Randall & Aubin

My favourite fish restaurant in London!!! They have great selection of oysters and champagne (I suggest R&A’s own to go with oysters), though they also serve amazing meats… rump stake with creamy peppercorn sauce is my favourite.
Super friendly staff and NY décor with open plan kitchen make you always feel very welcomed there. It’s one of those place where you can easily go on your own.
A «simple» but delicious menu will always hit the spot. And don’t forget to check chefs’ specials once you are there. The other day I had a skate wing for the first time… IT WAS AMAZING!!!
Don’t fotget to leave some space for a desert. My favourite is flowerless chocolate cake with scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I was actually pretty excited to come here — I love seafood, I love swishy old-​school spots, and I love the idea of an indulgent weekday lunch perched by the windows, watching the hectic world go by in Soho. So what fell short…
First, the service started out strong. Had a nice welcome and offered a choice of tables. But our male server, while attentive, wasn’t very helpful with the menu in terms of recommendations or specials. This became especially apparent with the wine list — which is excellent by the way, but undone because the staff didn’t know their wines. Our server couldn’t tell us a single thing about the two white wine specials, and then when asked for a fruity wine, he disappeared for several minutes to ask other staffers. In their defence, he did come back with three tastings of white wines, which was thoughtful, but then he couldn’t tell us about any of them beyond which one tasted ‘stronger’ and which one did not. This was quite disappointing for a place that is known for wines, and particularly so when the wine selection was actually pretty impressive, including a delicious creamy white from Lebanon.
Onto the food: the bread basket is worth every pence of the four pounds it costs — a selection of hot toasted brown and olive bread, along with butter and this anchovy cream that is unforgettable. The food itself was not very memorable. We had the fish soup, chilled seafood platter and the special crayfish truffle pasta. The soup was good but on the salty side, while the chilled seafood platter had highs and lows. Highs included the crab and scallop meat, while the lows were the three flat oysters provided, with very little meat on the shell. The pasta was delicious, just a few seconds cooked longer than I would’ve liked, but with lots of yummy shrimp and a delicious light sauce.
All in all, I would come back to this place for some wine and light food, but wouldn’t invest again in a full meal here. Maybe it’s worth it for the atmosphere in the evening, but I would go elsewhere for a good seafood meal, especially at this cost.

Absolutely fantastic restaurant, serving amazing seafood but also delicious meats (those rotisserie chickens are to die for!). The staff are always incredible and so so friendly, the service is spot on, and we always have a really fun time when we come here. Perfect for catching up with friends but also for a date, couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Make sure you try the oysters with their Randall and Aubin fizz!

Awesome place! The food, the service, the atmosphere — I just love it, a regular stop to warm up the belly and the soul :-) It’s hard to go wrong although the seafood is excellent

Loved the Scottish and Irish oysters, and was very comfortable there on my own at the bar on the window. The grilled said was good, not great. I eat out a lot and fish is always my first choice. I would give this place 4 stars for quality, but not 5. I did not consider service is this rating, only food quality. Service was not the best, but the place was fun and I would go back.

I just adore this place.
The design and layout of the restaurant makes it perfect for grown-​up (i.e.adult) lunches and dinners. Chilled out, diverse, easy-​going people who know a good thing when they see it. Brilliant staff providing superlative service. Seriously — you’ve never felt so welcome.
Great menu and high quality food. Excellent choice of wines.
it’s quirky, it’s grown-​up (got the message?) and it’s ‘everyone in together’ without being too noisy or «in your face». So if, like our neighbours, you don’t want to share a table then maybe just stay away please. Don’t ruin the ambience for the rest of us.
Well done to the Randall & Aubin team. Again.

This has been one of my favourite restaurants for years. Can sometimes be a short wait as you can’t book, but cracking open a bottle of R&A’s own champagne in the queue passes the time. Not only great quality seafood (I tend to start with the calamari or a half dozen oysters, then go for the lemon sole or fish and chips) but it’s one of the best vibes in Soho. Staff are very friendly and with the brasserie-​style shared tables you quite often end up having a chat with one of your neighbouring foodies. Great espresso martinis to finish your meal. Highly recommended!

Great food, nice staff, small place with a good atmosphere. Can be crowded, avoid obvious hours.

Wonderful staff, great atmosphere and delicious food. We came after the theater and it was close to closing time but the stayed open for us. Wine was nice and cold, soup was very flavorful the fresh seafood was excellent. It’s the kinda place where you feel like you in the South of France in someones kitchen while they prepare an amazing meal for you. Great experience!

Great food. Fair prices. Small and fun.

Les weekends à Londres, ça commence à me connaître! Et par deux fois je me suis rendue dans ce restaurant qui se situe dans le quartier de Soho.
Je n’ai pas été déçue !
Le fish&chips est juste délicieux, à essayer !!! Et leurs vins sont également très bons. C’est surtout un resto de fruits de mer mais pour les carnivores il y a aussi du choix.
Bön il faut aimer le bruit car ici la musique est très forte et tout le monde parle et rit aux éclats mais c’est aussi ça qui fait le charme de ce resto!
Prévoyez du temps car chez Randall & Aubin on né peut pas réserver! Du coup s’il y a de l’attente, on vous sert gentiment un verre pour vous faire patienter.
Bref, je pense que j’y retournerai lors d’un prochain passage à Londres!

Loved the food, the atmosphere and the service.
Came here with a baby. Staff were all so friendly and played with our baby, he was loving it! The music got a little loud as the night went on. Probably not the best place to have taken our 10 month old but we were in London just visiting so didn’t really have a choice.
The food was for the most part great. The seafood was very fresh, which is something I rarely say in the UK. The only complaint I had was that my halibut was a little overcooked and tasted hard. But everything else was delicious! I will definitely be going back here again. What a find!

We adored this little gem we stumbled into as we wandered around London sans direction. After a very busy day seeing the sights, we ditched our maps and wandered Soho. Drawn to the busy chattering crown here at 5:00 on a Saturday, we were compelled to be a part of the scene.
We ordered a few bites and several glasses of wine — happy as clams in the small, energetic atmosphere. The Thai salmon cakes were delicious and the house red hit the spot. We also had a good chat with our neighboring couple who gave us a good laugh. The music was good, the waitstaff was great and that disco ball tied the whole thing together. Would definitely come again.

This place was a disappointment. I was looking for a trendy restaurant in the SOHO area with good food and not too expensive in terms of prices and this place seems to be receiving the right number of stars and ££ sign so i gave it ago.
No reservations, as expected, but also not much room for you to stand inside. It was cold outside :(
We arrived on a Friday night at 6:30pm and waited for about 30m before we were seated. The place wasn’t too big and the music was LOUD. So loud that you can barely hear yourself think let alone have a conversation.
Service was fantastic — no complaints.
Food was mediocre. We tried
— Bellini (~£9): tiny champagne glass made with dry dry prosseco. No good.
— Oysters: sticks to the shell and not very fresh
— Queen Scallop: I was excited about capers but the capers were super tiny and the scallops weren’t too flavorful (~£8)
— Sole (~£19): deep fried, kinda like fish and chips without the chips but with potatoes. The fish was okay but i mean if you deep fry fish it’s hard to go wrong. The potatoes were really good and the string beans are okay.
— steak frite: the server warned us that the steak was gonna be super tiny. Albeit tasty, it was not very satisfying
— lemon tart (~£8): too tangy
Honestly, the food is mediocre, but the entire experience is marred by the loud music. Maybe they do that to kick people out because it’s so busy in there.
Unimpressed.

Oh so trendy.
You should eat here. The vibe is great. Lots of energy from the staff and the diners. Everyone is super nice. Even though it’s crowded and you might have to wait 45+ minutes on a Friday night, you’ll feel taken care of the entire time. Order some wine and make a friend.
All our food was delicious. While they don’t have many vegetarian options (not that I’d expect them to in a seafood restaurant), they did have some great egg dishes and veggie sides. I made a meal from that and didn’t feel like I missed out on a thing without having lobster. My dining companions had lamb and pork dishes. The pork was reportedly a little fatty for their liking, but yummy nonetheless.
I highly recommend a stop here for dinner before heading out around Soho. You might just want to grab a table and stay all night.

LOVE the décor, love the fish and chips. The fruits de mer was very delicious too! Didn’t have a chance to try the dessert. If you come to London, stay near SoHo House, come eat here because its very good!
Staff is very friendly and attentive. Gets very busy after 18:00

By far our favorite meal in London! Known for their seafood, I had the king scallops with braised broccoli fennel purée and parmentier potatoes. I felt like I wanted to chew slower just so I can savor the flavors for as long as I could! My boyfriend had the whole dressed crab, veggies and potato salad, which he loved as well! We paired our meals with a bottle of sauvignon blanc and it was heavenly. We would have like to try their seafood platter but they were out by the time we sat down.
High tables and chairs and the space is somewhat small as we had a group of people just hanging out right behind us making it hard for our waiter to get to us but the service was excellent and the prices were reasonable. Thank you R&A for leaving us with a good impression of the food in London.

Oh yes. Oh yes. My latest favourite. Reason for four stars — it’s very pricey. I can get same selection of seafood platter in Lock Fyne for cheaper… but I guess I won’t get the atmosphere!
Bar stools and tables, location (neatly tucked in Brewer St) — create an amazing hip place where you can have a date, a catch up with friends or even have something by yourself if you’re in a hurry and happen to be in the area!
My friend and I (both big fans of wine) were seated quite promptly for a Thursday night. — in about 15 minutes — we had wine while waiting. Randall & Aubin definitely has a good selection of wines (crispy Japanese and sweet-​ish Australian — as we had a fair bit of those, I don’t remember the names).
It was warm that evening and they left the windows opened — it was absolutely lovely. Good music — but at a reasonable volume — I didn’t have to shout to be heard.
Seafood platter was enough for us both. And I loved the snails — probably the first time I had those without usual garlic and butter!
Desserts — sadly, I can’t have dairy so couldn’t have something sophisticated, but my almond & rasberry tart was nice.
I am definitely goin back there again.

Last night a lobster saved my life, last night a lobster saved my life with a sooooong… Okay, it wasn’t singing, it was perfectly cooked and sliced in half on my plate. But it was delicious and it made for the most perfect dinner. Along with scallops with capers and fresh lime and a dressed crab this was a dinner date to remember.
I love The Little Mermaid, I love Flounder and Sebastian — but seriously, when they taste this good I’d be first in line to see the plopped in the hot pot.
Snuggled in the heart of Soho, opposite Cox, Cake and Kink, Randall & Aubin is something of a legend with a huge local following. There are beautiful gays serving and beautiful gays flowing out the door as well as seafood fans and some suit types. They have great window seats that are perfect for people watching and a great wine list, although it was missing a Chablis.
This was a date spot for me, and it was pretty amazing. We ordered three main courses and one starter between two of us and while away a spring evening over a lovely bottle of plonk. When you are here expect to be pushed and shoved a bit, expect to pay over the odds but love it. This is London.

I had wanted to give Randall & Aubin a visit for as long as my tired brain can remember. Countless reviews in restaurant guides had enforced a strong image of quality in my head a long time before I tested it for myself. And you know… gosh darn it they are right.
The atmosphere upon entering was very buzzy, to the point that is was hard to gauge whether we would be able to grab a table without reserving. I guess that is a little ploy on Randall & Aubin’s behalf though — seat as many people as possible in front of the impressively large windows to purport the image of an über-​popular Soho eatery.
When I was presented with the menu, it really did take me a while to get to grips with it — which I assure you was not a bad thing! The delights on offer are definitely weighted toward swimming creatures, but do not by any means exclude the animals that stand around in fields and barns. I always enjoy having a tough time deciding what to have from a menu — it gives me an excuse to return to the restaurant if I like it!
My friend that I was there with suggested that the fish and chips was a solid option, and having been deprived by the City of Angels for numerous months, I went for the British institution. We also ordered a started to share from the special board — tempura prawns with sweet chili sauce.
When the prawns arrived, I was eager to try, however, the batter on the prawns was far more goujon than tempura and the sweet chili sauce seemed like it came from Lidl. However, all was saved when the F&C’s arrived. Tasty fish and amazing sweet mushy peas were a treat. However, the chips were the sort you could see alongside any meal from Wetherspoons and the fish was the runt of the litter.
SO. All in all I enjoyed my trip to Randall & Aubin and would return. But I would love the next meal to match the style and atmosphere of the place. That really would be a «Woohoo 5 star affair».

This place was so ridiculously good that I had to drop a note and let everyone know how spectacular it was. It had been on list to try when I’m in London for a couple of years. I got the chance to being some of my work teammates to enjoy, while we were recently there.
The short of it can be summed up by one of my coworkers: «The simple dish of Sea Bass, potatoes, and greens was one of the best seafood meals I’ve ever had.»
Let’s put that statement into a bit of context. Hailing from the SF Bay Area, you’d think we have a ton of great seafood places to nosh at. Not so. We have decent places, but nothing to rave about. Randall & Aubin is a place to rave about. Laid back, casual atmosphere (a bit cramped, but okay… I can deal with that). Food is absolutely spectacular in taking basic, fresh ingredients and letting them shine without any fuss.
I will be back again and again!