Massive bright and airy modern dining room off off a university campus.
The service was good but not top notch and the same can be said about the food. Fish was a tad dry and the pastas about par.
Some room for improvement but there were a few highlights.
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Where Waterloo Bridge meets the Strand by the Aldwych, stands the famous neoclassical Somerset House. The first palatial residence on this site and by this name was built in the 16th century by the Duke of Somerset, brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Since then it has been home to several Royals and Queen Consorts, various important personages, different seats of learning, the Admiralty, the Army and many other governmental departments and offices. During its long history it has been rebuilt, had wings added and undergone many refurbishments, involving such luminaries of the architectural world as Inigo Jones, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Chambers and James Wyatt. Oliver Cromwell’s body lay here in state, Canaletto painted it twice and, latterly, it has featured in many films and music videos. In winter, the central courtyard is home to a popular open air ice rink and at other times, it is used as an open air concert venue, most notably the ‘Summer Series’ held in July. At the centre of the courtyard is a playful fountain of 55 vertical jets of water rising to random heights. In other words, it is a most impressive, elegantly beautiful building in the heart of London and, set on the River Thames, one of the city’s great sparkling jewels.
The perfect place for a special treat. The dining hall is stunning - there aren't many places left in London where you really feel the sense of space - with high ceilings, natural light, and plenty of space between tables so you don't constantly get distracted by conversations at the next table. And the food is beautiful, seasonal and simple. A huge hit with everyone in my family. For me it's for special occasions but both my parents have made it a more regular favourite.
Too girly. When London’s Spring restaurant first opened at the end of 2014 it attracted a fair whack of criticism. Not especially about the menu, the plating of the food, the professionalism of its front of house or the quality of the produce. This criticism had a gender bias. Spring was accused of being “too girly”. Camilla Long wrote a particularly searing, catty review for the food and drink section of The Sunday Times. It gave her fabulous engagement rates on her social media platforms as hundreds of mini-me twitter followers flounced off in a huff to ‘cancel our booking’; so hurt were they at what Camilla had suffered. Baa. Baa. Baaaa. From this you might imagine Spring has been decorated by a band of 4 year old ‘Frozen’ fans or a clutch of doiley-loving, tea-swilling Nanas. But no, Skye Gyngell’s restaurant is stunning. Elegant. Sophisticated. Alive.
Beautiful restaurant; very good food. I was visiting London from Sydney and took some family out to dinner in early December. In a great historic building and the restaurant has a lovely fresh feeling. Staff are dressed in a way that will continue to attract comment. I liked the staff outfits but not everyone will (get over it if you don't like them). Staff very professional. Food was above average without blowing my mind. Winelist certainly turned the meal into a more expensive evening, but it is London and high quality budget food was not what I expected. So no surprises and best not to the think about the currency exchange. Overall enjoyable and to be recommended if you can handle the price tag.
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In an attempt to inject some culture into the massive slobfest that was the Christmas and New Year break, I contact S, house doctor in training and mistress of the dark art of decluttering. On the penultimate day before the shock of the desk , I need some ideas. Let’s go to the Egon Schiele, she suggests, at the Courtauld. I immediately think of Spring, also at Somerset House, for we are going at 11.15 and I am worrying about where we will eat lunch. I’m not sure I’d recommend all that emaciation and in-yer-face genitalia as a precursor to lunch and I’m pleased that we work our way through the stunningly good permanent collection, so that I can draw on some less brutal imagery before the softness of Spring. I’m not sure why it’s called Spring and I confess that the name had rather put me off, as I imagined delicate pretty-but-prissy food and not the winter comfort plates that I crave at this time of year. And I’d not got on with Skye Gingell’s cookbook either, having ordered the same in sheep-like fashion, influenced by the unmitigated adulation for her previous restaurant at Petersham Nurseries...
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The space is really lovely. While we waited for some of our party to arrive, we sat in the tree lined atrium, which has a sky light and beautiful tactile plasterwork resembling leaf veins. The main room is also light and airy, with charming installations of drifting porcelain leaves along the walls. We came for lunch, and I imagine both rooms to be at their most attractive during daylight hours.
While waiting with drinks we were served good olives and outstanding smoked almonds sprinkled with fried rosemary and coarse salt.
I started with gnudi with spinach and sage butter. Nice simple sauce of lemon and butter, but I would have preferred the sage to be a little more fried so that it lost a little more astringency. Buttery sauteed spinach was delicious.
My main was panfried sea bream with turnip greens, jerusalem artichokes with a garnish of cooked tomato and olive salsa. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin. The sweet sauteed jerusalem artichokes were my favourite part of the dish.
Lunch was pleasant, and all the cooking was very well executed. However, besides the smoked almonds at the bar, nothing about my food was particularly exciting. Perhaps I am starting to suffer from a jaded palate.
Service was knowledgeable and gracious. Although we did sense a touch of disdain when some of us ordered downmarket limoncello at the end of our meal instead of dessert.
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According to Tolstoy (in Anna Karenina), spring is the “time of plans and projects”. This particular Spring is the latest kitchen project of Skye Gyngell, which opened in October 2014 in the grandeur that is Somerset House. Ms Gyngell was previously the opening head chef of Petersham Nurseries from 2004, gaining it a Michelin star in 2011 but then publicly described the award as a “curse”, leaving the restaurant in 2012. She trained at La Varenne in Paris and also at The Dorchester when Anton Mossiman was running the kitchens there. Ms Gyngell was apparently cooking at this particular service.
The 18th Century building Somerset House is a vast space that houses the Courtauld Gallery and until recently was home to HM Customs & Excise. Spring is in the New Wing, in the northwest corner of the complex. The main dining room can seat 120 and is large and airy, with a high ceiling and windows looking out over to the courtyard. There is also a tree-adorned smaller room that can be hired as a private dining room. This is linked to the main room but can be curtained off if used for a private party. Overall, Spring has a very attractive dining space.
The menu had starters from £11.50 to £14.50, main courses from £26 to £34 and desserts £8. There was a cheap lunch menu at £29.50, but it seemed almost deliberately unappealing, with nettle risotto as the only starter and ice cream for dessert, as if the management was saying: “Don’t even think of ordering the bargain lunch, you cheapskates.” The day before I had enjoyed a £35 menu at two Michelin star Hibiscus, including amuse-bouche, petit fours and coffee, by way of comparison.
The wine list had around 75 labels, ranging in price from £27 to £480 with a median price of £55. Example bottles were Kumea River Chardonnay Estate 2009 at £57 for a wine that you can find in the high street for £18, Palladius Eben Sadie 2011 at £89 compared to a retail price of £35, up to Lafon Mersault Genevrieres 2010 at £480 for a wine that will set you back £203 in a shop. Markups were around three times the retail price on average, which is normal for London.
The bread was made from scratch in the kitchen; although porridge bread does not sound very appealing, this tasted pretty much like regular sourdough bread and had excellent flavour and a particularly good crust (16/20). My starter was ravioli of potato and porcini with sage butter. The pasta was well made, its texture good; the filling tasted a lot more of potato than porcini, but the sage was a nice additional flavour note (14/20).
Guinea fowl was carefully cooked with crisp skin, served with tomato and beetroot puree and unannounced spinach. The bird was fine but the beetroot flavour completely dominated the dish, and had a slightly odd hint of sweetness (13/20 at best). Better was a pear tart with orange blossom and Sauternes ice cream. The pastry was good, there was plenty of pear flavour and the ice cream went well with the tart (14/20).
The service was capable, with a very friendly Romanian waiter serving me. I rarely comment on the outfits worn by waiting staff, but these were something else. The men wore striped shorts and trousers rolled up at the bottom, looking like a 1950s idea of sailors on shore leave. The waitresses had bizarre smocks of assorted colours, my waitress’s grey one resembling a monk’s habit. It looked as if the entire waiting staff had got lost on the way to a fancy dress party. Apparently these outfits were not a practical joke but the deliberate intention of an expensive designer, which explains why I know nothing about fashion.
The bill came to £62 with just tap water to drink; if you shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical bill would come to around £90 a head. I suppose by the rarefied standards of London restaurant bills these days this was not the worst, but it still felt pretty hefty for what was appearing on the plate. The cooking is relatively simple and enjoyable, but other than the bread the dishes did not really, well, spring to life. Still, the restaurant is drawing customers in for now and the place was busy on this weekday lunch.
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Dad The List : Guest Post – Matt suggested that I report on ‘the main London opening of the autumn’ - Spring, in the old Inland Revenue offices in Somerset House. Spring in autumn? Probably an indication of a new beginning after Skye Gyngell’s much publicised assertion that the Michelin star, awarded in 2011 to her Petersham Nurseries restaurant gave diners false expectations.
The restaurant is light and airy, decorated in pastel colours with huge white pillars breaking up the dining area – a very pleasant space for a relaxing meal, served by a friendly waiter dressed as a matelot. As with Rivea, much thought has gone into the staff uniforms. Some of the women glide around like Carthusian nuns or matrons in their white cloaks.
It was so peaceful that, had there not been a meal to consume, one might have nodded off to sleep.
First, a gold star for the better of two pulped juices – Granny Smith and pistachio. At about a quarter of the price of a Fera mocktail, this was one of the best ever. The other (passion fruit and tarragon) was a less successful combination, though still fresh and interesting.
Eating from the à la carte, the main ingredients of the first two courses couldn’t be faulted for taste or quality. Both the deep fried anchovies and the scallops were cooked to perfection. There were at least a dozen of the latter, which were plump and contained their roe (quite rare in restaurants). I completely understand that the top chefs are using different ingredients dependent on what is fresh and available on any given day, but I suspect I would have preferred the scallops with salsify and beurre blanc praised by earlier reviewers.
Observant readers of these postings will know that, like the late Robert Morley, I tend to judge all meals on the strength of their puddings. Ten out of ten for the meringue, miyagawa sorbet, candied ginger and Jersey cream. The white meringue nest looked very boring, but was nothing of the sort – it was strongly flavoured with ginger, filled with cream, a lemon shaped sorbet perched on top, with candied ginger scattered around. A miyagawa? It’s a particularly delicious type of satsuma.
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Ah spring, beautiful beautiful spring - the season of new beginnings where yesterday is left behind and the air is fresh again (and full of pollen which, as someone who suffers from hayfever is a living nightmare but let's not spoil it just yet...). Of the 4 seasons, it's arguably the most romantic. So when a restaurant decides to name itself after said season, it will also inherit, in part, these thoughts and emotions which is a challenge few can rise up to; but in the West Wing of London's iconic Somerset House, one restaurant is not only exceeding all expectations conjured up by the season, it's also laying claim to the name itself.
Spring at Somerset House is the newest venture in acclaimed writer and chef Skye Gyngell's long line of projects and is as much a success as her track record would suggest. With beautiful minimalistic decor and a menu showcasing the best of seasonal produce, me and my party of 4 were looking forward to the treat that laid ahead.
With the advantage of dining in a small group, we quite unintentionally ended up with an order which closely resembled the menu itself:
Starters of:
- Grilled sardines with slow cooked chard and aioli
- Salad of crab with castlefranco and tardivo
- Ricotta with deep fried artichokes, mint and caper dressing
- Vitello tannato with puntarelle and rocket
Mains of:
- Spiced, grilled leg of lamb with chickpeas, chilli jam and bhatura
- Slow cooked pork shoulder with polenta and girolles
- Dover sole with arrocina beans and three cornered garlic
- Scallops with grilled radicchio, anchovy dressing and breadcrumbs
Desserts of:
- Meringue, miyagawa sorbet, candied ginger and jersey cream
- Pressed chocolate and hazelnut cake
- Prune and Armagnac tart with cream friache ice cream
Such varying orders can only lead to increased instances of food envy but I can say with all honesty that no one would feel hard-done-by with their order such was the consistency of quality across all dishes.
Pick of the starters for me was the salad of crab which, simple as it may sound, was delightful and a wonderful sign of things to come. The crab was deliciously creamy and seasoned so as to excite senses but not mask the subtle flavour of the crustacean.
Finding a highlight from the mains is an exercise in futility and is akin to trying to decide which star I loathe more; Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus or Lindsey Lohan; I just can't decide because as perfectly pink and flavoursome the lamb was, the pork shoulder was equally as juicy and delicious, scallops equally a masterclass in flavour combination and the Dover sole equally a shining example on how the fish should be prepared. I would suggest going with your gut when ordering mains but helpfully suggest to your fellow diners ordering something different and that you can share - and by share I mean they share theirs; there is no one you can part with yours!
But as they say, all good things must come to an end and so it did with dessert where I settled on the delightful pressed chocolate and hazelnut cake served with whipped double cream and chocolate drizzle which was both rich and light; a contradiction if there ever was one but I'd come to learn that to be surprised at Spring is not an unusual thing.
However food of this quality and standard does come at a price as my table of 4 came to £340 which, in addition to the above, included a round of aperitifs and a bottle of wine. But a betting person would back that Spring will become Michelin-starred pretty soon and it would be completely justified and well deserved.
At this time, I'd like to apologise if the romantic undertone of the above all seemed a bit unbearable but that is what Spring and all its "love-is-in-the-air" jazz can do to you. In their own words, "We hope to create an experience which not only sings on the plate but lingers in the memory." - I can't help but feel I've certainly fallen victim to that.
Also follow me on Twitter @annixontong and @wetrykai and on Instagram @annixontong.
On a magical spring evening, my friends and I found ourselves stepping into the enchanting realm of Spring, a restaurant renowned for its culinary masterpieces and classy ambiance. We were gathered there to celebrate a special birthday.
The restaurant was a vision of elegance, adorned with blooming flowers and soft lighting that cast a warm, inviting glow over the entire space. The menu was a work of art, offering a tantalizing array of dishes that promised a gastronomic adventure. Each course that arrived was amazing.
It was nice to celebrate spring in the Spring! Thanks to all team.
Really relaxing environment and great food. The service is efficient and professional. Would come here again. The waiter mentioned they change the dinner menu every 2 weeks
Beautiful dining room with a minimalist vibe. Had the scratch menu and the starter was exceptional. My paloma cocktail was also delicious. Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was good, but not great. The dessert, in particular, was disappointing. Overall, a good experience, though, and worthy of trying again.
With the passing of the equinox a new season is in early bloom. The soothing, calm decor of the dining room is impeccable, and only surpassed by the explosion of flavors that made for one of my most memorable meals in a long time. Highly recommend it!
The restaurant is beautifully and effortlessly elegant, nestled in a wonderfully historic building that offers other options if you want to make more of your day out.
The wait staff were attentive, respectful and polite which is a 10/10 for me.
As for the food, whatever your choice I’m sure your tastebuds will thank you for it, although I’d certainly recommend the roast potatoes for sides selection. They are unlike anything I’ve ever had before and they’re quite exceptional, and I’m very funny about roast potatoes!
For drinks … do try the Rhubarb Sour.
Enjoy.
A remarkable restaurant. The setting and room are elegant and impressive, they have the well designed, classical wow factor actually all too rare in London. The service is impeccable, and the food first class. It's not cheap, but it is all excellent across the board: tasty, classy, fresh and well judged.
I’ve been to Spring previously and wasn’t overly impressed. It felt expensive and the service a bit cold. So much so that I wasn’t eagerly looking forward to returning when a friend booked it. But I was pleasantly surprised as this time the service was very friendly, helpful, informative and lovely in general. The cocktails were great, my ricotta dumplings were delicious, as were the crispy potatoes. Others said the fillet and Guinea fowl were also amazing. Then we had the custard tart to share for desert which was incredible. Would now come back!
Beautiful place to have a lunch out. Reasonable price as well. We had 3 course meal on that day. Professional and polite service, enough space between tables. The ingredients they use all supplied by themselves, I personally very fond of this food ideology so would recommend.
Beautiful interior with with an airy room with high ceilings.
Slightly cramped layout in the middle of the room.
Opted for the lunch selection- down side: no choice unlike most restaurant with two or three items per course/ also no vegan or vegetarian option - single dishes offered per course.
As the lunch option looked less than interesting- we ordered the bread and the meat selection as a per 1st course.
Bread was good and meats were average.
Cocktails was good- nice twist of the usual classic but did not have the coffee infused whiskey which two in the part ordered.
The waitress who serves us was abrupt, miserable and always in a rush and therefore dropping items when clearing the table.
Food was good: the beetroot soup: excellent, onglet: food, was more rare then medium- rare and the accompaniment of veg was disappointing.
The desert of rice pudding and goose berries didn’t take out fancy so we ordered one to share- turned out to be quite nice.
Central location, food was home style flavor profile. Service was laid back and lingering type
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