Harden's says
There's several restaurants within this American hotel chain opening; the ground-floor spot (Isla) has Adam Rawson (once of Pachamama) as chef, and Bristol's darling, Peter Sanchez-Iglesias (of Casamia and Paco Tapas) occupies the glass rooftop restaurant on the tenth floor.
Harden's survey result
Summary
There’s a certain Bond-villain chic to this top-floor Mexican dining room reached by an exterior red pill-shaped lift up the outside of the Standard Hotel. Complete with dramatic double-height ceilings, funky 1970s decor and floor-to-ceiling windows, it has incredible views of King’s Cross opposite. And the Mexican food is provided by Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, who won fame in Bristol as one of the UK’s top chefs. With all this glam and heritage then, it’s all the more remarkable how little buzz this five-year-old actually generates nowadays. Like so many chefs who have found success outside London and then aim to storm the capital, hitting the right formula can be tricky. One who did make the trip this year says its luxurious Latino dishes and mezcal cocktails are “good” but the sense that it’s “overpriced” is also highlighted as it has been in previous years .
Summary
“Everyone wanted to give the ambience a 6/5!” Few London eateries have as much drama as Peter Sanchez-Iglesias’s double-height Mexican venue, atop King’s Cross’s so-hip Standard Hotel, where huge floor-to-ceiling windows provide dramatic vistas of London… and that’s just from the toilets! You access via a red, pill-shaped lift creeping up the outside of the building to a gob-smacking view of the top of St Pancras Station opposite. Surprisingly, it doesn’t inspire quite as many positive ratings as one might expect, perhaps because it’s far-from-cheap. That said, its combination of tacos, Latino seafood and steaks (most of it grilled), all of them washed down with mezcal cocktails, was well rated this year. Top Tip – “visit before 6.30 pm Tue-Fri for the ‘Menu del Dia’ at £30 per person”.
Summary
“A spectacular room with spectacular views (including from the loos!)” sets a high-octane scene at Peter Sanchez-Iglesias’s dramatic Mexican venue: a high-ceilinged space on the top of King’s Cross’s über-hip Standard Hotel, with a breathtaking outlook over St Pancras station next door, and accessed via an exterior, red, glass-walled lift. “It seems less busy at lunch – it looks more like one for the cool kids after dark”. Most reporters are “pleasantly surprised by the food” which majors in ribs, steaks and seafood from the grill “(I thought it was going to be yet another celebrity rip-off)”. It’s far from a cheap experience, though, and one or two dud meals were also reported.
Summary
“Trying very hard to be trendy and mostly succeeding” (“the views from the WC were a big hit in my party!”) – Peter Sanchez-Iglesias’s dramatic three-year-old occupies the high-ceilinged 10th-floor space of the über-funky Standard Hotel, with incredible views of St Pancras from its huge, floor-to-ceiling windows. (To enter, shoot up the side of the hotel in the red-pill-shaped, glass-sided lift). It’s all very 1970s James Bond. “There are some really exceptional dishes” from a vibrant Spanish/Mexican menu (e.g. lobster with lime chilli, quail with mole glaze, even caviar tortilla). But while all reports rate it decently well, gripes about “silly prices and one or two disappointments” limit the overall verdict to good rather than outstanding.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
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The Standard, 10 Argyle St, London, WC1H 9JE
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £53.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £5.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 15.00% |
The Standard, 10 Argyle St, London, WC1H 9JE
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5 pm‑12 am |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5 pm‑12 am |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5 pm‑1 am |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5 pm‑2 am |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 5 pm‑2 am |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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