St Pancras Grand Brasserie

I had dinner at St Pancras Grand and I had a lovely time there. The food and atmosphere was great and I would definatley return here again.

We visited this prior to a trip to France. The service was awful- we had to ask three times for our wine and water order. There was old chewing gum stuck under the table. The chicken caesar salad came as two lumps of chicken thrown on top of some lettuce. A side order of broad beans was asked for, a side order of peas came. All in all a place to avoid.

Not as good as it was hyped up to be in the various mag reviews I read, but my one time there was an enjoyable experience and I would definitely go back. I love the decor, which makes for a very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, even if it is a little too ‘planned out’ if you get me. The staff were friendly and relatively efficient, but the service was not as fast as I expected, although this is forgivable given that I did choose to go at an extremely busy time.

All in all I would say it's a fitting enough restaurant for a beautiful station.

This review has a happy ending: (1) Unhappy Start: My wife was invited to go to this restaurant at opening, and she enjoyed the evening and suggested we return with friends on an unbelievably cold night which lent the whole station an air of unreality – stark and shiverringly cold. The actual room and decor are incredibly swish, can't be faulted in the French smart brasserie style… seems belle epoque (though it isn't). That evening, the lady serving us seemed utterly unconcerned as to whether we ate or not, liked the place or not or, in fact anything else. Even after we pointed out we had not been offered bread – she offered us no bread ! When the wine was off – which is not the fault of anyone – she replaced it unquestioningly, but also utterly without any committment or engagement. The lack of care and service, which I associate with hands-off ownership of chains, spoiled our evening. What a shame as the food was not bad ! (2) WE WROTE TO THE MANAGEMENT and guess what, they reacted really positively, no defensiveness, and asked us to go back and give them the chance to show us what we should have seen first time around. Although it was mid-week there was an unobstrusive but very competent jazz band – added atmosphere. Service, knowledgable, caring but not obsequious. Food, hot, well prepared, pleasing rather than thrilling, portion control in evidence but not so as to be irritating. Decent wine list, though few “good value” bottles. The weekly and 1847 menus look good and we will be returning soon to try one of those two menus out. The 1847 menu could be a real find and, by its responsiveness to our measured complaint, the management has secured at least two return visits from what otherwise would have been two disgruntled diners.

The rave food reviews promised a culinary treat but we were fairly disappointed. The food was well executed but just seemed to miss the mark. My starter of roasted beetroot, goats cheese and tarragon mayo was over chilled suggesting it had been plated and kept in the fridge for too long. My companions opted for the crab soup which was just short of bland. The fish pie that followed was ‘ ok,’ and my smoked haddock with poached egg was good but nothing special. We would not go back unless we had some time to kill before boarding a train. On a more optimistic note the restaurant looks good and would be a glamorous place to meet for a drink.

Having read all the rave reviews, we thought the Grand would be a good choice for a pre Christmas Sunday lunch celebration. There was some confusion regarding our booking and we were led to several tables which were hurriedly pulled together for the six of us. The restaurant itself is beautiful but the high ceilings and open areas do encourage sound to travel and it was remarkably noisy, especially as it was not full. The menu is straightforward and offers a variety of traditional, British food. Half the group opted for the set Sunday menu but failed to make it to dessert thanks to the ample portions. Highlights from the main courses included the battered fish (interestingly accompanied by shoestring fries rather than chips) and the bubble and squeak, both of which were simple and yet elegantly done. For dessert, the custard tart came very highly rated! Service was fine; perfectly polite but could have been a little more attentive. We can only assume it has been more on form in the evenings. We were in no rush and it was nice to take our time over the meal but the food was slow to appear. All in all, we enjoyed the meal but feel that the surroundings made the meal for us, rather than the food.

This was a rare pleasure.

We stopped for a quick meal at 6.30pm before our train, not really knowing what to expect. As it turned out it could not have been better.

Everything about the restaurant is done perfectly. Along with the rest of St Pancras, the interior is beautifully crafted, drawing on the grand days of rail travel, but still felt contemporary. The service was attentive without being prying or condescending. The staff were swift to take our order, but we never felt rushed. It was relaxed but classy, and the meal was impecible (better than many places double the price). We began with warm flutes of bread with creamy butter (we ate all of these and were give more… and then more again without even having to ask) with (unusal but delicious) wine by the glass. The food superb and excellent value. I had bubble and squeak, full of flavour, moreish and baked crispy, with a melting poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

There was of course the ubiquitous 12.5% service charge but on this occasion, I was for once, almost tempted to make it more. Really wonderful.