Shrimpy's at the Filling Station is something a little different for this blog
To start I had the smoked trout with shaved fennel, avocado, chipotle. The trout was nice and fresh with a good balance of flavours from the other ingredients. The fennel was nice and not too overpowering and the first time I've had it with avocado.
For the main I had Duck breast with sweet potato puree, pear and grapes. The duck breast was moist without being too fatty. The fruit were a perfect compliment with the duck, stopping it from being too heavy. We went a bit mad on the sides ordering both a green salad and some chips. In hindsight I needed neither! I soldiered on and attacked the chips though, along with all of two leaves from the salad :-)
I did get a bit of food envy from the Skirt steak with chimichurri. This was a tasty and tender cut of meat. The chimichurri was fresh and vibrant. The only things missing from this "Steak et Frites" were the chips, hence the side order of chips after I'd already thought I could do with eating healthier and ordering the green salad ;)
Can't wait to go back, depending on the menu at that time I'm not sure if I'd go for the Skirt or, for what turned out to be their speciality, the Soft Shell Crab burger. I had probably read and remembered this from a review before going in the summer, but it quickly became apparently when ever order included at least one of the soft shell burger. One table of four was 100% soft shell goodness!
Why Fernet is fueling the restaurant industry and not as bad tasting as you think - I saw several varieties of Fernet behind the bar, which piqued my interest.
King's Cross area development
- It's a pop-up restaurant.
- It's a London venue.
- And I'm eating at the bar.
Behind King's Cross and St Pancras stations and a short walk within view of the Guardian/Observer's offices is an old petrol station due for demolition in 2014. I don't to want spoil the experience of going in too much, as I think that's part of going there (the pictures in the old reviews that I link to below are spoilers but not exactly as it looks now ;)
The view when you first approach is mysterious, the green neon "Filling Station" and wavy plastic cover simultaneously enticing you in but hiding the delights yet to come.
 |
| The venue |
During the colder months the space is restricted to the inside of the old petrol station building. It looks like the old forecourt has an outdoor eating and service area looking out onto the canal. A can sense a trip next summer coming on :-) The petrol station has been converted very well in a sumptuous and solid feeling restaurant. It doesn't have the pop-up feel of a borrowed space, it feels like it is meant to be there. The tableware, uniforms and quality of the fittings made me feel like I was in a venue with a tradition dating back to the early 20th Century if not the 19th Century, yet without feeling stuffy or awkward.
Neither my companion nor I were very used to navigating this part of London, I only stop here to jump on a train either going north or south, so we took slightly longer than needed to reach the Filling Station from Kings Cross. The smart way is to go out the back towards the Art College and then look right. Luckily we had bags of time, so headed to the pub that was full of art students.
We had 7:30pm reservations at the bar and the restaurant was full. Our seats were immediately in front of the serving hatch looking into the main cooking area of the small kitchen. Another bonus is that the main barman mixing the cocktails was working right by us. I'm not sure if seeing the range of food and drink being prepared and served was a help or hindrance!
We started with a Shrimpy's Fizz cocktail that I wasn't too sure of, I'm not a fan of bubbles based cocktails that are then made sour. The next drink a Paddington Bear was much more to my liking, I love apricot brandy and this cocktail stopped it from being too overbearingly sweet.
For the main I had Duck breast with sweet potato puree, pear and grapes. The duck breast was moist without being too fatty. The fruit were a perfect compliment with the duck, stopping it from being too heavy. We went a bit mad on the sides ordering both a green salad and some chips. In hindsight I needed neither! I soldiered on and attacked the chips though, along with all of two leaves from the salad :-)
I did get a bit of food envy from the Skirt steak with chimichurri. This was a tasty and tender cut of meat. The chimichurri was fresh and vibrant. The only things missing from this "Steak et Frites" were the chips, hence the side order of chips after I'd already thought I could do with eating healthier and ordering the green salad ;)
Can't wait to go back, depending on the menu at that time I'm not sure if I'd go for the Skirt or, for what turned out to be their speciality, the Soft Shell Crab burger. I had probably read and remembered this from a review before going in the summer, but it quickly became apparently when ever order included at least one of the soft shell burger. One table of four was 100% soft shell goodness!
Further Reading
Metro - July 2012 (Review)
Independant - August 2012 (Review)
Calf's head: The Beef cuts Britain forgot from the BBCWhy Fernet is fueling the restaurant industry and not as bad tasting as you think - I saw several varieties of Fernet behind the bar, which piqued my interest.
King's Cross area development
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