Good resto in N. London, slightly iffy service

Located on a residential road in North London, Primeur is a ‘neighbourhood restaurant’ housed in a converted garage. When the weather is good they usually open up the whole front, so try and see if you can get seated in the front half of the restaurant to catch some rays whilst you dine.

Primeur bills itself as offering honest cooking with low intervention wines. I first came across the restaurant when a friend of mine took me here for dessert one evening but they were fully booked that night, so we ended up sitting in the basement drinking a glass of wine and having the dessert there. It feels a little bit dungeon like downstairs, albeit a nice dungeon (I believe there is a private dining area round the corner in the basement but we couldn’t see it from where we were sat).

Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim, formerly at Bisthrotheque was front of house that evening and attended to my friend and I – to be honest at first he didn’t seem particularly welcoming or accommodating and when I called him up on this he appeared a bit taken aback, so I think it’s just his manner and I decided not to take offense. Onwards with the food – my friend and I went with a chocolate based pudding which whetted my tastebuds and made me keen to try out a full meal here.

So, I returned one warm evening with another friend and got seated near the front of the restaurant, so had a sort of alfresco dining experience which was great. It’s not a huge space and they’ve addressed this by making the tables communal. A bar wraps around the centrally positioned kitchen, where one can also dine. The decor is modern with a low key luxury feel to it – love the mustard dining chairs and yellow accents throughout the restaurant as well as the fresh flowers.

There is no menu for the table, all the dishes are scribbled on the black board in the far corner towards the back of the restaurant. On the evening we went, I ordered the grilled lobster with garlic butter and potatoes which was a good solid dish.

The service was professional and knowledgeable but at times they did seem a little inflexible – for example they stick quite rigidly to their 2hrs time slot.

All in all, the food tastes good, it’s a cool sophisticated setting but it’s not as casual as one would expect.

Cuisine: Modern European

Average cost incl. a boozy bevvy: c.£36-45 [£££]

Address: Barnes Motors, 116 Petherton Road, London, N5 2RT

Tube: Canonbury (8 mins walk)

Reservations: Yes

Hours: Closed Mondays. Tue-Thur 17:00 – 22:30 Fri-Sat 12:00 – 22:30 Sun 12:00 – 17:00

Phone: +44 (0)207 226 5271

www.primeurn5.co.uk 

LAST VISITED SEPTEMBER 2015

Restaurant image from harpersbazaar.co.uk