Food
Taking Orders: Plum + Spilt Milk, London
by Sarah Maber
![Taking Orders: Plum + Spilt Milk, London](/uploads/media/720x600/09/7549-IMG_3395.jpg?v=1-0)
A high-end restaurant overlooking King’s Cross Station is just the ticket, says Sarah Maber.
![Melt-in-the-mouth burrata](/uploads/media/960x/05/7545-IMG_3387.jpg?v=1-0)
Where is it?
Plum and Spilt Milk is tucked away on the first floor of the grand Great Northern Hotel at King’s Cross St Pancras Station, a stone’s throw from the check in for Eurostar.
![Paddock Farm Tamworth pork loin](/uploads/media/960x/08/7548-IMG_3393.jpg?v=1-0)
What’s all the fuss about?
Created by Michelin-starred chef director Mark Sargeant and executive chef Mike Denman, the restaurant’s recently revamped menu dishes up robust, flavour-packed, British ingredients. The starter menu includes a spiced Cornish fish soup, Loch Fyne scallops and an organic Wiltshire burrata; mains include Cherry Orchard Farm pork belly, a South Downs venison loin and Baked Brixham turbot tranche.
![Baked hake fillet](/uploads/media/960x/07/7547-IMG_3391.jpg?v=1-0)
What’s the place like?
Plum and Spilt Milk manages to be both cosy and elegant, luxe without being stuffy. Long, leather banquettes curve around tables creating a lovely sense of intimacy, and there is a real sense of drama about dining in one of Britain’s great train stations. The clientele is surprisingly diverse – City workers, a hipster French couple, tourists, and lone diners stopping for dinner before catching their trains.
![Plum and Spilt Milk](/uploads/media/960x/00/7550-IMG_3397.jpg?v=1-0)
What did we eat and drink?
My husband began with the spiced Cornish fish soup – ‘absolutely delicious’ - which came with a red pepper rouille and croutons. I opted for a melt-in-the-mouth burrata offset by pickled red onion and broad bean purée. To drink, our friendly, efficient waitress recommended the New Zealand Tinpot Hut Sauvignon Blanc - with its rich, aromatic flavours, it was the perfect choice. I followed with a baked hake fillet on a bed of braised borlotti beans and chorizo; my meat-loving husband ordered the Paddock Farm Tamworth pork loin, with smoked belly, garlic sausage and choucroute and declared himself to be in foodie heaven. So far, so delicious – but little did we know the best was yet to come. The puddings at Plum and Spilt Milk turn out to be amazing – we ordered both a gorgeous iced peanut parfait with a salted caramel sauce, and the ‘Plum and Spilt Milk’ pud named after the restaurant – a baked brioche coated in cinnamon sugar, topped with poached plums, plum sauce and served with milk ice cream. Yum.
Your verdict:
An elegant dining room in a wonderful location atop Kings Cross Station. It’s not cheap (starters are priced at £9 and up; vegetarian mains cost from £19 and meat and fish from £24), but the luxe edge adds to the romance.
Lasting memory:
That eponymous pud. Beyond delicious.