Roni's was open on a Monday lunchtime when we had a family foursome, so this restaurant benefitted from our custom and we benefitted from their fine food.
Chicken Soup
Soup Starter
We started with chicken soup which contained generous amounts of chicken and noodles an vegetables, plus a piece of toasted sourdough bread. Our chicken soup was a snack or meal in itself.
The spinach soup was smaller and less filling, but quicker to eat, and cheaper.
Our waitress asked if we wanted our main courses served with the soup. Definitely not. We were there to chat. We did not want to rush our meal. Nor let the main course go cold whilst we ate the soup. What's the hurry? The restaurant did not have people waiting for our table. I imagine that some people on a lunch break from work want to eat the starter and main course together.
Main Course
For the main course, I had salt beef on rye bread. It looked large.
What does Roni's do well? The Roni's restaurant's rye bread is cut thick, doorstep is what we used to call thick slices.
(But B & K in Hatch End has the best, rye bread, cut thinner, but stronger seed flavour and crunchiness.)
Service
It is easy to identify who is serving customers or waiting at tables because they wear t-shirts with the restaurant name.
We were glad to find this place open on a Monday lunchtime when two other places we tried were closed. And a relative of ours who lives locally was already there working on his laptop! The take away area is huge. The chairs looked uncomfortable but when I was sitting in them wrapped in winter woollies I was quite comfortable.
The toilet is conveniently ground floor. (Unlike Tetra over the road which has a steep staircase to the basement.) Black decor was discouraging. How do you know if the place is clean? But I liked the pomegranate washing gel.
Drink Juice
Roni's fruit juice, recommended. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
The freshly squeezed fruit was delicious. We had asked for tap water, which did not appear, so I was thirsty and gulped down the first half of my delicious drink instead of sipping and savouring it which was a pity.
Buy and Take Away
I looked at the take away area to see what I was missing. We bought smoked salmon. The chollah rolls the size of large bagels looked interesting. I fancied the cheesecake. Maybe next time.
Service
Service was willing but speed a bit erratic. One meal did not arrive. Good thing the rest of us did not wait. The diner had ordered a variation (non spicy?) and after a long wait we called over the server. She explained that the kitchen has mistakenly cooked it without the variation so they had to re-cook it. If that explanation had come earlier, with a time estimate, we would have known whether to share food with the person who was waiting.
Toilet
Let's start with something good. The toilet is conveniently on the ground floor, unlike so many places (such as Teta's opposite) which have toilets reached by a steep flight of stairs. Here at Roni's you have only one cubicle, but a second person can wait in the washbasin area.
The decor is black. I hate black in toilets, or walls anywhere. I wonder whether it is clean. White would be light and bright.
The washbasin and waiting area outside means two doors. This fulfils the Victorian era rule, which might still apply, that you must have two doors between a toilet and a kitchen/dining room. This is to stop flies zooming from one to the other.
Let's finish on a happy note. I liked the pomegranate hand wash gel.
Dessert?
We were too full for dessert. Alas. I had had my eye on the cheesecake.
Coffee
One of the coffees had a pattern on the top. That shows care.
I had a small coffee with cold milk on the side. They got that right. (A lot of coffee places give you hot milk when you ask for cold.) I would have liked, and expected, a teeny biscuit with the coffee. Something to sweeten the customer before presenting the bill.Maybe a tiny dice size mouthful of a cake to tempt somebody to order a whole one for dessert at this meal or on a return visit or as an extra take away.
Purchases
We bought smoked salmon to take home. Our relatives recommended it.
Other Branches
Before we left I asked about the restaurant. It was named after the owner, Roni. They have other branches with the same name in Brent Cross and Swains Lane, separately run by other member's of Roni's family.
Getting there
From Belsize Park, take the turning near the Cinema and walk downhill towards Finchley Road and you will come to the village which is a quaint triangle with trees and planters and flagstones. Old houses and shops have sash windows and some are brightly painted. A quiet corner of London, both lunch time and evening, very little traffic.
My family ordered shashluka and seemed happy enough with the food.
Belsize Village. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
Would I go back? Yes.
Useful websites
https://www.ronisonline.co.uk/
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