Randall and Aubin

As a lover of anything seafood or fish orientated, I love discovering new places where that's what they do best. So a big high five to the friend who introduced me to this little beauty, Randall and Aubin. Situated along Brewer Street in Soho, this small establishment gets busy quickly so I suggest you book! Walk-ins are welcome but be prepared for a nice chilly queue outside the door... space inside is limited so don't expect to hang around at the bar. 

Originally London's first French Butchers shop, the French theme continues to run throughout  with a rustic Parisian decor and with a menu to match. This place really is famed for it's fruits de mer (check me out) although they do have a small range of grill options such as rib eye, lamb and pork belly. The prices are slightly above average (who charges four quid for bread?!) but, to give credit where credits due, the food we had was worth it.






To start, we both had the grilled queen scallops with pancetta drizzled in caper, lemon and garlic butter. I'm not going to lie; I was expecting fat, juicy scallops as opposed to these small offerings but they were nice all the same.

















I was trying not to over-indulge (for once) so for a main, I went for the 1/2 pint of pink prawns with aioli, with a rocket, mushroom and parmesan cheese salad. Fair enough, this doesn't look much but, right then, that was right up my street. The prawns come with the shell on so, as long as you're prepared to put a bit of effort in, you can't go too wrong. 

I was pretty satisfied with my choice, until I saw my companions meal served up to her. Cue MAJOR food envy. She had the grilled sea bass (my absolute favourite...see where I went wrong?), served with a spring onion and rosemary salsa, and curry dusted potatoes. The fish was cooked so absolute perfection and the flavours of the potatoes and salsa worked so well together. It was a great twist on a classic fish dish.





Next up: cheese. Lots of it. And, thanks to a few cheeky connections, we had cheese in both savoury and sweet form (courtesy of the chef)! Now, I have to say that I usually avoid paying ridiculous amounts for a cheeseboard with very little on it. The only place where I am willing to part with my hard-earned cash for a decent cheeseboard is at Gordon's Wine Bar because it is SO DAMN GOOD. However, for £9.50, the one Randall and Aubin had on offer wasn't too bad. They have a really decent variety of cheese to choose from and you get more crackers than you can shake a stick at. 

When you're getting a free cheesecake, I suppose you can't complain too much about paying for a cheeseboard. This is cheesecake at it's best in my opinion. A plain, baked vanilla classic with the added bonus of salted caramel ice-cream. 

It's pretty safe to say we were both well and truly satiated after all that. If you love fish or seafood, I would strongly recommend giving this place a go. The menu overall is unique in what they have to offer and I genuinely can't wait to go back and give some other dishes a try.

Nic

 X