German Gymnasium King's Cross Beer Hall: Oompah Fridays

German Gymnasium is a beer hall inside the building that hosted London's first indoor Olympic Games in 1866, on King's Boulevard, King's Cross, London N1C 4BU, two minutes on foot from King's Cross St Pancras. It opens at 8am on weekdays, serves Warsteiner Pilsener at £7.50 a pint or £14.50 for a one-litre Maßkrug, and during Oktoberfest a live oompah band plays every Friday night under a ceiling that rises 57 feet above the tables.

The building came before the beer. According to the restaurant's own history page, the architect Edward Gruning designed it as England's first purpose-built gymnasium, funded entirely by London's German community, and it opened in 1865 for the German Gymnastics Society. The bar menu adds that the society itself was founded in 1861 by Ernst Ravenstein. The main exercise hall once echoed with Indian club swinging and broadsword practice.

After the gymnasium closed, the hall spent decades as offices, storage and an arts and exhibition space. The current operator took over in January 2014 and, with the designers Conran and Partners, opened it as a German restaurant and bar in November 2015. The following year it was voted Most Beautiful Restaurant in the World at the 2016 Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, and the exposed timber trusses and iron columns are why.

This is the polished end of London's beer hall scene. The ground floor is an all-day Grand Café laid out across the old exercise hall beneath the vaulted ceiling, and the first-floor Meister Bar wraps around the top as a gallery, so drinkers upstairs look down on the diners. The bar is open seven days a week, serving coffee in the morning and cocktails, German beers and wines at night.

Outside, there are alfresco terraces for summer lunches and after-work drinks. The FAQ is clear that the terrace takes walk-ins without a booking, which makes it the easiest seat in the house on a dry evening. The groups page lists business lunches, drinks receptions and private celebrations as its regular trade, so on a weekday the room fills with King's Cross office tables, while weekends bring families and friends lingering over cake and steins under the same high roof.

During the Oktoberfest season the hall changes gear. The events page promises live oompah performances, Bavarian singalongs and plenty of stein-raising on Fridays throughout the festival, along with a seasonal menu of Bavarian Spezialitäten from the executive head chef, Alex. Friday is the night to book if you want the beer hall atmosphere. On any other evening the room feels more like a Viennese café than a Munich tent.

The Oktoberfest card leans on Bavarian classics. The Bayrische Schweinshaxe, a cured and grilled giant pork knuckle with sauerkraut, a potato dumpling and beer jus, costs £35.50 and is built for two. Nürnberger Rostbratwürste with sauerkraut, mash and sweet mustard cost £19.50, and the Bayrischer Wurstsalat, a smoked sausage salad with gherkins and radish, is £12. For a snack at the bar, a Brezel with butter is £5.

The menu prints its own schnitzel manifesto: a good Wiener Schnitzel must be fluffy, golden and slightly wavy, with the crust allowed to separate from the meat. The veal Wiener Schnitzel costs £32.50 with warm potato salad and lingonberry compote, and it is the one dish worth the price premium here. The chicken version at £24.50 is fine but forgettable, so spend the extra or order the pork Schnitzel Holstein at £25.50, topped with a fried egg, capers and anchovies.

On draught, the house pours are Flensburger Lager and Warsteiner Pilsener at £7.50 a pint and König Ludwig Weissbier at £8.50, with every draught also sold as a Maßkrug double pint. The bottle list is where beer people should look: Schlenkerla smoked beer from Bamberg, Früh Kölsch, Augustiner Helles and Ayinger Dunkel, each £8 for 500ml. Prices include VAT, and a discretionary 13.5% service charge is added to the bill.

German Gymnasium takes card only, with no cash accepted, and it is fully accessible with lift access to every guest area. Dogs are welcome as long as they stay on the floor and are not fed from the table. Bookings cancelled less than 24 hours ahead incur a charge of £25 per person for parties of two or more from Tuesday to Saturday, so do not double-book across town on an Oktoberfest Friday.

Groups of 13 or more go through the events team rather than the online system. If the Friday slots are full, the realistic Plan B is the terrace for an early walk-in pint, followed by a seat at the Meister Bar once the dinner rush thins. For a louder, cheaper bench-table night, the Bermondsey Bierkeller at London Bridge runs its own oompah Fridays and is about twenty minutes away on the Northern line.

The neighbourhood is one of the best reasons to come early. Walk north along King's Boulevard to Granary Square, where the fountains run between the steps down to Regent's Canal, then cut through Coal Drops Yard, the restored Victorian coal sheds now lined with independent shops. The towpath heading east toward Islington is flat and quiet on a weekday afternoon.

If you are arriving by Eurostar, St Pancras International is a three-minute walk, and the Betjeman statue under the station's glass roof is the classic photo stop before or after a stein. Euston is ten minutes on foot for anyone heading north afterwards. The station area stays busy late, so a Saturday table that runs toward the 1am close is still an easy trip home.

Address: German Gymnasium, King's Boulevard, King's Cross, London N1C 4BU. Hours: Monday and Tuesday 8am to 11pm, Wednesday to Friday 8am to 12am, Saturday 9am to 1am, Sunday 10am to 11pm. Nearest Underground: King's Cross St Pancras on the Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines, using the Regent's Canal exit.

Reservations can be made online or by email at reservationsgg@germangymnasium.com. Afternoon is the time for Kaffee und Kuchen, with baked cheesecake at £9 and Sachertorte at £8.50. There is no dress code, the restaurant caters for allergies when told at the table, and members of the Evolv Rewards scheme earn points worth 10% of what they spend.