Roof Garden Booking Office 1869 at King's Cross gin garden

I didn’t, and I was definitely worse off for not knowing.

On the Grand Terrace of St Pancras International is Booking Office 1869, which is a restaurant with high ceilings and big windows that make you feel like you’re anywhere but a train station.

Booking Office 1869 (Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

There are palm trees and lamps which give the restaurant a modern, European feel, and it definitely takes you into a calm environment away from the hustle and bustle surroundings.

You’re inclined to feel like you’ve already found the hidden gem once you go into there, but it isn’t until you get to the botanical haven Roof Garden that you are really given tranquillity and separation from the train station below.

The Roof Garden is in collaboration with Malfy Gin this summer and there are gin cocktails partnered with a menu of snack-type dishes with an Italian twist.

The floral and lemon-themed décor makes you feel like you are getting a taste of Italy, and the comfortable lounging sofas and chairs make the garden a haven for relaxation, good food and good drinks.

It’s open Tuesday to Sunday from 2pm to 10pm, and is suitable for a late lunch or an evening outdoors.

I went with a friend on a Thursday evening as it made a good in-between for us both to get to, with King’s Cross being a great access point from multiple London locations.

We fancied some snacky food, and nice cocktails, and also to have a catch up in a nice, chilled setting.

The weather was nice (for once) and so it was really nice to be able to sit outdoors and enjoy it.

The terrace does have covers and is heated, so once it got cooler throughout the evening we were still able to sit outside.

My friend had a glass of rose and I had a bellini to drink, which was made with Malfy Rossa, Peach puree and Balfour sparkling wine.

It was the perfect mix of a sweet cocktail without being too sickly sweet, and when it was made from a Malfy floral-decorated gin cart on the terrace, it tasted even better.

The friendly waiters helped us with our food choices, as we weren’t sure how much to order.

We ended up firstly with some gordal olives and honey and mix spiced nuts with our drink while we chose.

We then ordered the IOW tomatoes – which came with brioche croutons with a vinegar dressing, some sweetcorn “ribs”, a tomato and mozzarella flatbread and some chips.

My favourite was by far the sweetcorn ribs, which had a delicious dusting of flavour and were surprisingly really filling.

This was definitely more than enough for us to eat, despite the dessert snacks being really tempting.

The Roof Garden had an abroad feel, it felt like we’d found a secret hangout, and the food and drinks were really good.