St Pancras Grand

Had the Champagne breakfast here with a few mates before a weekend in Paris.

The breakfast was fine, about 50g of smoked salmon topped with some scrambled eggs and served with some buttered toast. Coffee and a glass of fizz are included for £19.50 a head, not bad value, but on the buy one get one free offer it was very good value.

Service was fine, although our table had no napkins and we were not offered any.

The room looked nice but with only one other table taken it lacked any sort of buzz.

Overall would return if I was catching a train but would not travel across London to eat here in the evening.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 28, 2010

I couldn't disagree more with the review below. Friday 27th was my fifth visit to what I consider one of the most attractive restaurants in London. I have always found the staff to be welcoming and attentive. The restaurant itself is a brilliant reworking of the french brasserie concept and certainly not at all pretentious. As for value - £25 for an excellent 3 course menu is wonderful value for money. I am already looking forward to my next visit.
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P. Renault - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Poor value for money - a pretentious, expensive, supposed restaurant (but more like a cafeteria the way they cram you in) more like a pub selling average over priced food, we wont go back.

Service - slow. They were full but there should either have been more staff, or more attentive - we had to ask for wine more than twice. The ladies' loo had six toilets, only 3 of which were working and the one I had to use needed a good tidy up. I should have complained then, but we had such an ordeal paying our over charged bill I just wanted to get out of the place.

Seating - we were a party of six. We were seated at a table on the back wall. Tightly. The three people sat on the wall side could n't get out for the toilet unless we bothered the tables either side of us and tables had to be shifted. Very unsatisfactory.

Food - Uninterestingly presented. The seafood platter had quite tasteless fish - although the oysters were good apparently. My husband's salmon - expensive and very plain. At least THAT came with a desert spoon of spinach and 2 small new pototoes. Our friend chose the set menu with plaice as the main course - tasty he said, but on vegetables whatever. Shame the waiter hadn't warned him. the famous London Shepherd's pie - lacked meat substance. All very, very disappointing.

We left feeling hungry and ripped off.
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Jo Vooght
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 28, 2009

A small epiphany struck me and steered me towards this place, having rejected other restaurants (my favourite Italian in Holborn even suffered for last night's outing). We started with drinks at the champagne bar (yes, it's piddly small, but the seating is fab and comes with heaters) and somehow blagged the first two glasses free (ssh!). The fellow behind the bar recommended suitable champagnes for each of us and he wasn't wrong.

We then crossed over to the restaurant and took our booked table. They were expecting to seat us inside, but when we chose outside, they didn't bat an eyelid, it was no problem at all. Service was attentive and prompt without being pushy or intrusive. When they forgot a spoon for my partner's soup, they appeared with it in seconds and apologised profusely, even though we really weren't that troubled! Their special offer was recommended to us, and for £15 a head, we got two out of three courses from the set menu AND a bottle of Prosecco, which really isn't bad for central London.

I had a piece of mackerel with watercress and beetroot to start, which was spot on, nothing like supermarket fish. My partner had a pumpkin soup that was irresistibly smooth and perfectly seasoned. We then followed it up with a steak & oyster pie, which had a very large (but light) pastry crown and not as much filling as one might expect (although it was delicious). My guest had grilled skate (which was done to perfection) with baby shrimp & spinach. I asked for some mash with mine, which arrived hot and on a hot plate, but did go cold very quickly... perhaps the heat lamp effect, perhaps just being outside. Water & wine were topped up at opportune moments, but not too soon. Whilst we had opted for just two courses, we were offered the dessert menu, but chose not to... the list from the set menu wasn't that extensive.

Whilst I'm a big fan (and very respectful) of MO'L's reviews in the Metro, I think our experience turned out rather well and I will be going back for more! The only points I've marked down are the atmosphere (outside is noisy when the Eurostar fires up or the tannoy goes off, but we did choose it; inside struck me as a bit... snooty, for want of a better word. I got some funny looks from the clientele just when I went to the bathroom. Hardly the restaurant's fault, I know.)
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Jon Delaunt
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 22, 2009

This is the second time I have been to St Pancras Grand, both times with French friends; and both times the reaction has been "This is English charcuterie? These are English cheeses?". At last a restaurant to rival the great Parisian brasseries, fantastic decor, friendly attentive service and an excellent value for moneyset menu. I can't wait to go back again.
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Bill W9
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 03, 2009