The Lighterman
Open House London put three floors of glass over the Regent's Canal at Granary Square and named the pub for the lightermen who worked the flat-bottomed barges below. There is no cask on the bar.1
Why go
For the water and the terrace, and the entry will not pretend otherwise. The ground floor carries high tables and stools by the bar and is mostly laid for eating; the canal-side bar upstairs is the drinking room and opens later, from 4.30pm Tuesday to Thursday, from noon on Friday and from 11am at the weekend. Food runs from opening until late.1
CAMRA's surveyors have found no real ale here since March 2023 and checked again in June 2024. A visitor in May 2022 found a single cask, Five Points Pale, with a Brick Peckham Pale on the list and not pouring. Since then the record says Cask Ale not available
, so come for keg and know it before you walk in.1
Nobody has written about a dish here in any source this project accepts, which is the honest limit of what follows.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a seat on the canal side. That is what Harden's reporters say you are actually buying.2
- Order: keg. Cask has not been on since at least March 2023.
- Avoid: planning a conversation at a busy hour. CAMRA's surveyor names the cause:
the low ceiling and industrial-chic decor cause the sound of voices to reverberate, exacerbated by the somewhat unnecessary booming bass from the speakers.
1 - Avoid: arriving with cash. Card only, table service at every seat.
What locals & experts say
- Harden's survey reporters, on the gap between the setting and the plate:
It avoids harsh critiques, but feedback generally makes it clear that the location is better than the dining experience.
2 - The same survey, both halves, from the previous year: "A great location on the canal with lots of outdoor seating" and "interesting views of the new developments around King's Cross" are "the trump cards", while "the food is fairly standard pub fodder and it can just be too much, too busy, too noisy."
- CAMRA's branch record puts the beer question beyond doubt for anybody making the trip for a pint:
Cask Ale not available.
1
Good to know
- Where: 3 Granary Square N1C 4BH, on the canal behind King's Cross station.
- Hours: Monday to Thursday noon to 11.30pm, Friday noon to midnight, Saturday 10am to midnight, Sunday 10am to 10.30pm.2
- Service: table service only, card only, 12.5% service charge added.
- Operator: Open House London Ltd.1
- Wine: bottles from £28.
- The name: lightermen moved cargo on the canals and river in unpowered barges called lighters, and King's Cross was where a lot of it landed.
Verdict
could-visit — Open House London built three floors of glass over the Regent's Canal at Granary Square and named the pub for the lightermen who worked the flat-bottomed barges on these waterways. The canal side is the reason to come and the reason is not the kitchen: Harden's reporters keep landing in the same place, that the location is better than the dining experience and the food is standard pub fodder. There is no cask, and CAMRA has said so twice, in March 2023 and again in June 2024. It is table service at every seat and card only. CAMRA's surveyor also explains the noise properly, a low ceiling and hard industrial surfaces bouncing voices around with the speakers underneath them, which is a fair warning for anybody planning a conversation. Go on a warm afternoon for the terrace and the water, order a keg pint, and eat where the cooking is the point.