Neil Littman visits a newly-opened branch of Browns Bar & Brasserie in Southgate but finds plenty of room for improvement

Prawn cocktail at Browns (credit Neil Littman)

Browns Brasserie & Bar is one of the oldest brasserie chains in the country, having been established in Brighton in 1973 and now being owned by Mitchells & Butlers, with several sites mostly located in the south of England.

In April this year, Browns opened the doors of a new branch in Southgate Green, following its refurbishment of what was previously Ye Olde Cherry Tree pub. This 17^th Century former coaching inn, built around 1695, is a Grade 2-listed building and has been a well-established local landmark for many years, so I was interested to see how the transition had gone and what the dining experience was like.

I had not visited Ye Olde Cherry Tree previously, but realised when I entered the building (now via a back entrance from the garden), that it had been given a complete makeover in the Browns Brasserie trademark style, with wood floors with Art Deco fittings and furniture, plus a baby grand piano in the foyer which apparently gets played Sunday afternoons!

However, a makeover alone doesn’t make a restaurant and, based on two recent visits, I think they have some way to go in terms of achieving the same level of quality I have experienced at other Browns branches elsewhere.

My first visit was for a midweek dinner with my intrepid dining companion, and we ordered from their set menu (£24.45 for three courses) which was still available when we arrived at 7pm. For starters, we ordered the beetroot and apple tartare with croutons, pickled radish, and candied seeds and smoked salmon with capers, lemon and rye bread. It was fine apart from the salmon having a slightly chewy texture.

We both ordered the sea bass for our main course, which arrived artistically arranged on a bed of potato salad with some rocket on the side. The portion was not particularly big, but tasted perfectly okay. The desserts of apple crumble and chocolate mousse were good, although service was a bit rushed (arriving only five minutes after we ordered). With two glasses of Hilton Estate merlot, coffee and service, the bill came to £92 – a bit pricey, but possibly reflecting the cost of establishing a new restaurant.

A few weeks later, I paid a second visit with two friends on a Sunday evening to check out the a la carte menu. Our starters of ‘crab on toast’ (actually a slice of brioche with a large dollop of white crab meat) and Padron peppers were good, but the prawn cocktail was not particularly generous with an almost complete absence of cocktail sauce and only a few salad leaves.

Ordering the main courses was confusing, as several dishes had sold out and our server didn’t make it clear if they were available or not. Consequently, we ended up with our third choices of a burger, chicken schnitzel with salad plus a Caesar salad. Some of the dishes such as the burger (£18), which included a brioche bun toasted on both sides and ordinary fries, missed the mark. The schnitzel was heart-shaped, which was a nice touch, and was served with a fried egg on top. It was a bit greasy underneath but tasted good, while the salad was a bit light on the chicken.

A side order of truffle fries was nothing special, and an extra salad arrived after we finished the main courses. The trifle and ice cream dessert were fine. My impression was that we were not getting the best of the Browns experience and it seemed inconsistent.

The bill for three including a decent bottle of Pinot Grigio rosé came to £156, including service. Vegetarian options and children’s menu were available as well as breakfast and afternoon tea.

I contacted Browns before writing this review and they apologised for the various mishaps at the second meal and said they will make some improvements to avoid another hit-and-miss experience. Let’s hope it improves.

For more information about Browns Brasserie including opening times:
Visit browns-restaurants.co.uk

Do you have any suggestions for restaurants in Enfield to review or feedback on the places Neil has already reviewed? He would love to hear from Dispatch readers:
Email [email protected]

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