[London] Lunch at the ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—š๐˜†๐—บ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜‚๐—บ, King's Cross

I donโ€™t know why it took us so long to discover this place - German Gymnasium (facing St Pancras and Kingโ€™s Cross stations) is an utterly beautiful restaurant: bright, airy and super-chic. It has an enormous bar with an impressive drinks list, and serves a modern take on German cuisine.

The dรฉcor was simply jaw-droppingly beautiful. Re-designed by Tina Norden from Conran & Partners - this huge space was originally built back in 1865, and was the venue for some events when London hosted its first Olympics in 1866.

We actually stumbled upon this place after a late breakfast at Granger & Co.'s Kingโ€™s Cross outlet right next door, but still couldnโ€™t resist coming in for a couple of salads.

What we ordered:

  1. Bayerischer Wurstsalat
    Consisted of smoked pork sausage, gherkins, red onions, Cheddar, chives and mustard dressing. I much prefer the traditional German version where the sausages are julienned, but I liked the Cheddar here, which has the deep savory flavours that German cheeses donโ€™t have.

  2. Herring "Hausfrauenart"
    Smoked herring with apple, onion and sour cream, on malted rye sunflower bread. Itโ€™s much less creamy than the traditional German version. Again, I much preferred the traditional one, but this lighter, German-inspired take on the dish is quite photogenic, and appeals to the young Instagram crowd.

We decided the try a couple of their desserts:
3) Black Forest gรขteau

  1. Warm apple strudel with vanilla sauce

Both desserts were rather disappointingly average.

The hot beverages were impressively presented but, again, quite average.

  1. GG Hot Chocolate

  2. Cappuccino

Overall, what we had on the plates did not match up to the superlative dรฉcor and ambience. Weโ€™ll need to return for dinner and see how the kitchen fare with their hot mains.

Address
German Gymnasium
Kingโ€™s Boulevard, Kings Cross, London N1C 4BU, UK
Tel: +44 20 7287 8000
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-11pm,
Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-10pm

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Nice pictures- that Black Forest cake looks rather dry and the Cappuccino more like a latte.

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It was dry, and not very good - rather disappointing, considering what an utterly beautiful space the restaurant occupies.

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Agreed, itโ€™s a gorgeous space. I went inside to consider it for a Christmas party some years back, but left disappointed with the menu. So itโ€™s nice to see what they have on offer and there are a few things Iโ€™d like to try, based on your photos. Herring, yes please. Having had fantastic strudel in Budapest (foodie place not talked about too much on here) that effort looks really off. Thanks for going there for me. Now I know!

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I love Budapest, too. The Hungarians are really the unsung kings of pastries.