The Star of Kings

I didn’t actually intend to go to Yeah Burger last week — it just sort of happened…
Let me explain myself. I met Tom at Euston station with all intentions of getting the tube home to cook dinner for both of us. I planned to go to the Sainsbury’s to buy ingredients but when I got there — the whole place was depleted. Empty shelves EVERYWHERE. Who knew people did their shopping at the supermarket next to one of London’s busiest stations — NOT ME.
So we walked around to Kings Cross and did a lap of the queues at Dishoom, by-​passed Caravan and the Grain Store (Tom laughed in my face at the suggestion of a veggie restaurant) and started headed back to the station in defeat when we happened across the Star of Kings.
I knew there was good food to be had inside so we shuffled in, found ourselves a dinky table in the dim low-​lit bar and started scanning the menu.
The pub itself has its own quirky charm. Think peeling wallpaper, a graffiti wall, mis-​matched furniture. A proper local boozer. But don’t be put off by it’s rugged interior as the burgers are top-​class.
Burgerwise — we chose to share two of the best looking burgers on the list. Firstly The OG (£9.50) an aged beef patty with cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado, sour cream and guacamole — really delicious but why no hot sauce? Stick some cholula in between those buns and for me things would have kicked up a gear.
The main reason we were here though was for the Scotch Egg burger. Yes. A Burger in a Scotch Egg. Goodbye boring bun. Hello crispy scotch egg casing. The Marco Polo (£12.50) encases a beef burger with cheese, rocket, smoked yeah! sauce in a chorizo sausage scotch egg.
It dribbles. It oozes. It leaks salty-​gooey-​cheesy-​goodness all down your chin but by-​God it’s delicious. It did divide opinion — Tom being the burger puriest he is preferred the OG for it’s soft bunned brilliance but I like to get down and dirty with my burgers so this was the winner for me. Jesus wept.
Tom and I need to learn to stop behaving like baby elephants and ordering two portions of fries everywhere we go. We NEVER finish them but I get serious FOMO about side orders and insist we try a little bit of everything just to be sure.
We went for big bowls of ‘Hombre’ (£4) and Oxtail Chilli Cheese Fries (£6). Yes the lighting is rubbish but let’s just go with it yeah? My one critique would be: put these things in dishes. Putting cheese on chips in a bowl means the ones on top are all lovely and cheesey while the ones at the bottom were left pretty plain. Spread those evenly in a flatter dish and perfect that cheese to chip ratio.
Overall Yeah! Burger is pretty damn good. A lot like BurgerShack it’s good to see decent burger joints representing towards my side of London. You’ll consume a week’s worth of calories in one sitting but go with it, it’s worth it, plus you can head downstairs to the basement club and work off a few of those calories on the dance-​floor.

I actually liked this pub. We came here for Rob H.‘s leaving do (BOOOOOO!) The pub itself is looks ultra hipstery in décor. They have a great selection of cocktails, but not many beers on cask which is a slight downer. But they have a great gin and tonic selection.
We ended up eating here as well. They’ve got a burger menu. I think I ended up getting a burger that had a scotch egg. I kind of thought the burger bit might be fried like a scotch egg, but it turns out it was a burger with a scotch egg bun. Meat overload (it was tasty though). We also tried the chili fries (awesome).
We did get chucked out of reserved area as it was reserved after Rob’s booking, so everyone had to move upstairs. And by everyone, I mean everyone else because after doing this and boozy brunch I was wasted, and we needed to go home.

They Star of Kings is a lovely little pub down the road from King’s Cross, with several rooms and an outside area to sit in. I find it quite nice and the drinks are very well priced so if you are in the area looking for a drink it’s a pretty good place to go to.
Regarding the karaōke nights they put on, I definitely recommend the Rockaoke events. You get to sing with a live rock band and they make you feel like a rock star. While there are Rockaoke events in other venues too this is one of the most central ones so I prefer it.
I also tried Quint Fontana’s Karaōke Rumble, a pop karaōke/​comedy night where they have celebrity impersonators and a karaōke competition. The impersonations were pretty bad and if you are not a great singer the crowd will boo you off stage, which can be pretty disheartening. I would not recommend it at all if you want to do karaōke, but it can be tolerated if you are a bit drunk, want to take the piss out of everyone and don’t care about being made to look like a fool.
Overall the Star of Kings is a nice pub, just pick the right night and enjoy!

Went here for a work lunch, pop up burger kitchen in session at the time. Pretty good burger and a relaxed venue to enjoy a beer at lunch. Some nice Meantime and Camden brew on tap too.

I have mixed feelings about this place. We come here semi often, booking the place for parties a couple of times a year. It’s a good space, but recently they’ve disappointed us in how they’ve booked the place out. What is the point of booking the entire place, if you then let everybody else in? Our last event was Christmas and we turned up with probably a shy over 180 people, and when we got there, the place was packed with other people. I get that we booked it from 7pm but we booked the ENTIRE place.
Problems aside, they accommodate a huge amount of skaters without blinking (quite often dressed in odd costumes), open their kitchen to street food vendors to give them a semi permanent location to sell their wares and a good range of drinks at good prices.

Pretty nice interior, good pizza, and a comedy night. Seems to be the only pub in the area. Sort of slow bar service.

The Star of Kings is a middle-​of-​the-​road pub in Kings Cross. Nothing particularly striking but also nothing particularly offensive. There’s a reasonable amount of space inside, a few leather sofas to recline on and an okaaay if rather limited selection of beer. I haven’t tried their wine, food or cocktails but I’m sure they’d be okay too.

Came here for a friend’s gig night in the downstairs area. The bartender was very friendly and had a good night over all. Nothing special, but not bad for a few drinks either.

Happy hour helps your wallet with their 2 for 1 drinks, paying around £7.50 for two.
The bartenders do take quite a while mixing the drinks while their homemade pizzas are a thumbs up. They do a loyalty card (I believe.), and have quite a big space to chill for a group of people. Wouldn’t recommend ordering food there other than their pizzas.
an up side is there’s fewer men in suits chatting their way through office topics. drinks are alright, and if you’re bothered with walking for another 3 – 5 minutes or so, you’ll definitely come across with a lot more pub choices along the way.

Since the new refurbishment, I’ve been to the Star of Kings a few times and was impressed! With the funky new interior, friendly staff and tasty new menu it’s a winner for sure. They’ve also had some really good events. They’ve turned the basement into an impressive gig space with an amazing sound system. The comedy night recently — Vinegar Knickers (Edinburgh Fringe Preview Show) was fantasticly hilarious. I look forward to many more great nights out here!

Formally The Cross Kings, The Star of Kings is right next to my office so nice and handy to pop in for a post-​work bevvy.
You’d think the pub would be heaving with our huge building next door, but it never is, and they would probably benefit from a bit of savvy marketing and some more special offers to pull in the punters.
Their food menu consists of pizzas, burgers, burritos etc — all priced on the high side, but freshly cooked and tasty. I think they do a BOGOF pizza deal on lunchtimes so I might give that a go.
Hmm, I’m not exactly brimming with enthusiasm here, and I think that’s the main problem. It’s all just a bit ‘meh’ — but to be fair, they haven’t been open for too long, and I’m sure once the St Martin’s students move in across the road in September the pub will have a new lease of life. And if that means more atmosphere at the expense of non-​sticky floors, then so be it.