No longer solely the precinct of steely-faced commuters and doe-eyed tourists, King’s Cross has blossomed into a bona fide drinking and dining hub, with Drake & Morgan at King’s Cross bringing late night cocktail culture and a cool vibe to the area.
DMKX is made up of two beautiful bars on the ground and lower ground floors, an elegant dining room with open kitchen alongside a deli, lounge, two unique ‘kitchen pods’, private dining room and outdoor terrace. The outdoor terrace provides blankets and hot water bottles making outdoor dining and drinking possible for those who can’t quite give up summer.
The DMKX menu is my sort of menu. Not over complicated, just high quality ingredients with slight twists. Head Chef David Green (Soho House Group) has created a menu focused around small plates (which can act as a starter or choose several for a main), the grill and larger comfort dishes. Signature dishes, expertly cooked on a charcoal-fired robata, include octopus with pimento aioli, Dover sole on the bone, baby chicken with gremolata, lamb chops with mint sauce and blackened cauliflower with almonds, capers and brown butter. Small plates feature ham croquettes, steak tartare, crab fritters and peppered goat’s cheese with watermelon whilst larger mains come in the form of burgers and baps, superfood salads and classics like bangers and mash, lobster mac & cheese and short rib mushroom pot pie.
The hardest part of the evening was deciding what to choose, but was made a lot easier by the delicious ramble bramble cocktails served very quickly after our arrival. For starters I went for the seared rare tuna with sesame and ginger which did not disappoint. This was followed by duck breast with chilli glaze. If I were to have a problem with DMKX it would be that sides aren’t included if you order anything of the grill (worth noting this isn’t true for all the mains). They get let off, however, because their roman fries with parmesan, truffle and rosemary are some of the tastiest fries to ever enter my mouth. They also do cowboy fries with honey, chilli and garlic and if you can’t choose you can have them both with sweet potato fries thrown in. I finished with my favourite which was salted caramel tart. From such an indulgent menu there is the potential to leave feeling unwell but DMKX balanced it all perfectly making a night of dancing afterwards completely possible. I will be back as soon as possible to try out the lobster macaroni cheese and pudding cocktails!
DMKX also offer mixology master classes. Music editor Lulu Jones and I tried one out at The Fable, another Drake and Morgan bar, and were seriously impressed with the end results. The star mixology team will take you on a whistlestop tour of cocktail making history before handling over the spirits for you to craft your favourite drinks. Classes start at £20 per head to £50 which includes dinner afterwards.
With spot on cocktails and seductive interiors After Nyne recommends DMKX for a night out with friends, a hot date, or as a place to work during the day. See our Halloween post to check out their event on the 30th.
http://drakeandmorgan-kingscross.co.uk/bars-restaurants/kings-cross/
Olivia Reed
afternyneblog.wordpress.com 