Sitting on a train yesterday, I wondered what would be the first to slide off the side of my plate when we span around the first bend. Only we never seemed to round any corners. I was on the inaugural Eurostar train from Brussels to London St Pancras, and it wasn't how I imagined it would be at all. Joining railway connoisseurs and TV crews to sample a taste of the future on the new service - which is all about speed – I'd envisaged the train hurtling along at full pelt, knocking both minutes off the journey time and my lobster medallion into the Belgian chocolate mousse.

The reality, then, was much more serene and glamorous. I'd started the day in Eurostar's smart business lounge in Brussels. As with the company's other lounges in Waterloo and Paris, it was designed by Philippe Starck who was once earmarked for sprucing up Eurostar's carriage interiors. Sadly, the idea was ditched in favour of in-house designs, and the carriages are now looking their age after a decade of service.

After a champagne reception on the platform, we left at 11.06am on the dot, stopwatches at the ready. I was anticipating a leap to hyper speed, but the acceleration was so smooth I could hardly tell when we were moving through the gears. Soon we were travelling at 186mph - the sort of speeds Lamborghinis would be proud of and 50% quicker than the next fastest train in the UK - but I didn't spill any drink and the cutlery didn't move an inch.

The food was also first class. Eurostar's traditional menu is far more like restaurant service than plane food. The menu varies, but typically for lunch there's a choice of roast beef or fillet of pollack, which you can wash down with Bordeaux wines. They like to keep things local.

We reached the Channel Tunnel in one hour 13 minutes and emerged on to British soil to link up with the new high-speed track. The line is dedicated to Eurostar trains only, so we didn't have to worry about the usual bugbear of being held up by the slow commuter trains going into London.

As we crossed Kent I expected to grind down the gears, but it was top speed all the way and the countryside flashed past as we hurtled towards the chequered flag, passing under the Thames, Dartford Bridge and the M25, then across Rainham marshes and finally through the tunnels of east London. We came in to St Pancras at 11.49am having covered the 232 miles from Brussels in one hour 43 minutes - eight minutes ahead of schedule and over half an hour quicker than it would have taken on the old line.

The most impressive part of the journey though was arriving at the magnificent new terminal building at St Pancras. Enormous blue ironwork arches and 18,000 individual panes of glass cover the ceiling and give the whole building a sense of space, light, precision and grandeur. And that's just the "train shed". When the new terminal opens on November 14, alongside the platform there'll be a "Rendezvous Zone", which will be home to a 95 metre-long champagne bar – Europe's longest. It will be open to all - curious visitors as well as the day's train travellers – with a window on to the platform.

According to Ben Ruse from London and Continental Railways, the company behind the renovation of St Pancras, the idea is to reinvigorate the station as a meeting place, as it was in Victorian times. So they've commissioned a nine metre-high bronze sculpture of a couple embracing under the station clock, and the bar will serve oysters and a range of champagnes to get everyone in the mood. There will also be a "world-class" restaurant, gastro pub, shops and eventually a farmers' market downstairs.

When we arrived into St Pancras, security was tight. Some £5.8bn has been spent on the new high speed line. Unlike the inaugural Paris to London trip last month, the two-hour barrier was smashed easily, and a new record was set for the fastest journey time from Brussels to London. When this was announced over the tannoy by a beaming Eurostar chairman, a jazz band started up and the TV crews surged into action.

I left the terminal with a group of train buffs and looked back at the triumphant scene. "Eurostar," I said cheerfully, "you're a star." No one laughed. They were already on their way out of the exit and into the heart of London, early.