St Pancras Express Menu at The Gilbert Scott
Dining at Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott at the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a grand affair. Discover what happened when Great British Chefs guest blogger Chris Osburn, tried the new St Pancras Express Menu. Could a meal in such a grand setting be a quick and inexpensive one as well?
St Pancras Express Menu at The Gilbert Scott
Dining at Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott at the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a grand affair. Discover what happened when Great British Chefs guest blogger Chris Osburn, tried the new St Pancras Express Menu. Could a meal in such a grand setting be a quick and inexpensive one as well?
Dining at Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott at the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a grand affair. Discover what happened when Great British Chefs guest blogger Chris Osburn, tried the new St Pancras Express Menu. Could a meal in such a grand setting be a quick and inexpensive one as well?
At £23 for two courses or £27 for three, the restaurant’s Express Menu is indeed a bargain of a way to check out what one of London’s most celebrated chefs reckons a British brasserie and bar should be (Wareing’s resto at The Berkeley Hotel has two Michelin stars and is home to some of the hardest tables to book in town – especially come this time of year). It should be elegant, apparently, but not too terribly formal with convenience and style providing a polite backdrop to enjoying a fine dining experience in a gorgeous and historical space.
Set within the old Midland Grand Hotel with high ceilings, limestone pillars and ornate ceiling details, large and gilded-framed oil paintings to ponder, The Gilbert Scott (named after the building’s architect) presents a wonderful atmosphere for celebrating British food made with British ingredients.
With the Express Menu, convenience is brought a little more to the fore and thankfully without compromising any elegance or style. And I’m happy to report they don’t skimp on any flavour either. The menu changes throughout the week and seasonally. Here’s a appropriately late autumn taste of what was on offer during my recent visit.
Starters to choose from were Lincolnshire haslet with pickle and toast or mulligatawny with shellfish and curry spice. Mains were beef faggotts with onion gravy and clapshot or fillet of pollock in fish soup – with the mains accompanied by seasonal vegetables (baby potatoes and kale in this case).
Desserts were gingerbread and pear ice cream or Eton mess. I went with the haslet, the pollock and the gingerbread pud but gladly got to sample the other above mentioned dishes too. Everything was delicious and well worth the price of the meal. A glass of off-dry Reisling (£6) kept crisp pace with my starter and main.
The haslet was country charm refined, while the mulligatawny comforted ever so gently with a subtle kick of heat seemingly designed perfectly for the dreary afternoon beyond the Scott’s grandeur. The beef had a “yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted” savoury effect. And the pollock reminded us that a good fish cooked simply and without fuss is a thing of delectable beauty. As for my ice cream, it refreshed and wowed in equal parts.
Service was friendly and efficient minus any haughtiness or cloying affect. Whether you’re staying at the Renaissance or not, hopping on or off the Eurostar or not … in a hurry … or on a budget … or not … The Gilbert Scott offers a brilliant excuse to get to St Pancras a little early or even leave it a little later than you might have otherwise. And the Express Menu if a great route to take to discover the delights of this beauty of a brasserie.
The St Pancras Express Menu at The Gilbert Scott is available Monday to Saturday from 12pm-1pm, 5.30pm-6.30pm and 10pm-11pm. The Gilbert Scott is located at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Road, London, NW1 2AR. Booking ahead certainly isn’t a bad idea.
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