It’s hard to believe two years have passed since the grand Gilbert Scott restaurant opened within the lavishly restored St Pancras station but, as the Latin’s would say, Tempus Fugit.

And 48 months down the line, Marcus Wareing and his team have decided to give the place a bit of a kick up the backside; including new brunch and cocktail menus and a lovely little gin garden outside the Euston Road entrance.

But the chief change is the al la carte menu, which has leant away from fine dining while still letting you eat in the opulent surroundings of this venerable old building.

That said, though the food is definitely more stripped back, don’t expect this to be a cheap snack.

But it’s a lovely place to eat – high ceilings, period furnishings, even a live piano player tinkling away as we settled into our starters.

The snails with garlic and marrow were full of rich, dense flavour, if a touch on the oily side. Meanwhile the duck ham salad was a great balance of smoky meat and leaves and the fishcake was tasty but enormous; it could have been main in itself.

Speaking of mains – the burger was classic of its type; crisp bun, tender patty, and great relish, as was the sirloin; a large succulent cut with a good heel of fat adding lots of flavour with a buttery mushroom and brandy sauce.

Our schnitzel was a let down – a dry breaded escalope with an overdone fried egg; add beans and it wouldn’t look out of place at a Happy Eater.

The desserts were delicate and included the curious Mrs Beeton’s Snow Egg (a whipped up mixture of marmalade, custard and almonds) and the sommelier has created a great wine list.

The Gilbert Scott is impressive, and the food is generally very good. But despite the recent menu re-vamp, it’s still in the special occasion bracket.