North Road

As fans of Fig, we were keen to try this new venture from the same chef/patron. We were not disappointed. As with Fig, the menu is daring but brilliantly put together. Excellent amuse bouche of crackling and pickled quails eggs was followed by a beautiful warm salad for my partner and an amazing pork cheeck assembly for me. We washed it down with excellent Languedoc wine. The mains were even better - A gorgeous halibut with bone marrow and a sublime mutton shank. The puddings too were daring and divine. Lovely room, first class service. I highly recommend it.
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Toby Tucker
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, April 05, 2011

A real gem. North Road is a place I will return to time and time again now that I've found it. The food was amazing. So considered - think Heston without the huge waiting list. Everything was so considered and what made it such a wonderful experience was the staff. They were friendly, helpful, keen and knowledgeable, talking you through exactly what was on your plate and why the chef had pulled these particular ingredients together. The rhubarb and apple aperitif is a must and so are the pig cheeks. It's been a long time since I came across a place I'd recommend so strongly.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 21, 2011

I went to North Road with friends last week and we all agreed that the meal and whole experience was one of the best we had together in London.

Food was adventures, delicious, interesting flavours and combinations, very friendly staff and good value wine list. All in all a superb evening thanks to the staff at the restaurant, we are all returning soon. Thanks!
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John
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Went for lunch on a rainy tuesday. Sparsely populated room which is quite "cold" in terms of decor.

The cuisine is quite different from other restaurants, and very enamoured of bits and pieces. While we went once, this is not a style of cooking that we would feel attracted to repeat regularly.

As McCoy would have said on the original "Star Trek", ...."it may be food, Jim......but not as we know it"....
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A.Friedmann
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I have just been to North Road with a colleague of mine for lunch and felt the visit was worth a review.

We had a very warm welcome and were shown to our table. The restaurant was fairly empty given that it was the first week in the New Year so we had plenty of time to look around. Very beautiful décor, simple yet tasteful and comfortably spaced tables.

We started off with scallops with smoked bone marrow – simply delicious. This was followed by the Old Spot which has to be said was cooked to perfection, it fell of the bone, very tasty. No deserts but a shared plate of cheese, one portion is plenty for two people to share.

The wine list has a good range of regions and prices and service was very friendly, efficient and courteous.

Both my colleague and myself would be very happy to recommend North Road.
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Claudia
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, January 06, 2011

We were supporters of Fig, their first restaurant, but were not that impressed with this new venture. The veal was so tough I couldn't chew, so I had to give up feeling hungry. The fish and chicken skins were so greasy and salty. I had to go through a great length to make my booking, and they didn't show any sign of expecting me and my party. We went back there to give it another try: everything was so alarmingly smoky it was hardly edible, including our desserts. The ambiance is rather impersonal and pretentiously trendy.
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Tuan
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Thursday, December 30, 2010

Went there for lunch with a bunch of work colleagues, a bargain at £20 for three courses. The food was very good with some unusual ingredients, that worked.

Service was friendly and efficient, for a working lunch the delay between courses was a bit to long, but the restaurant has only been open a few weeks and they could have been compromised by the appalling weather. Similarly as not many in the restaurant, probably due to the snow, the atmosphere score is a bit low.

Plan to go back again for lunch and on evening to sample the a la carte
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Ermintrude
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Sunday, December 05, 2010

Visiting on Saturday, the overall impression was positive. The food is of a high standard and showed considerable creativity. The restaurant although only half full, felt vibrant and had a buzz to it. I suspect this place will really shine during the week, and leading up to Xmas; It's a beautiful space!

What worked? The food - Reminds me somewhat of Galvin La Chapelle, but rather than French, it's taken influences for a number of different places (given the chef, this isn't really a surprise..). The Vegetable starter was particularly good, and the Scallops which I had were good, but not quite perfect; slightly overcooked as they were. The mains were phenomenal. We had Dorset Brill and Lamb loin; both cooked to perfection, adequately seasoned, and a real delight. Also the wine was incredibly reasonable., and the overall bill was less than £120 for two, including aperitifs

What wasn't so great? To be honest, the service while friendly and effective was unpolished; but then I think that's reasonable given it's only been open a short time. I'm sure their Maitre D', Jasper will have the place ship-shape in no time at all.

I can't wait to go back and try the rest of the menu!
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Digitalgoldfish - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, November 29, 2010

I went up to London from Chichester to meet up with an old friend for lunch. She used to live in the area and she suggested the recently opened North Road Restaurant. It is so easy when one goes to London to end up in some bad tourist trap, and as the restaurant is conveniently located close to Farringdon Tube and Thameslink station, I was game and not disappointed!

Arriving at the restaurant, we were received by the hostess taking our coats. We then ordered a glass of sparkling wine in the bar and had a look at the restaurant.

From the bar there is a window to the kitchen that features equipment that looks state of the art to my catering wise untrained eye. One of the people there proudly told that the fridges are very small since everything bought in fresh every day.

Anyway we got seated in the restaurant and I will describe it as contemporary and bright, yet it has a warm and welcoming feeling to it. We then got the menu from which we both chose the set lunch menu and wine list and soon after a couple of nice bread rolls arrived.

For starters I choose a lobster consommé made from “lobster, the whole lobster and nothing but the whole lobster”, I think, and it was deep flavoured, wholesome and divine tasting. Just what one needed on a cold November day! My friend chose braised ox cheeks and I heard nothing but praise from her.

From the menu I chose Beef rolled in burnt hay (Not a printing error!) but the restaurant could not get beef of satisfying quality so I was told it would be venison instead. Added bonus for me and it was just so tender and the hay complemented the meat unexpectedly well. The dish was served with differently prepared beetroots. Again very tasty, but a few new potatoes, some sort of potato dish or perhaps a mash of root vegetables would have balanced the dish better in my opinion. The other side of the tables had Dorset Brill & stewed salsify to her absolute satisfaction. She actually told the waiter how perfectly cooked it was!

Talking about the waiters, I’m impressed because they manage to be there when needed. For example didn’t we need to pour our wine a single time or the plates were removed as soon as we finished, but not before. Also they were helpful and polite. I think we all have experienced the opposite more than once in London! Finally I will like to mention that the food came at ok intervals.

We both opted for bread and butter pudding for our last course. Tasty but to my taste it could have been a bit sweeter and perhaps a bit more but ok I’m a pudding person, I must confess.

As for wine we pushed the boat out and had a divine pinot noir wine. It matched the food very well, but it would have been better if it had been opened a little in advance, decanted or poured through one of these contraptions that give a bit of oxygen to the wine. Once it had opened up it was perfect.

To accompany the pudding we got a glass of Austrian??? Wine, that I can’t for the life of me remember the name of! Lovely though!

Value for money: Very good! For example the lunch menu as we had is 20 pound per person. Personally I have tried to pay more than the double for less in other places.

For me the North Road Restaurant is a young beauty with a few small beauty spots and I do hope they can make it a success! I will be back!
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Bo Schmidt
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 22, 2010

What a lovely surprise.... a really exciting menu. Ox-cheeks with pear. And mutton that never tasted so good. Great launch... which was a bargain 50% off. Result. Highly recommended.
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Brass Tacks
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 18, 2010