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All change: Miguel Macero, chef at Camino, one of the restaurants helping to transform King's Cross

Campion describes Snazz Sichuan as 'a joy for the enquiring gastronaut'

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• Read Charles Campion's food blog

King's Cross has earned an unfortunate reputation as a red-light district and magnet for drug addicts.

Over the past two years construction of the new Eurostar terminal and redevelopment of land around it has turned the area into a huge building site.

But now it has been named as an up-and-coming gourmet hot spot.

Six new dining rooms in King's Cross have been included in the 2008 edition of food critic Charles Campion's London Restaurant Guide.

Campion, who writes for the Evening Standard, said: "In the decade or so that I have been writing restaurant guides I have never seen a rough area come up so far and so fast. King's Cross has transformed itself and is on the way to becoming another Islington. I had to rejig the book and add an entire section to accommodate the great new restaurants.

"From being a low-rent district with poor facilities and a shady reputation, the redevelopment of the station has meant a host of new restaurants."

Among them is Snazz Sichuan in Chalton Street, which Campion describes as "a joy for the enquiring gastronaut".

Acorn House, a modern British "green" restaurant in Swinton Street, which sources its produce from within the M25, is said by the guide to be the place to "do yourself, the planet and your fellow men a bit of good".

Campion - described by fellow restaurant critic Toby Young as "almost religious" in his devotion to food - also called for a change to the system of paying service charges in restaurants.

He said: "In the 2008 guide there are establishments adding nothing, three per cent, 10 per cent, 12.5 per cent, 13 per cent and 15 per cent. Service should be included in the price - it is only separately listed and called 'optional' because of a complicated tax dodge.

"The French manage very well with 'tout compris' - I wish we were similarly enlightened."

He criticised "shifty" maître'ds who add the "optional" service charge but expect customers to leave a tip on credit card slips. He said: "Perhaps we should all strike out any optional service on the bill and instead leave a cash tip that reflects the standard of service.

"While we're at it perhaps we could develop a cunning plan to rebel against overpriced, air-mile-burdened, bottled water."

The guide lists more than 400 restaurants, ranging from fashionable Mayfair destinations to Pakistani grill houses. It covers cooking, service and ambience as well as giving tips on specialities and basic information on set menus and wine.

CAMPION'S CHOICES

BEST CHEAPIES
Brula Bistrot, Crown Road, St Margaret's, Twickenham
Chinese Experience, Shaftesbury Avenue
Hung Tao, Edgware Road
Kerala, Great Castle Street
Mela, Shaftesbury Avenue
Sagar, King Street, Hammersmith

BEST NEW FACES
Arbutus, Frith Street
Great Queen Street restaurant, WC2
Barrafina, Frith Street
The Grill at the Dorchester Hotel
Rhodes W1, Cumberland Hotel, Great Cumberland Place
Scott's, Mount Street

BEST FOR SERIOUS ITALIAN
Assaggi, Chepstow Place W2
Locanda Locatelli, Seymour Street W1
Passione, Charlotte Street W1
Ristorante Semplice, Blenheim Street W1
Riva, Church Road, Barnes
Zafferano, Lowndes Street, Knightsbridge

HOTTEST FOOD IN TOWN
Bar Shu, Frith Street W1

BEST PRESENTED GLASS OF CHILLED TIO PEPE
Moro, Exmouth Market EC1

CAMPEST DECOR IN TOWN
The Grill at the Dorchester Hotel

FOR WORRYING ABOUT THE PLANET
Acorn House, Swinton Street, King's Cross

 

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