Decimo

Book Decimo Before the View Gets Out

The seats with a direct sightline over central London on the 10th floor of The Standard hotel fill fast, and Decimo does not have many of them. If you are planning a weekday lunch — available Wednesday through Friday from noon — book at least a week ahead. For Thursday and Friday evenings, when the kitchen runs until 1 am and 2 am respectively, two weeks is safer. Saturdays are the tightest window: the late licence draws a crowd that is as much bar as restaurant, and the leading tables near the glass go early. Monday and Sunday the kitchen is closed entirely, so do not build a trip around those days.

What Decimo Is, and Who It Is For

Decimo sits on the 10th floor of The Standard London on Argyle Street in King's Cross, and the room earns its reputation before you eat a thing. Cacti and succulents fill the space in a way that reads as genuinely considered rather than decorative afterthought, and the floor-to-ceiling glass gives you a panorama across the city that few restaurants at this price point can match. A DJ runs during evening service, which sets the register clearly: this is not a hushed tasting-menu room. It is a room designed to be in, not just to eat in.

The kitchen is run by Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, whose cooking draws on his father's Spanish heritage and time he has spent in Mexico. The result is a Spanish-Mexican small-plates format that is harder to categorise than most London openings of its type, and more interesting for it. The format rewards sharing: two to four diners can work through the menu at a pace that suits the room's energy. Solo diners are accommodated , the bar seating is genuinely good here given the views , but the sharing format is less suited to a solo visit than a table of two or more.

The price sits at ££, which in London's current restaurant market means Decimo is delivering a premium experience at a mid-range price. The combination of a meaningful culinary concept, a credentialed chef, a dramatic room, and a DJ-backed evening programme at this price tier is the clearest case for booking. If you are comparing against other King's Cross or Bloomsbury options at a similar spend, Decimo is in a different category of ambition.

The Credentials

Decimo holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, which signals consistent cooking quality that Michelin inspectors consider worth flagging without awarding a full star. The Opinionated About Dining guide, which scores casual European restaurants through aggregated critical opinion, ranked Decimo at #394 in Europe for 2024 and moved it to #450 in 2025 , still a notable position in a survey that covers thousands of venues across the continent. OAD's Casual Europe list is a credible benchmark for exactly the kind of venue Decimo is: a restaurant that delivers serious food in a relaxed, high-energy room. A Google rating of 4.3 across over 1,100 reviews adds volume to the critical signal: this is not a venue that performs for critics and disappoints civilians.

The Case for Booking at ££

The editorial angle here is worth spelling out. London has no shortage of venues that charge ££££ for a Spanish-inflected menu in a designed room. Decimo charges ££ and gives you a room that competes on atmosphere with restaurants charging twice as much. The Michelin Plate and OAD ranking confirm the kitchen is not coasting on the view. For food-focused visitors who want depth of concept, a credible chef, and an experience that does not feel like a budget compromise, Decimo punches above its price category by a meaningful margin.

The caveat is format. If you want a quiet, considered dinner with long gaps between courses and a hushed room, Decimo is the wrong choice. The DJ, the late hours, and the small-plates structure are all pointing in the same direction: this is a venue designed for energy, not contemplation. Go in knowing that, and the experience delivers. Go in expecting Sketch's Lecture Room register and you will be disappointed.

Practical Details

Decimo is at 10 Argyle Street, London WC1H 8EG , the 10th floor of The Standard London. King's Cross St Pancras is the closest station, making it direct to reach from most of central London and directly from the Eurostar terminal. Hours vary by day: Wednesday and Thursday run lunch from noon to 2:30 pm, with evening service from 5 pm (Thursday closing at 1 am). Friday and Saturday match that lunch window, with evenings closing at 2 am. Tuesday is dinner-only, 5 pm to midnight. Monday and Sunday are closed. Booking is rated easy by Pearl's scale , the reservation system is not the obstacle here; the obstacle is the leading tables on a Friday or Saturday night.

Practical Comparison

Explore More London

If Decimo is your entry point to the city's dining scene, it is worth knowing the wider context. Our full London restaurants guide covers the range from casual to multi-starred. For where to stay near King's Cross or across the city, see our London hotels guide. If you are building an itinerary, our London bars guide, London wineries guide, and London experiences guide round out the picture. For destination dining beyond the capital, The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, and Moor Hall in Aughton are the benchmarks. If you are visiting from abroad and want to compare Decimo's ambition against international reference points, Le Bernardin in New York City and Atomix in New York City offer a useful calibration on what serious cooking at different price tiers looks like. For UK regional options, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood are worth knowing.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is Decimo good for solo dining? It works for solo diners, but it is not the format's strongest suit. The small-plates Spanish-Mexican menu is designed for sharing, so you will be ordering fewer dishes and getting less range. The bar seating is the right call if you are going alone , the views and atmosphere carry the experience, and you will spend less than a shared table. If solo dining in London at ££ is the goal, a counter-focused option may give you more interaction with the kitchen.
• What are alternatives to Decimo in London? For Spanish-influenced cooking with similar energy in London, the comparison set is thin at this price point , which is part of Decimo's case. If you want more formal Spanish cooking, you are moving up to ££££ territory. For a similar atmosphere-forward, casual-excellence format, look at what else the London restaurant scene offers in the King's Cross and Bloomsbury area. For a multi-starred alternative where the food is the main event regardless of room, CORE by Clare Smyth is the clearest step up.
• Can Decimo accommodate groups? Groups of four to six are well-suited to the sharing format and the room's energy. Larger groups should contact the venue directly , the 10th-floor layout and the DJ-backed evening programme mean it handles group bookings differently from a traditional restaurant. No phone is listed publicly; use the online booking system and note your group size, or contact The Standard London hotel directly for event or large-group enquiries.
• Is Decimo worth the price? Yes, at ££, Decimo is one of the stronger value arguments in London's current restaurant market. You are getting a Michelin Plate kitchen, an OAD-ranked room, a dramatic 10th-floor space, and an evening programme that competes with venues charging double. The caveats are format: small plates suit two or more diners, and the DJ-driven energy is not right for every occasion. But on a straight value-for-spend calculation, it overdelivers for its tier.
• Is Decimo good for a special occasion? Yes, with a caveat about register. The views, the room design, and the quality of the cooking make it a strong special-occasion choice. But the DJ and the late-night energy mean it reads as celebratory rather than intimate. If the occasion calls for quiet and contemplative, look at Sketch's Lecture Room or Restaurant Gordon Ramsay instead. If the occasion calls for energy and a sense of event, Decimo is a better fit than most of its ££££ peers.
• What should I order at Decimo? The menu is built around Spanish-Mexican small plates drawing on Peter Sanchez-Iglesias's Spanish heritage and time in Mexico. Order across the menu rather than anchoring on one or two dishes , the format is designed for range. Beyond that, specific dish recommendations require verified current menu data that Pearl does not carry. The Michelin Plate recognition and OAD ranking suggest the kitchen's output is consistently worth ordering broadly from, rather than targeting one signature.