Spring

Modern European·
££££
·
Silver Award
·

SquareMeal Review of Spring

Silver Award

For those of us encouraged to eat the rainbow as kids, Spring feels like a restaurant you should be able to collect a sticker for. Wonderfully bright and beautiful, plates come out in a whirlwind of the seasons.

Skye Gyngell is well celebrated for her love of home-grown produce in her restaurants at Heckfield place in the Hampshire countryside. Bringing that same sense of terroir to a Palladian London dining room feels like a challenge but it’s one that Gyngall rises to with aplomb. If anything, the contrast is enlivening.

Pearly white walls and sweeping ceilings preside over a busy cluster of theatre goers and smart suits (even bankers need their five-a-day) clustered around tables enrobed in thick linen and adorned with farm fresh flowers.

Out on the floor the charge is led by a slightly puzzling team who seem entirely unenthused to be serving the kitchen’s delights. Some are sweet, but none offer the kind of service you’d imagine for such a spot.

The lovely things from the kitchen fittingly then take most of the attention. Slices of sweet cucumbers are concentrated with cucumber yogurt and smack of greenhouses in summer. They’re wonderful proof that just a few ingredients handled sympathetically outdo complex cuisine any day of the week.

It’s hard to call to mind a time when cheese hasn’t been welcome on a starter plate, but here it’s particularly glorious. A pile of creamy burrata innards is laced with herb oil and topped with an assemblage of courgette plus toasted pistachios for a plate that feels encouragingly achievable for mere mortals. The reason that comes to mind is it’s food you don’t want to end, so in your panic you begin mentally noting elements in an empty promise that one day you might produce such dishes yourself.

The good kind of greens keep coming with the mains where a plump, crispy skinned partridge breast is served with courgettes challenging their reputation as watery. They’re slow cooked until sweet and taste of a creamy risotto.

With such a steer towards veggies, the menu could feel too virtuous to be enjoyable. Even adults don’t want to be forced to eat their greens. Yet! There is indulgence here too - gold medal to the chunky, nostalgic summer pudding with a healthy dollop of creme fraiche.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £50 - £79
Cuisines
Modern European
Ambience
Cool, Fine dining, Glamorous, Quiet conversation, Romantic
Food Occasions
Dinner, Lunch
Special Features
Vegetarian options
Perfect for
Romantic, Special occasions

About

Spring can be found nestled inside the New Wing of Somerset House and is the brilliant brainchild of Skye Gyngell. Skye’s culinary experience spans London institutions The French House and Petersham Nurseries, but it was at the latter where she developed her reputation for creating hyper-seasonal dishes using the best of British produce. Such is the thinking behind her debut restaurant Spring, which adopts an environmentally-conscious ethos with everything that it does.  

The main a la carte menu features a curated range of Modern European dishes including the likes of fern verrow broccoli with white bean purèe, black olives and chilli oil to start, guinea fowl with broad beans, peas, poached radishes and aïoli for mains and blood orange brûlèe custard tart to finish. There is also a set lunch menu available Wednesday-Friday, which constantly changes in line with what’s in season. On that note, Spring also offers its famous Scratch menu, which is available early evening from Wednesday to Saturday and is designed with the aim of using up surplus ingredients that would otherwise go to waste. For that reason, it always changes depending on what the restaurant has in that day. 

To drink, there is an extensive wine list with bottles from all over the world, including wines available specifically by the glass or the bottle. Seasonal soft drinks include clementine soda and apple and ginger juice, while house cocktails feature fruity concoctions such as a winter citrus vesper (housemade blood orange liqueur, Sapling gin, Sapling vodka, clementine bitters).  

Further examples of the restaurant’s sustainable initiatives include its Plastic Campaign, with the aim of eliminating single-use plastic from Spring entirely. From removing plastic straws and introducing bio-degradable cling film alternatives, to eradicating the use of plastic containers, all the above helped Spring to become the first single-use plastic free restaurant in London in 2019. 


FAQs

Who is the head chef?

The head chef is Skye Gyngell.

Helpful? 0

When is the Scratch menu available?

The Scratch menu is served from Tuesday to Saturday between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

Helpful? 0

Location

Somerset House, Lancaster Place, Covent Garden, London, WC2R 1LA

020 3011 0115 020 3011 0115

Website

Opening Times

Lunch
Mon Closed
Tue 12:00-14:30
Wed 12:00-14:30
Thu 12:00-14:30
Fri 12:00-14:30
Sat Closed
Sun Closed
Dinner
Mon Closed
Tue 17:30-21:30
Wed 17:30-21:30
Thu 17:30-21:30
Fri 17:30-21:30
Sat 17:30-21:30
Sun Closed

Reviews

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17 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Neil P

30 December 2022  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Always lovely

Richard S

10 October 2019   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 4.5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 4
Value 4
Spring Up

This restaurant offers a very pleasant ambience and excellent food and service. The beetroot cooked in salt was quite outstanding.

Foodess

26 July 2019   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 2.5
Service 3
Atmosphere 4
Value 2.5
Good start, but what has happened?

I had always wanted to visit Petersham Nurseries, and although Spring was under my radar for quite some time, the chance discovery came last year.  It immediately became one of my favourite London eating places for many months.

I applauded the style and found food fresh, light and just my kind! Chef didn’t shy away from being bold with fresh herbs either (I grow and consume tons.) I recall a particularly good spicy quail dish accompanied by a sweet potato and rosemary mash which pleased the diners on our table. The room is grand, one of the most beautiful and tastefully decorated, flooded with natural light.

Our first experience was very good, second and third likewise, with the proviso that we had been waiting to sample a great bottle of wine. We took friends there and weren’t disappointed, again, except for the wine. Even a burgundy circa’ £85 was somewhat lacking, although I know to get a great burgundy can invariably be very difficult unless you 'in the know' or are prepared to spend £mega, but it did match the food very well.

On the fourth or so visit, I was astounded.
What had happened?
Was chef having an off day?
Was the kitchen under-manned?
Was it just lazy cooking?
Asparagus starter - I ended up with a serious mouthful of grit with the first forkful, so gingerly continued to find that the first spear must have been the one that dodged the washing process. Next came a main which looked as though it had been stewing for days not hours. A piece of roasted fish with a clump of the slushiest celery, which had been unceremoniously dumped from the remains of a stockpot, or so it seemed. Texture aside, I wouldn’t have minded had it been wonderfully flavoursome, but it really was not. I didn't send it back but at the end I did express great disappointment and further commented that my DH’s meal wasn’t up to scratch either.

Staff showed indifference without even an offer of a coffee as an attempt to redress the balance. I cannot be sure whether this restaurant is now on the way down or not, but the lack of concern has made me very reluctant to return. Maybe Skye has taken on too much with her other businesses - Heckfield Place may have been on my destination list, but now I am not so sure. I think I must wait for the reviews to start rolling in before venturing to Hampshire.

Peter G

26 July 2019  
Gorgeous dining room in Somerset House with excellent contemporary food & service to match.

David U

26 July 2019  
Wonderfully fresh and beautifully cooked food. Homemade lemoncello delicious.

Nicki P

02 July 2019  
Private dining room is beautiful, as is the main restaurant.

Michelle M

28 June 2019  
Love the quality and the taste of the food . Really imaginative with well proportioned sizes. Beautiful Dinning room.

Anon

27 June 2018  
Beautiful attention to detail so that all elements add the whole. The decor helps one taste the food. This whollistic approach applies to all elements from the food to service and give the restaurant a life of its own. I also especially love the uniforms.

Timothy H

27 June 2018  
Food you want to eat but is also interesting, well sourced, environmentally aware and in on of London's finest dining rooms.

Rachel M

27 June 2018  
Food ethos design.
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