St Pancras Grand: champagne and afternoon tea

In general, I would say that 'train station' is not usually synonymous with chic, gourmet dining. Most train stations have nothing more than a little booth selling Kit Kats and crisps and offensively overpriced chewing gum (50p?? really???); if you're lucky they might have an AMT (try the Chai steamer, it's delish). And then the bigger stations may have a Burger King, or a Harry Ramsden's, or some generic Wetherspoon's type pub. But on the whole, convenience is the defining factor - style and quality are usually sorely lacking.

Not so with St Pancras, but then this isn't any station. Now I'm not, like, some anorak-donning train station enthusiast, but it's hard not to be impressed by the grandeur and elegance of St Pancras station.

On the first floor of the station, brushing shoulders with the Eurostar, is the St Pancras Grand Restaurant, Oyster and Champagne Bar.

Toptable is currently running several different offers at St Pancras Grand, one of which is "2 for 1: champagne afternoon tea". Last Saturday, my good friend Helen was visiting for the day; we're both big fans of afternoon tea and the station was a convenient link for both of our homeward journeys, so we decided it'd be a perfect opportunity to check it out.

Inside, the decor is all leather and mahogany, clean lines and art deco flourishes. However, when we arrived, at about 5pm on a Saturday, the restaurant was pretty empty, aside from a group of merry, well-to-do looking women in front of us who clearly had a similar brainwave.

After traipsing round Hampton Court Palace all afternoon in the sunshine on an empty stomach, our hunger and excitement were palpable. We wasted no time ordering our tea. The champagne came first. It was pink and very drinkable. I felt tipsy after one sip, but then I am a ridiculous lightweight.

Soon after came our 'tea' (for the uninitiated, traditional afternoon tea usually takes the form of finger sandwiches + cakes + scones accompanied by tea, so not really tea at all!). My first impression, I have to admit, was not great. I've only ever had champagne afternoon tea once before, so admittedly I don't have much precedent for what to expect, but in my mind, afternoon tea embodies a concept of quaint 'Englishness'. I think of dainty blue and white china tea cups, and Jane Austen.

There was nothing quaint about this afternoon tea. It was served on a three-tiered stand - pretty standard - but the stand itself seemed freakishly big. It took quite a lot of rearranging of side plates, glasses and cutlery to fit both of the stands on our table. To go with the giant stands were giant white plates, on which sat our sandwiches, scones, and three cakes, looking tiny and forlorn in comparison.

'Is that it?' I said to Helen, with a rude, champagne-fuelled grimace. I eyed the scones with particular skepticism - firstly there were only two, which seemed a bit stingy to me, and secondly they were quite flat and had a suspicious, oily sheen to them.

But then any skepticism gave way to sheer hunger, and we tucked in, working our way down from the top (however, the size of the stands meant that we had to actually get up from our seats to reach the sandwiches).

Things vastly improved once the actual eating began. Even the scones, though they appeared slightly unappetising on first appearance, were warm and soft and delicious.

Ironically, in the end, neither of us could finish, each conceding defeat to one last cake, so any doubts I had as to the size of the portions were ill-founded. I blame the plates!

Afterwards we went outside to have a couple of glasses of bubbly at the Champagne Bar. The majority of the seating in the bar takes the form of comfy little booths which run alongside the length of the Eurostar platform, and from here you can look out onto the concourse below. I quite liked the buzz of travellers milling about beneath us, and the station hustle and bustle formed a pleasant backdrop to our evening drinks. However the Eurostar trains are pretty loud as they pull into the station, so the Tardis-like grinding and whirring every half hour or so was less ambient.

My sister mentioned that she had been to St Pancras Grand once before with clients, and her verdict was something along the lines of: "Yeah, it's nice, and great if you're on your way to or from somewhere, but I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to go there specifically."

I can see what she means. But I'd definitely recommend the St Pancras Grand. It offers a stylish little respite from the madness that can be travelling through London, in beautiful surroundings, and if you take advantage of the offers it's really good value.