An autumn Sunday in Kings Cross is either breezy and forgettable, or breezy and indulgent. The latter is usually found canal side, where The Lighterman overlooks Granary Square – the Everyman cinema just over the green steps, alongside where children would normally be running through fountains. Not when it’s this cold, though. No, when the chill sets in, the only place you want to be is inside a contemporary pub with a suntrap terrace, waiting for your roast dinner.
After a cheeky glass of prosecco and partway through a pint of Harbour Pale Ale, the choice of meat for this week’s roast becomes critical. You could play it safe with corn-fed chicken, or opt for Dexter beef sirloin or 12-hour roasted pork belly. But why choose at all? This isn’t your local, where the best cuts are long gone by the time you sit down. Instead, The Lighterman tempts you with a sharing feast for two (or more). All the meat. All the trimmings. Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, honey-glazed carrots, swede mash, seasonal greens, and a jug of gravy that gets mysteriously refilled when no one’s looking.
But that’s not all. The feast – and it really is one – also includes Guinness pigs in blankets: succulent, playful versions of everyone’s true favourite; chicken stuffing; and short rib & marrow roasties that deserve their own billing entirely. Suddenly, what began as a modest single-plate roast turns into an avalanche of pots, trays and steaming dishes, spread across the table like a pub-luxe banquet.
And then comes the inevitable question: do you have space for dessert? Of course, the answer is a semi-regretful “yes.” The blackberry fool is just light enough to sit atop the mountain of savoury, but still decadent enough to draw a grin. The final bite leaves you wondering how Sundays ever went without this.
