Porte Noire King's Cross in Camden

This restaurant is quite distinctive in that it is on the ground floor of a building constructed within a former gasholder. The terrace at the front faces the canal, which gives it a quaint charm. It can also lay claim to the unique distinction of celebrity ownership - none other than Idris Elba (look for his picture on the back of the restroom door). My colleague and I had reserved, following our visit to The Lightroom, so it was conveniently located, only a short walk away. It is worth exploring the canal-side, especially in good weather, which appears to be a popular venue for hanging out. We opted for a table inside, to escape the harsh sun. Whilst it provided shade, I did find the air conditioning a tad on the cool side. Otherwise, the ambience and decor were great, and the customer service was polite, efficient and very professional. The menu itself is quite select - limited to 4 starters and about 8 mains (categorised into vegetable, meat and seafood), which does make ordering somewhat easier. The 'roasted bone marrow and garlic butter snails' starter sounded interesting, until we were told that it takes about 30 minutes to prepare. In my view, that makes it unsuitable as a starter, which generally should have a speedier preparation time than the main courses, and I wonder if there is a reason why this caveat is not stated on the menu. No matter. We opted for the burrata and the wild king prawns tempura respectively (see pictures). Not sure about serving burrata with a spoon, however. The king prawns tempura with avocado aioli on the other hand were a revelation, cooked on skewers with a rich, thick batter, quite unlike any tempura I've had before. Beautifully presented too. The mains were chargrilled octopus with butternut squash, aubergine caviar, tomato salsa and red wine jus, and chicken cordon bleu with baby gem and mustard sauce. The chicken cordon bleu was not very impressive, appearing in the form of a type of breaded sausage more reminiscent of something you might find in the frozen food aisle, although I'm not suggesting it was frozen. The octopus was delicious. The butternut squash mash was rich and creamy. This was accompanied by a bowl of chickpea fries, and a plate of thick sourdough bread with the now ubiquitous brown butter with caramelised onion, also very good. I also sampled a very fine Blushing Bride APA from Coalition Brewing (see pictures). We decided to forego dessert, mainly because it didn't feel like there was much effort put into it. Again, it was quite a small selection (Eton mess, profiteroles, ice cream, affogato), so nothing particularly original. The final bill came in at just under £136 for two, with the usual 12.5% service charge. To be expected for a venue of this calibre. Definitely worth a visit. Highly recommended.

The restaurant is lovely, good atmosphere and well located in the Coal Drops area. Felt the menu was a bit limited, just need 2 extra options within the starters and mains and particularly on the side options. Ordered the sharing Rib (very good) which came with a few potatoes on the side. The charcuterie starter was very good. Sides available were potatoes, chips or quinoa.....sort of screaming out for some greens on the menu. Good selection of wine, this would be a great spot for an evening wine for sure. We had: Charcuterie 2 glasses of fizz Half a carafe of wine Sharing ribs Chips Salad Food was good, but nothing mind blowing here and at £220 for the above, felt it was overpriced really vs the other options available in London at that price point.

A complete surprise and a delight. Not that I had an expectation it wouldn’t be good - just that it hadn’t be on my radar as a place to eat. I now kick myself that we hadn’t been sooner! The food is great - deceptively brilliant and joyful - and the wine list excellent, but it was the warm, friendly and engaging service that made it so memorable. My lunch guest made to feel so special by the owner ticked every box, and the wine suggestions made without snobbery or judgement absolutely hit the spot. Well done all! cant wait to return!

Amazing food, we had the lamb, seabass, risotto, confit potatoes, the bavarois and pavlova as desserts was really tasty not too sweet, i can tell there is some good chefs in the kitchen, just the service was not really great, they look very moody and walking around for no reason A massive thank you to the chefs who doing amazing quality of food but unfortunately service is really bad i had to tell....

I'd say this is really a wine bar and not a restaurant. The location is interesting, at the case of one of the preserved and converted gas risers. The interior decor is interesting. This place is good for a few drinks and some nibbles. The selection of wine is good - quite pricy, but this is central London after all. The service is very attentive, friendly and informative. I'm afraid I thought the food let the place down quite badly. I appreciate dishes are sold as small / sharing plates, but the portions were stingy for the prices charged. The menu is quite short and I didn't think the selection of dishes was very inspired, and they are definitely not well designed to share. Biggest problem is that the food just didn't taste great. We had some very dry 'chicken cordon bleu' for £22.50. The bill was close to £100 per head, yet I left feeling that we had not been properly fed.

Very over priced. Not much food selection. Food was ok but not worth the cost. Glasses of wine very expensive at £25 each. Ordered number of sharing plates and four glasses of wine and came to £235. Pity as it was for a birthday celebration for someone who knows their wine.

Wow service with a smile - NOT!!! Would never return, greated by a man with NO personality. Shared a bottle of wine with my friends and left sharpish!!

Yes to the atmosphere Yes to the selection of wine Yes to food Double yes on great and attentive service

Took my niece for a drink before our train home , the gentleman was lovely who served us , it's a super place to sit & really by the canal & enjoy a delicious cocktail

A lovely place to catch up with friends over wine and some first class small plates. We had to try a glass of the champagne but moved on then to the orange wine. The cheeseboard was very enjoyable. The staff were helpful - giving great recommendations and took allergies seriously nothing was too much trouble.

We went there for a meal with a friends. Sommelier grandly announced that wine on a Monday was 'retail' price but when the bill arrived, it was £1 more than on the wine list. Sommelier was so inattendive that of 5 people driking white wine he only refilled the glasses of the same 3 people throughout the evening! Food menu is extremly limited thereby giving the impression that it ought to be delicious to compensate for such limiting choice. Not so! Firstly hot dishes arrived followed by cold dishes! Not a single dish seemed special or particularly tasty. Overall this is a restaurant with overpriced wine, limited menu and uninspiring food .

Popped in for a quick afternoon tipple with couple of friends before getting the train on the off chance they had a table. Staff were super charming, recommended a special bottle of fizz that was on offer that was light and fresh and perfect for a summery (ish!) afternoon. Because it was also ‘pay retail price Monday’ (a concept new to us north of the Watford Gap) it was half the price we thought we were paying. Didn’t have time for snacks but food looked awesome. Five stars- would have given 6/5 if a certain Mr Elba had walked in… definitely a destination spot.

The bartender mixed up an iced coffee in a martini shaker and poured out magic. We named it “Daniel’s Devil” after him. Perfection.

The elegant wine bar but more a restaurant for me, as the food is very delicious..! Negroni cocktail as aperetivo professionally presented here with a big ice cube engraved with the logo. Steak tartar is my favourite on the menu, which the restaurant Chef Gustavo luckily keeps on the list for the whole year! Thank you for beeing consistently welcoming and tasty! Ps the dog friendly feature of the restaurant makes this place even more attractive for me and my friends!

Loved this bar/restaurant. Food is good and wine is even better. Staff are really friendly. And setting is amazing. However toilets need to be maintained/cleaned more and they definitely need more staff as service was slow. But really enjoyed our visit.

This is a wonderful idea for a restaurant. Set in the newly renovated Kings Cross, inside an old gasometer frame, this small unassuming restaurant is supposed to take some of the pretensions out of wine. Its interior design is clever in helping to reduce the noise levels while leaving the space clear and open. Its usp...being a wine shop and restaurant combined. However, there were one or two things that let this idea down. The host/head waiter enjoyed explaining the wines, but unfortunately started to swerve into hyperbole. The restaurant was drastically understaffed...just him and 2 waiters on the floor...this meant it took 30 minutes for someone to take our order, and we constantly had to wait to get our wine bottle back to refil our glasses. The food was OK...the menu was not extensive...which i commend, and usually means the dishes offered are well produced. Sadly this was not the case. The menu was uninspired. The food arrived all at once...in a restaurant with small tables where all the plates are sharing plates this is ridiculous. It made for an uncomfortable and irritating meal. The mouke marinere was rubbery and luke warm, the sea bass creviche was exceptional, the rest ...medicore. if you are having a limited menu...make the dishes stand out!! Bear in mind...this was a Saturday night!! Hospitality is severely lacking staff all across London, so i am willing to give the benefit of the doubt as to the slowness of service. But, overall this was a middling experience i wouldn't repeat. The prices are fairly reasonable for central london...£173 for two people, 2 starters, 2 sharers and a main course, 1 bottle of wine and 2 glasses of dessert wine. They did completely forget our coffees!!! My final thought...must try harder

Fabulous place. I’ve been here a couple of times and it’s always welcoming with lovely friendly knowledgeable staff. Amazing selection of wine and lots of tasty food. Perfect spot to visit and dog friendly too. Our dog was made to feel very welcome.

Excellent venue immensely better than some of the more mediocre offerings of Coal Drops Yd. I expect most Eurostar users would feel very at home here. The tartiflette was so good, we shared one amongst our mains plates - and shared another one for desert....

Great intimate restaurant, food was delicious, generous portion sizes to our surprise. Friendly atmosphere and our host Neale was absolutely fabulous! We had so much fun and would highly recommend!!!

It's not every day that you rate a place full marks just for being wonderful. The ambience, food quality, presentation, value for money, portion size and the genuine and impeccable service all combine to make a great experience at Porte Noire. Waiters Neale, Monica and...

Nice little place under the old gas holder with a good selection of wines. The food menu is a bit concise but it’s understandable as this place is mainly a wine shop/wine bar. The food is very tasty and good quality and you will have...

My first experience here and I agree with the comments around impeccable service. This restaurant offers great ambience, superb and tentative service. We had the New Year Eve’s menu and the food was exquisite and very delicious. I had such a great dinner, and would...

Wow! What an incredible place! The atmosphere was warm and lovely, the service was impeccable, and the food was out of this world. The plates were portioned perfectly so my husband and I could try more than one plate without having too much food, and...

This was our second time at Porte Noire and this time for a Christmas get together and it did not disappoint! The food was excellent, service was great (shout out to lovely manager Vincent!), ambience was warm and just the right amount of Christmas cheer!...

Everything about this place was amazing. I booked this place for a get together with my friends, to celebrate a birthday and also as a farewell dinner. First time here and we absolutely loved it. We had mushroom arancini, chickpea chips, ceviche, pork belly, guinea...

Had a really lovely dinner with my girl friends here tonight - service by our waiter Neale was super, also that of manager Vincent and owner David; oh and warm welcome from Cooper (their dog!)… will definitely be back for our pre- Christmas get together!

This restaurant has a lovely atmosphere and I cannot fault the food and drink. However, the service was really poor, we had to ask for cutlery and plates. It’s not a big place so I would have expected better. The worst thing though was the...

We had a nice supper at Porte Noire, it was early evening & quiet, enabling service which was fast, friendly & efficient. The menu is concise, interesting & fairly casual, with dishes ideal for sharing. Food was pretty good & the range of wines extensive,...

Porte Noire will be our new favorite spot for both wine and food. We had a dinner on Saturday with a few friends. Place was very busy and buzzing, great wine and delicious food. Guys looked understaffed as majority places this days they were running...

I booked three months ago after reading Idris Elba owned a bar in the old gasomteter.. two of my favourite things in one, for a late lunch,  3 in the afternoon. Two days ago, an email came to confirm the booking and asking if it...

Have visited a couple of times now and definitely recommend to friends. The service is very attentive and knowledgeable and the cheese selection is exquisite - I can also recommend the anchovies on crispy puffy bread things which I wasn’t expecting but were really delicious.

I was meeting some friends for late lunch at a separate venue on Sunday and forgot to book somewhere for a drink beforehand. Everywhere was booked solid until I remembered Porte Noire and how many times I promised myself to pay it a visit. Reservation...