taken as a sharing platter – 12 oysters, half a lobster, a whole brown Devon crab, clams prawns, mussels and whelks for £110.00
My companion had been telling me of a – to me – very unusual dish of grilled octopus tentacle on bread sauce he’d just eaten in Tuscany – and here it was again, perfectly tender and juicy with the velvety emollient providing a winning combo’ (£19.50).
We tucked into a good-sized centre cut of cod loin, roasted to flaking, opaque perfection, sitting on a bed of crushed Jerusalem artichokes, all the while wondering if we shouldn’t have plumped for the daily special of a whole John Dory at £47.50. Veggies might seems a bit of an afterthought in the midst of al this fishy wonderfulness, but bowls of buttery minted Jersey Royals, some triple-cooked chips and steamed tender stem broccoli with almond butter and chile (£6.00 each) proved a worthy foil.
There’s whole Dover sole (£48.00), Brixham hake (£24.00), black pepper crab (£45.00), fish pie (£21.50) or good old haddock ’n’ chips (£20.50). Since meat fans are not forgotten here, with both a flat-iron (£19.75) or ribeye (£36.50) available, it’s only logical the kitchen can drum up a surf ’n’ turf platter, with a half-lobster adding £28.00 to the price of your steak.
So now you know. If the experience of vertical acceleration up a very tall dark funnel has left you with an appetite for plates small or large, Wright Brothers restaurant. would undoubtedly be the, er, right place to head for.
Power station image (C) Brendan Bell. Restaurant Image (C) Johnny Stephens Photography.
Tell me more about the Wright Brothers Restaurant at Battersea Power Station.
Wright Brothers Restaurant Battersea Power Station 26 Circus, West Village, London SW11 8EZ
E: battersea@thewrightbrothers.co.uk T: 020 7324 7734
Book here for tickets for the Lift 109 experience
Tickets start from £17.00 for an adult, £12.60 for a child and £54.60 for a family of four
