All within a ten minute walk of the station.
The 3 billion redevelopment of Kings Cross, just north of Central London, has been comprehensive and staggering. Once an area with a reputation for destitution, drugs, and homelessness, as well as being known as one of the city’s main red light districts, there has been a concerted effort to reinvigorate the area in recent years.
Some of London’s top architects were employed to transform 27 hectares of underused industrial wasteland to create a new area of London with it’s very own brand new postcode – N1C. As the Guardian writes “Of all the remarkable transformations in super gentrified London, that of Kings Cross is the most astonishing.” Its salubrious past has been well and truly left behind, make no mistake.
For better or for worse, these efforts have paid off. Gone is the edgy, rebellious spirit which defined King’s Cross – it was considered the epicentre of the “second Summer of Love” and boasted a huge rave scene and culture – and in its place, the HQs of Google, Louis Vuitton and Universal Music, as well as 145 new and distinctive canalside apartments and penthouses in gasholder flats.
As a major transportation hub, Kings Cross represents the link for Londoners heading to the north of the UK and also to Europe by train; from here you can travel the breadth of the country and across the channel to Belgium, France and the Netherlands from St Pancras International.
Not just home to the new offices of some of the world’s heavy hitters, the area of Kings Cross has become a shopping and eating destination in its own right. The Granary, built in 1851, is at its centre. Here, you’ll find fancy boutique shops in old coal sheds and an adjacent, attractive square.
Should you find yourself with a spare couple of hours in Kings Cross and you’re looking for a spot of lunch or dinner before you continue your onward journey, then rest assured, Kings Cross has some fantastic restaurants, all within walking distance of the railway station. Many of these emerged during the recent makeover, and can be found in the Granary Square and the new shopping and food friendly development, Coals Drop Yard.
Anyway, it’s time to eat! Here are the best restaurants near London King’s Cross.
Hoppers, Pancras Square (85 Metres)
The third iteration of the hugely popular Sri Lankan small plate restaurant arrived in Kings Cross’ Pancras Square in early 2020, not long before the global pandemic forced restaurant closures across the country. Fortunately, during the summer of last year, Hoppers Kings Cross had time to find its feast, honing its family-style, seafood lead menu in style.
Inspired by the much travelled Sri Lankan coastal road from Colombo to Galle, Hoppers Kings Cross deviates from the previous two outposts, in Soho and St. Christopher’s Place, by focusing more heavily on the sea. As a result, the blue swimmer crab kari and BBQ black pepper prawns are absolute must-orders.
Though we’re huge fans of the former two, this might be our favourite Hopper yet.
Website: hopperslondon.com
Address: Unit 3, 4 Pancras Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AG
Dishoom, Granary Square (100 Metres)
Dishoom Kings Cross is one of eight outposts of the cult Bombay street food restaurant found across the country, and you know what? True to form, it might just be the best breakfast you’ll find within walking distance of Kings Cross station. If you’re heading to the continent on the Eurostar with a morning to spare, then the restaurant’s famous bacon naan roll is essential to fill you up for your onward journey.
The all day menu will satisfy those with a little more time on their hands, too, with the restaurant group’s headline acts – black bean dahl, keema pau, and mattar paneer – all present and correct. On a hot day, we can’t resist Dishoom’s mango kulfi to finish; just delicious. Fortunately, when considering these all day feasting options, the restaurant boasts a massive central clock, ready to remind you that your train’s departure is fast approaching.
Website: www.dishoom.com
Address: 5 Stable St, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AB
Sons & Daughters, Coals Drop Yard (100 Metres)
On the edge of the foodie-focused Coals Drop Yard, which opened in October of 2018, is Sons and Daughters. The brainchild of James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy, who run the amazing Pidgin in Hackey, some have suggested that S+D do the best sandwiches in London.
In a slick, metal decked room which feels almost clinical – kinda what you want from your sandwich place, right? – you can sample a globetrotting array of bits between bread, including a fantastic Merguez sausage baguette, piquant from dry spice and pickles, or an egg salad sarnie, which uses premium Burford Brown eggs, and brings the funk with both miso mayo and truffle crisps. The latter eats as well as it reads; trust us.
True to sandwich shop form, you can add fries and a can of something fizzy to your sarnie order for a couple of extra quid. Now that’s a meal deal we’d be proud to be eating on our way to Paris.
Website: sonsanddaughterslondon.com
Address: Unit 119a Coal Drops Yard, London N1C 4DQ
Cafe Bao (100 Metres)
From BAO’s ever expanding stable of accessible, visually arresting Taiwanese street food restaurants comes Cafe BAO, a slightly different (but no less delicious) proposition to its predecessors in Soho and Fitzrovia. This new outpost channels the aesthetic and food of Taipei’s ‘Western-style’ cafes – expect to see those familiar pillowy buns alongside playful takes on Chicken Kiev (XO sauce spills out of the centre) and a ham hock and puff pastry pie, here filled with a particularly luscious congee.
The decor seems to echo a similar first-class-waiting-room spirit to that of the sadly now defunct XU from the same team, which is appropriate for the setting so close to Kings Cross Station. What a restaurant that was, by the way.
Here, the vibe is indulgent but easy going, and just a little bit naughty, too; the aged beef over rice is topped with not just a luxurious cheese sauce but also an egg yolk which oozes all over the sizzling cast iron plate when punctured. Superfluous? Perhaps. Delicious? Most definitely. The best restaurant near London King’s Cross? Quite possibly.
Cocktails possess the same ‘go big or go home’ energy with the Melon Floatini milky sweet and a vibrant green, but packing a punch with both Midori and Toki whiskey to remind you it’s a cocktail, not a desert.
And the icing on the cake (or should that be glaze on the bun?)…Cafe BAO is open for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays. Their dedicated breakfast menu features a breakfast bao bun of sausage and hash brown, as well as a set egg custard with seasonal fruit, for those who prefer their day to start sweetly. Bravo!
Website: baolondon.com
Address: Unit 2, 4 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG
La Chingada Euston (700 metres)
We’ve already written about our obsession with the original La Chingada over in Surrey Quays in our roundup of our favourite Mexican places in London.
Rejoice, then, as there’s now a second branch of this awesome no-frills Taqueria just a few minute’s walk from Kings Cross Station. Here, owner Walter Optiz is doing pretty much the same thing as at his inaugural joint south of the river, right down to the Sunday free-for-all, when several specials – often family favourites and lesser known Mexican dishes – get served.
On any other day of the week, and though the tacos el pastor is the headlining dish and one that’s ordered by pretty much everyone here, we’re even more enamoured with the taco de suadero, which sees beef brisket slow cooked in its own fat until melting adorning a doubled-up, gossamer thin and homemade corn tortilla. It’s a fatty, insanely flavoursome bite (or two) and one which will inevitably end up ruining your favourite T-shirt. Once you’re covered in beef fat and salsa roja, there’s no going back, so you might as well order another round!
Website: lachingada.co.uk
Address: 160 Eversholt St, London NW1 1BL
Fatto a Mano (150 metres)
Purveyors of some of Brighton and Hove’s very best pizza, Fatto a Mano has since expanded into the Big Smoke, with pizzerias now slinging the good stuff in Covent Garden and Kings Cross.
These are fine, faithful Neapolitan pizzas make no mistake, spending only a minute or two in the restaurant’s huge central wood-fired pizza oven, and retaining an integrity of refined, elegant toppings as a result. Nope, you won’t see any caramelised cheese here; the buffalo mozzarella on the margherita buffalo is as fresh and milky as it comes, and the marinara sauce simmered gently rather than reduced to a metallic rust. All of this leads to a wonderfully fresh and digestible pizza that we can’t get enough of (we’ve even been known to order a second!).
Now that the weather’s warming up, there’s terrace seating for those who enjoy their pizza in the sunshine, ideally with a crisp Fatto Amici pale ale, brewed in Brighton especially for the restaurant group. The beer element of the pizzeria is a major draw, with 8 locally brewed drops on the menu and the tagline that ‘beer’s a perfect accompaniment to Neapolitan pizza’ undeniable.
Website: fattoamanopizza.com
Address: Unit 1, 3 Pancras Sq, London N1C 4AG
Roti King (600 metres)
One of London’s most beloved restaurants, exemplified by the huge queue snaking around the corner into Eversholt Street pretty much anytime of day, any day of the week, Roti King enters its second decade on a new wave of popularity. Now with two more sites in Battersea and Waterloo (as well as a sister restaurant, Gopal’s Corner, in both Victoria and Canary Wharf), it’s at the original in Euston that the very best roti slapping and kari mopping goes down.
Roti King’s menu is a celebration of Malaysian roti canai culture, which sees flaky, crisp roti served with a small bowl of kari (here, it’s chicken, lamb, fish or dahl) for dipping and dredging. There’s also several other fantastic dishes on the menu with the nasi lemak here particularly good, given lift-off by a punchy, funky sambal that throbs with the undulating heat of pounded chillies and the depth of shrimp paste. The seafood laska, with a strong chilli and shrimp kick, is one of the best noodle soups in London.
All that said, the roti itself really is the star of the show here, with chef and founder Sugen Gopal’s upbringing in Ipoh breathing tradition and technique into every layer of the gorgeously laminated bread. Be warned; you will have to queue and you won’t have much elbow room once inside, but the wait will be worth it.
Website: rotiking.com
Address: Euston House, 40 Doric Way, London NW1 1LH
Dim Sum & Duck (200 metres)
Another walk-in only Kings Cross restaurant with a cult following that’s richly deserved is Dim Sum & Duck. The clue’s in the name here; this pint-sized powerhouse specialises in Cantonese cuisine and, more specifically, dim sum. And duck…
Picture this: a Wednesday evening, the sun casting tangerine and lilac hues down King’s Cross Road, and you, seated outside this tiny BYOB Cantonese restaurant, about to indulge in some of the finest dim sum in town.
What a glorious place to be indeed, but do have a little further patience, as the xiao long bao – a must order – are almost guaranteed to burn the mucous membrane right out of your mouth if you tuck in too quickly, the famous soup dumpling’s liquid interior hotter than lava unless you let it cool. Good things come to those who wait though, and these are as good as any you’ll find in London, including those world famous ones over at Din Tai Fung.
On to the second part of the eponymous menu, and the roast duck arrives already shredded, but pleasingly crisp and lacquered in an aromatic copper-coloured glaze. House pancakes are just the right thickness for wrapping. Don’t stop there, as the menu is pretty expansive and features some fine stir-fry dishes, too.
Yep, this is food that seriously touches the heart, and though the queue is even more impenetrable than Roti King, this is some of the very best Cantonese food in town, and well worth the wait.
Instagram: dimsumandduck
Address: 124 King’s Cross Rd, London WC1X 9DS
Casa & Plaza Pastor, Coals Drop Yard (200 Metres)
The ‘big sister’ restaurant to Bought Market’s El Pastor, Casa & Plaza Pastor repeats the winning formula of its sibling, serving up tortillas made daily for a range of tacos, quesadillas and tostadas, freshly made guacamole and salsas, slow cooked meat and plenty of mezcal.
Part of the hugely successful restaurant group run by Sam and Eddie Hart (there’s a branch of their celebrated tapas bar Barrafina within the Coals Drop Yard complex, too), the vibe here is as boisterous and convivial as ever, with a large alfresco area (the plaza) perfect for summer get togethers with a large group of amigos. The highlight here has got to be the beef short rib sharer, which comes with pickled red onion, salsa and an optional extra of roasted bone marrow. Bring a friend, roll your sleeves up, and a good time is guaranteed.
Website: coaldropsyard.com
Address: Coal Drops Yard, London N1C 4DQ
