What’s it like? Opened last year, the restaurant takes its name from the Victorian architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott who designed the Midland Grand Hotel, now the St Pancras Renaissance (for a recent review of the hotel click here). Occupying the original entrance hall and coffee room and redesigned by the David Collins Studio, this restaurant by Marcus Wearing (best known, perhaps, for Petrus) is luxurious in an approachable way.
The ceiling is as distant as a ceiling can be without being the sky or mountains or the roof of a circus tent. Impossibly tall windows look out onto the curving cobbled sweep of the long drive up to the front of the red brick Victorian frontage, and the arc-shaped interior of 120 seats wisely doesn’t try and compete, though it is a place of booths and tables, a little like the Wolsely, with a parquet floor, and some giant oil paintings which you only really notice as you leave.
I entered the room from the corridor from hotel reception, but there’s a street entrance which brings you into the bar and then up a few steps into the restaurant. We were seated at a corner booth. The tables are decently spaced out, and there was a mix of suits and tourists in for a special lunch, as well as a couple of larger groups. The noise level never grew distracting, but nor is this a place of hushed knife and fork against plate.
The food and service You can view the menu here. I was told it doesn’t change much, but then, there’s plenty of choice there. The menu “draws inspiration from the pioneering and skilled cooks of old time England, such as Francis White, Isabelle Beeton, Agnes Marshall and John Nott” none of whom I’ve heard of (OK, I’ve heard of Mrs Beeton).
Since it was lunchtime I avoided meat, went for fish, and didn’t regret it. A starter of Dorset crab, pomelo, fennel, chilli and coriander was delicious, light and a perfect introduction to the menu. The wine list here was too much to absorb at lunch, but we had a glass of chenin blanc from Touraine (£6) recommended by the waiter once we had chosen our dishes.
Service throughout was excellent, by young, polite staff wearing very traditional clothing – white shirts and braces seemed to be the theme. It was a sunny day when we visited, and the light made the room warm and dominated by the blue sky outside the window.
My impression was that local office workers are visiting the restaurant one year after its opening, which is a good sign, and I like the fact that Marcus Wareing isn’t branded all over the place – in fact, he's absent not just in person, as you’d expect, but in name as well. I’m sure he is a guiding spirit, but in his absence I have to say I don’t know who the chef is, but the cooking is good. Isn’t that a return to the way things ought to be?
As well as the a la carte menu there is the St Pancras Express menu available 1200-1300, 1730-1830 and 2200-2300. This is £22 for two courses and £27 for three, which is very good value, and an option above the normal snack you might grab on the way to the theatre or on the way home after a night out, particularly in Kings Cross.
Private dining there is a chef’s table for ten guests in the basement kitchen, with chairs gathered around a semi circle – very immediate.
Verdict really worth visiting, and much better than I was expecting after the publicity of being some kind of homage to British cooking from past days. You can’t get much more traditional than John Dory and Mrs Beeton’s Snow Egg, but both were really delicious, and the restaurant is good for both relaxing and a business meeting.
Contact The Gilbert Scott, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Road, London, NW1 2AR; thegilbertscott.co.uk
Tom Otley
