Season Kitchen and Dining Room

tosscat · September 2010

Opening on Thursday where Los Guaduales used to be. Chap seemed a bit grumpy, but I think we interrupted their prep.

Ian · September 2010

Their name sign is in the same colour as the background and so is unreadable to colourblind folk like me. So I shall forever call it "blank". As we went past today they were drying cutlery ... No menu in the window though, which I would expect to be tantalising me already.

Jamber · September 2010

Went by last night and it looks a bit posh! Am intrigued now as to the type of food ... anybody got anymore clues - tried to see if there is a website but nothing obvious coming up.

Arkady · September 2010

I'm probably going on opening night, I'll put up a review.

bennyfromtheblok · September 2010

They must be doing a soft launch at the moment as it was packed on Sat night when I walked by and everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves.

tosscat · September 2010

They have a menu in the window now - I took a picture to post, but I'll have to do it later. It gives a big nod to St John (Smithfields, not Archway). Starters £4 and mains between £10 and £12. The menu is quite gastropub, but obviously there's a big difference.

Arkady · September 2010

The menu does look exciting. I think it said it's opening on Friday now?

miss annie · September 2010

Sounds marvellous. I'm a big fan of St John, I'll make a detour to have a look at the menu tonight.

Papa · September 2010

Sounds intriguing. Will check out the menu later. I'd say the arrival of this, doing up of La Porchetta, the protracted doing up of the Stapleton Tavern/Larrik and the arrival of Sainsbury's (albeit with controversial loss of independent shop), is a good thing for Stroud Green Road. They all show people are willing to invest money in the area and that can only be good news.

ADGS · September 2010

Not if all that money results in uglier, noisier premises like the new look Porchetta. The last thing any part of London bar the very scummiest needs is more gentrification forcing out local people and businesses in favour of more bankers and banker-friendly Hellholes.

lizbet · September 2010

@ADGS I totally agree with you, bankers are renowned for being obsessed with Sainsbury's, and La Porchetta will have them flooding in in their droves.

Arkady · September 2010

I didn't see Porchetta before so I can't comment. But 'gentrification' often seems to largely mean 'make aesthetically pleasing', and I'm all for that.

Ian · September 2010

Here's a menu - I also took a pic. If anyone can explain to me how I get it so you can see all the width without the pic becoming iddy biddy I would be grateful (it's on Photobucket) . It's my first Markdown photo embed (ahhhh) ![menu](http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy204/mian2000/menu.jpg)

krappyrubsnif · September 2010

This looks like an attempt to be seriously upmarket?

tosscat · September 2010

Statement or question krs?

krappyrubsnif · September 2010

Well it has a qestion mark at the end. But if I was saying it, the intonation would be subtle. Like this perhaps: This looks like an attempt to be seriously upmarket ¿

poxy · September 2010

@Ian: You can't break the image out of the width of the central column. So, it's a case of part of the image to the full width of the column or iddy biddyness.

<a href="http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy204/mian2000/menu.jpg" target="qwerty" alt="Click me!" title="Click me!"><img src="http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy204/mian2000/menu.jpg"/></a>

Ian · September 2010

@Poxy - I tried to resize so that it fit the column width snuggly but it seemed very either as it is or tiny. Basically however sensitive I made the change to the ratios I couldn't get the width to fit the column. With text it also wasn't great to do it in a way that maintained length but changed the width, not that that worked either. However I resized it it either fit the column and had half the menu or became very very small. Grrr. Anyway - you all get the idea. It is a menu that I know from watching my Ramsey he would approve of, with only a few things on it that if fresh and done well is the right thing to do. It looks like it is highish end kind of vibe, although I think pretty reasonably priced. Inside there are not many covers but nice atmosphere so it should look good with only a small number of diners (i.e. not the Dudley's problem). I wish it well.

Papa · September 2010

ADGS, I like new La Porchetta. I loved the old one too and its jaded look was okay for a while. But when after more than two years you haven't plastered over the breeze blocks in the two old doorways to what was the back room, the plaster is falling off the walls in chunks, the paint is cracking and the place just looks sad, there comes a time to redecorate. Most people don't like paying to go out to dinner in a place that is falling apart. (Personally, I can put up with it for quite a long time but then I start to get annoyed at a lack of respect for your customers.) Granted, they could lose the TVs and the refurb is a bit identikit restaurant. But the TVs are generally off when I've been in and it will grow into its decor. Once upon a time that orange paint probably looked a bit too new and refurby too. Also, Sainsbury's aside, these are all independent businesses with a local focus. We're not talking Costa and McDonalds here.

ADGS · September 2010

I preferred cracked plaster to those accursed plasma screens. In fact, I'd probably prefer a restaurant with no walls at all to one with plasma screens. Yes, they do tend to be off now - but simply the risk that they might be on or worse, might come on once you've started, puts me off going there. I'd been there before and after the previous refurb, and had no strong opinions either way - it's not like I fear all change. I just think this one was emphatically for the worse.

Papa · September 2010

Point taken, I'd emphatically prefer no TVs, but I've opted to ignore them, choose my seat with care - ie one I can't have my eyes drawn to them from, and not let them ruin my enjoyment of La Porchetta. Aside from the TVs I quite like the decor, but I miss the pigs. My preferred look would be to have done it up in classic early 1980s pizzeria garb, green and red etc. Anyone ever go to the old Pizza House on Goodge Street? It would look like I remember that looking - albeit I was a child and it may actually have looked nothing like I remember it.

miss annie · September 2010

Do you mean the Spaghetti House? It's still there and it's still exactly the same.

Ali · September 2010

It does the best Pizzas in the street . They seem to have problems retaining waiting staff due to pay levels so I have had fun trying to get what I have odered turn up correctly. Just like the olden days when it opened although when they got it wrong then we used to get free wine. I will sucessfully get my saute fungi with the steak one day althought I have had three atempts and had a mushroom pizza turn up ! But the saute potaoes with rosemary are to die for. I am sure they will be rammed to the rafters soon.

ADGS · September 2010

Is that the stupidly-cheap-for-the-centre one on a corner, done up more like a caff than a restaurant? I only ever get taken there by my girlfriend so can't actually recall its name/exact location myself.

Papa · September 2010

Not the Spaghetti House. The Pizza House was an odd outlier related to the Spaghetti House chain but completely different, much better and shut maybe in the early 1990s. It was on the other side of Goodge Street, I'm pretty sure it's where the posh tapas place Salt Yard is now.

Ali · September 2010

Does anyone remember the Golden Egg on the corner of Goodge St and TCR

Churros · September 2010

Just eaten at Season. Limited menu choice but what there is tastes great. Scotch quail eggs with a home made piccalili were delicious. My partner's bone marrow wouldn't have been my choice but she said it was much better than a similar dish she had in Paris.

A fantastic large pork chop (from posh butchers Godfreys) with mash to follow for me was char grilled with a nice caramelised flavour. Across the table the fish pie with pak choi looked like a dessert, with the sauce served like a savoury custard, but it ate very well. The side portion of courgettes was delicious, though rather small.

The bottle of tempranillo was smooth and frankly better than expected.

Nice ambiance and the comment that the "chap seemed a bit grumpy" seems at odds with his friendly and chatty manner.

SIxty quid for two including a tip and a pudding. We'll be back. Recommended.

ShaunG · September 2010

Great stuff Churros, looking forward to trying it out. How full was it?

WillM · September 2010

fantastic smell of grilled steak coming out of season last night - can't wait to go there.

James · September 2010

I also went last night (booked a table by shouting through the door). Food was very nice. Portions slightly on the small side but meant that we had room for desert. Owner seemed very friendly. When I left about 8.30 he was saying he'd had 15 covers through that night. I don't know why but it somehow reminds of the front room when it started up - hope it has the same impact on the surrounding shops.

Mirandola · September 2010

What impact did Front Room have on surrounding shops?

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