Where to Eat Before a Train at St Pancras and King's Cross

The Problem With Eating at the Station

Everyone has done it: forty minutes before a train, a concourse full of people, and a choice between a chain sandwich and a queue. It works, but it is not a meal you remember, and it is rarely cheaper than eating properly a few minutes away.

The alternative is to build the meal into the journey rather than treat it as something to squeeze in. That takes a little planning, and mostly it takes knowing how much time you actually need.

How Much Time Do You Need?

A useful rule for a sit-down dinner near King's Cross or St Pancras:

• Under 45 minutes: stay at the station. There is not enough room for anything else.
• 45 to 75 minutes: a nearby restaurant works if you order straight away and skip dessert. Two courses is realistic.
• 90 minutes or more: a full meal, comfortably, with time to walk back without rushing.

Add the walk at both ends. From Masakali on Stanhope Street, allow five minutes to Euston and one stop on the Victoria or Northern line, or about twenty minutes if you walk the whole way along Euston Road.

What to Look For

A few things separate a good pre-train restaurant from a stressful one.

• They will pace the meal. Tell them your departure time and a good kitchen will work around it. If they shrug, that is a warning.
• Sharing dishes. Ordering for the table is faster than four separate mains, and nobody is left waiting.
• It opens early enough. A lot of central London kitchens do not start dinner service until six, which is no help for a five-thirty departure.
• It is a real walk, not a claimed one. Plenty of places describe themselves as being at King's Cross when they are twenty-five minutes away. Check the map before you book.

Eating at Masakali Before Your Train

Masakali London is on Stanhope Street in NW1, open from noon every day, so an early dinner is never a problem. It is one stop from King's Cross St Pancras to Euston and then a five-minute walk, or a twenty-minute walk if you have the time and the weather is on your side.

Tell the team your departure when you book. A tandoor platter to share, a curry and a bread between two, and you will be back on the concourse without having eaten a sandwich in a hurry.

Book Ahead

Masakali London, 48 Stanhope Street, NW1 3EX. Open Monday to Sunday, 12pm to 11pm, last orders 10:30pm. Book online or call 020 7419 9999.