From Marble Arch to Kings Cross

Saturday, March 29th , 2025

Chourangi is an outpost of an Indian restaurant group, specialising in the cuisine of Calcutta (Kolkata in the modern spelling). This branch is in Marble Arch, and it had some quite good dishes, such as a classy potato side dish, but also some disappointments, such as overcooked tandoori lamb chops. Overall it was decent enough, but £106 a head with beer to drink seems like an awful lot of money for the quality, especially when there are so many good Indian restaurant options these days in London.

Gouqi near Trafalgar Square continues to produce high-class Cantonese food, and at this visit we went for a full Peking duck experience, the whole duck (pictured) served in multiple forms and courses. This was excellent, and so was a scallop and prawn dish. For some reason the usually slick service was off tonight, mostly around the wine service, but hopefully this was just a glitch.

Voyage With Adam Simmonds in the trendy Megaro Hotel in Kings Cross served quite ambitious Scandinavian-influenced fine dining food in a smart setting with an open kitchen. The service at our meal was a joy but the food was a mixed experience, with a particularly dubious dessert but with several some perfectly capable savoury courses. The empty dining room on a Saturday night (just one other lone diner other than us) suggests that the formula is not quite right.