We’d picked Spring for dinner mainly because of its proximity to our overnight hotel and to the theatre where we’d been watching a matinee. It’s in the “new wing” of the iconic Somerset House. That’s new as in it being built in 1856. And it’s a lovely room – it’s whole ambiance being one of elegance. Between the two of us, we ate six plates of food. Now, it will be fair to say that none had a cosmic WOW factor. But these were six plates of food that were creatively conceived and immaculately executed. Just lovely. Yes, I know that’s the second time I’ve used the word and a third use would be to describe the staff who seem to do things just about as you realise something needs doing.
As for the food, we both ordered salads to start. One featured slices of surprisingly flavoursome winter tomatoes, together with slices of persimmon (something I don’t think I’ve eaten before but would happily do again). Stracciatella, which I’ve only discovered this year, was, effectively, the sauce. Pine nuts provided a bit of texture contrast. And there’s a couple of slices of culatello – and I don’t think I’ve eaten a finer Palma ham. The other plate was more rooted in the UK with thin slices of celeriac and apple, scattered with walnuts and tarragon leaves. Very late autumn.
Perfectly cooked and delicious guinea fowl for one main course. It came with farro, a change from the more common pearl barley, carrots and a parsley sauce. Slip sole was light, delicate and came with potato puree and a seaweed butter. We shared a portion of “crispy potatoes”, which may well have been the most crispy I’ve come across – the sort you could happily eat a bucket of.
One dessert may be in the running for the best we’ve eaten this year. A slice of chocolate panna cotta sat on the plate. That’s topped with a perfectly wobbly espresso jelly. Alongside, a single juicy Agen prune and a jug of double cream. It’s an inspired dessert. That’s not to belittle the other sweet. Persimmon put in another appearance in the form of a cake. Cassia bark ice cream was lovely, with a flavour sort of like cinnamon (but not really). We finished with good coffee and a couple of chocolate truffles.
