The Lighterman in Camden

Definitely a trendy place, and the prices on drinks reflect that. If it's not raining, the outside area downstairs is decent for people watching along the canal.

Rosy at Lightermans in Coal Drops Yard gave us exceptional service. She was friendly, attentive, and well-informed about the menu, ensuring we had a fantastic dining experience. Her welcoming attitude is why we’ll be back. Highly recommend! The food and atmosphere were excellent. The chateaubriand, shared among three, was cooked to perfection and paired wonderfully with a variety of sides and flatbread.

It is a nice place, but the bar service is a bit slow and the food is expensive.

My daughter and I had a Sunday roast before getting my train back home. We were not disappointed. We were served a generous portion of sirloin beef and the roast potatoes were delicious. My only criticism was that the tables were so close together (about 4cm away from the next table) that we were not able to enjoy a conversation with each other as there was a very loud lady on the next table.

Had a lovely Sunday lunch overlooking the canal and thoroughly enjoyed the sharing roast was perfect as was Rosie’s friendly service!!!😊😊

Food is fairly good and its a great location. But significantly overpriced for the cramped conditions and patchy slow service we experienced on the lower level.

Worst service in the world and terrible music. After trying to get a menu and order a hot drink, it proves to be overload for the staff. Just left without ordering. Sad that a canalside restaurant can be so bad.

Great venue. Decent beers / decent snacks. What more do you want?

Beautiful reviews over the canal, stunning pub

More of a restaurant than a pub. Food was very ordinary. Would rate food quality as average at best. Fish and chips were bland and tasteless, the risotto a bit better. Quite heard to have a conversation a lot of ambient noise. However it was reasonably price for the location.

I go to the lighterman frequently as I live in coal drop yard. Everything about it is great. I stop by for coffee. Sometimes lunch though most of the time for a drink and dinner. The chefs know what they are doing as the food is to a high standard. Great atmosphere with chic surroundings. Pub like atmosphere downstairs with a restaurant feel upstairs. An area to suit all occasions. They even allow my dog. I can’t praise my local enough!

There’s a lot of room for improvement at this place, starting with the service to the food. Everything was fried: from the scampi to the hake, and not specified on the menu. Service wasn’t great neither, very rushed and impatient.

Food was amazing and service from sophie was exceptional. Will come back again!

Sophie, our brilliant waiter, was amazing! Can't wait to come back :)

Walked in last night busy Tuesday evening that’s fine, the blonde girl on the door had the worst attitude when we asked for a table for 2 said the middle floor was full right now but we could try downstairs. We were hungry and agreed, found our way downstairs it was packed managed to order a drink at the bar and asked to order food they said we need to order from a waiter, ok… sat at the table for an hour not once did I see a waiter taking orders or even have one ask if we wanted to order. Then getting ready to leave suddenly a waiter appears and just leaned between us to take the menu and give to someone else, no excuse me or politeness. Funny enough I’d been waiting an hour to order food. Fed up started to leave, went back upstairs and noticed there was loads of empty tables now, went to the host desk and she ignored us again for a good 10 seconds… honestly one of the worst attitudes I’ve ever experienced in a restaurant, asked if we could have a table now as we didn’t get served downstairs, after again looking us up and down a big huff and not a single word she took us to a table… Again waited 10 minutes to order, food was great, service was slow… also how are you serving filtered water in a restaurant in used dirty glass bottles and selling it as still water???? By now the whole experience was just a joke. Paid the bill and left, and “shockingly” not one thank you or goodbye from your lovely staff. In a world where it’s free to be kind and have manners, and also working in the hospitality industry where this should just be the most important “skill” please advise your staff it doesn’t hurt to treat everyone with respect and just a bit of decency.

Fantastic food, excellent company, attentive staff service. Good time between course's

Had a lovely lunch. Will definitely come again. Good menu with a good choice for both vegetarians and meat eater.

4 is my benchmark for a lovely night out and a 5 is awarded for exemplary. The service was so welcoming and friendly I can't say how comfortable I felt. Go here people!

The 1st time I went there the food was good but the service was bad. They promptly followed up and apologized. Maybe they had a bad day? So I went back the next day for lunch and I had a great experience. The watermelon fizz doesn't have too much alchohol & is refreshing. The butternut squash flatbread is amazing: crispy thin dough. & the real show stopper: the carpaccio. One of the best I've had. Sunday roast and chicken salad were good.

Visited with 7 colleagues for a leaving do. The queue for the bar was dreadful, with only 2 guys working and struggling with the orders. Went upstairs and ordered our food, but even then, the orders were messed up. The flatbreads arrived, but the fries took over 30 minutes to arrive... these are fries, nothing exotic but still ridiculously poor response when we asked where they were "they'll be here when they are"! Dreadful.

Nice for sitting in the beer garden by the river.

Lovely sunday lunch. The roast beef was excellent.

First diner in London. Friendly, nice venue but overpriced. OK food, nothing special, loud restaurant, bad accoustics…

This is one of those modern and trendy places: but modern and trendy isn't necessarily good. The bar area serves several varieties of that unpleasantly hoppy craft beer that is so in fashion nowadays, but there is also Guinness so not so bad... service at the bar was fairly quick and there is plenty of seating. Unfortunately one of the waiters delivering food insisted on pushing his way between tables as a shortcut rather than going round and avoiding bumping into the customers. Very annoying, and it only takes something small like this to ruin an evening. The restaurant on the top floor was very noisy, with three large groups and several children. The waiting staff took orders and delivered drinks fairly promptly. However, several 'extra' items were no longer available, such as vegetables to go with the roast dinner. Cost control in the kitchen! Presumably to encourage customers to order (and pay for) more food, the main courses were tiny, served on small plates. The food itself was disappointing - for instance, a 2" square piece of fish served with a spoonful of Bird's Eye peas and some lukewarm chewy fries was OK but not worth the price. Granary Square itself is an excellent development of a previously derelict area: I will probably visit there again, but I won't be calling by this place.

Nice enough pub. Reasonable selection of beers. A bit overpriced but I guess that's cos of the good location and it's a bit fancier than the average pub. Not an amazing atmosphere but busy enough on a Sunday evening to not be dead!

Tasty roast beef Sunday lunch with huge Yorkshire pud

I went here during the week without a reservation and was able to get a table even though mostly everything was booked, staff where lovely and accommodating, food excellent house white was gorgeous will definitely be going again. Aka jolly jeff....

Always an outstanding experience.

Quick to get a table, staff were all really friendly - our server was great. Ordered the sirloin steak and hated it - over cooked and had a funny taste, peppercorn sauce was overpowering - very disappointed for £32. Ordered bread, was a loaf the size of my fist and was shocked to see it was £6!! Don't think I would go back.

Had a really lovely experience at The Lighterman. Shout out to the wine list (lovely reds), the outdoor and indoor seating, the outdoor heating, smoking areas, lovely spacious clean well-scented bathrooms, and the lovely flatbreads. Open fairly late on a Sunday too. Major props. Here’s hoping my date likes me enough for us to end up back here one day.

Very upmarket gastropub. Excellent service, good range of beers, wines and food.

Couldn't get food so just had a few drinks. Service was average but the atmosphere was nice.

I was here for a drink after dinner and the atmosphere here is why it’s so crowded. Didn’t have food.

We had great time at the lighterman. we were welcomed by Mr John and were sat on a very nice table with nice view. Mr Rahat served us and made sure that everything was served nicely. very nice delicious tasty food and great experience.

This place had got better recently but they’ve changed their menu again. They’ve got 10 main course options - and only one of them is vegetarian (& it’s mushroom risotto which is a ‘00s offering 🙄). Come on… you can do better than this - even the regular plant burger + risotto would be a step up from what they’re currently offering. Sigh.

Went here for a dinner before my train, Had a chorizo flatbread and chips. Louis/Lewis our waiter was so amazing, funny and made sure our experience was good. He was so fun to talk to, and considerate of our allergies. Will definitely return

Great venue with amazing service. Shout out to Rahat our waiter who was pleasant all evening. Food was decent with good variety of options to suit dietary requirements.

We arrived in London Pancras International train station and were starving so we walked and stumbled upon this place which was happening. There were so many people inside and outside so we decided to try it out. Nothing special but the view and patio seating is great, that’s about it. Food is typical pub food, service was slow, patio was dirty (fries, napkin and garbage on the floor everywhere). The staff looked overworked and unhappy.

Stupendous gastropub overlooking the canal in a trendy location

The sirloin was absolutely delicious. Best steak I've ever eaten! Super.

Really busy bar full of nice people all having after work drinks.

We came for brunch and had the most wonderful service. Our server Fatma was attentive, kind, and smiley throughout our meal. 10/10 experience! Thank you Fatma ! :)

Just popped in for some light bites which were lovely. Service excellent and friendly.

Nice place,polite staff,nice view at Regent's Canal

I was seated at a table, I ordered, the food arrived so late. The food was overcooked. I found a piece of hair in my food. I witnessed a scene which disrupted my good mood, where the waiter was scolded by the manager, which I don't find appropriate because there should be no screaming or public humiliation in the restaurant.

The most amazing brunch in London

My older parents and my daughter and I had a wonderful evening and meal. Our server Rahat set a lovely, warm tone: he was attentive, interesting and kind. We enjoyed ourselves very much and especially want to thank and commend Rahat for his service.

I wouldn't even rate this 1 star, staff rude, ponsy place, not worth it at all!! Definitely won't be back!

Very nice, good service bit noisy.

Lewis was an absolute gem; he made sure my experience was flawless, from walking in, to dining out. What an individual experience

Food was good. Nothing over the top. The vibe and building are incredible. Kinda expensive for what you get.

I went there for my colleague's leaving do. We booked with a deposit and they booked us at the wrong place which we thought was very poor of them. As we had to be in the general area, rather than a private function room, it was very difficult to have a conversation with everyone. The general area is very echoey and noisy with other customers. The food was nice (I ordered tuna and chocolate mousse) but very expensive for what you get. I understand that everything is super expensive around King's X nowadays but we weren't impressed about the experience at all. I won't go there again for either work or private use.

This is an incredibly stunning location, the space is beautiful, tastefully decorated, and is near the canal. However, even though the Beaty of it is important, there needs to be more to elevate the whole experience. I ordered the monkfish scampi nuggets and the flatbread with shrimps, harissa and chives to start with, filled by the lamb cutlets. The 2 starters I ordered were ok but unremarkable, not very tasty at all, bordering on a lack of salt in both dishes. The best was the lamb cutlets that really saved the day . The service is ok, although not very prompt, despite of the fact this was lunchtime and it was not bust at all. It is a pity because the space, the location, everything is stunningly beautiful, but the food and service do need to match the location. I’m a dessert person, but I did not order one because I was not certain it was going to be good, and I preferred to finish on the high of the main course.

First of all I will start with this …. How can you run out of Sunday lunch on a Sunday?! I booked this restaurant specifically for their Sunday dinner, booked a table for 6pm, went to order and was told we’ve ran out of the vegetarian Sunday roast but we do have a flatbread for you. I didn’t want a flatbread!! They had also run out of cauliflower cheese and stuffing so my boyfriend who did manage to get a roast (the beef which was the only roast out of 3 they had on their menu) couldn’t get the sides he wanted to go with it. If you have reservations for a Sunday, my guess is the majority are going to go for the roast, so it’s easy to plan ahead and know how many roasts you need. Disappointing, the service was okay, drinks expensive and we were sat next to a large noisy table and we couldn’t hear ourselves talk. Wouldn’t return which is a shame as the view and area are lovely.

Amazing place! Big thanks to V the waiter! Made our day! Thank you x

Great service from V, atmosphere and music was spot on.

A great place for brunch in Kings Cross.

Dropped in for a couple of glasses of wine. Good atmosphere and very nice location by the canal. Must visit again.

The food and service were okay here, but the experience was overshadowed with the poor accessibility and disability provisions in the bathroom. It seems that the staff use the bathroom for their breaks / as their bathroom so my disabled mother had to wait ages before a staff member with their phone walked out. On entering, the toilet was positioned so low it was degrading for my Mother to be able to independently sit down, it’s simply not fit for purpose. We’ve never seen anything like it.

First visit and was very impressed! Lovely experience. Lovely setting overlooking square with floor fountains. The food was delicious and the staff polite and attentive!

Our waiter was outstanding, and the staff ensured we were seated promptly, even on a busy Saturday night. We appreciated the welcoming ambiance and attentive service. However, the food didn't quite meet our expectations. Among the seven of us, the fish and chips was good, and the schnitzel was unfortunately very dry, tasteless and tough to eat. I think its a safer bet to go here for drinks and chips/nibbles, not so much for a meal.

Spacious, outdoor-indoor and canal view seating. A good range of drinks from draft beer to cocktails. Food menu is classic and bit pricy.

Ideal location for Kings Cross and St Pancras. Very nice menu. Good seafood choices. Good service as well.

Location was amazing an price-quality balance was great. If you are looking for a good lunch in a London hotspot this restaurant is great. Simpel dishes but exacrly what you need on a busy touristy day

Visited on a busy Saturday. Very nice venue and location, we sat outside. Biggest problem was the food. Our table ordered chateaubriand and a rump steak. The portion sizes were very all small, considering the expensive prices. All cuts of beef were small, very chewy, poorly cooked and bland. Just really not worth the price. We left hungry sadly. Staff were all friendly, if a little unpolished for a relatively fancy place with high prices.

Not much variety, especially if you are a fussy/picky eater. Had the flatbread which was very nice.

Had some drinks in the sunshine earlier this week. When paying for our food and drinks, we were informed that all tips go to management. The waitstaff only receives cash tips.

I went there had an amazing time. The bartender, pedro was really nice and was really friendly and made the best drinks. I’d recommend this place to everyone and look for pedro because he’s gonna make u have the best night ever

Trendy spot right along the canal. We visited the Book Barge and ate here afterwards. Modern Pub Atmosphere with good selection of seafood and beef dishes. A little pricey but nothing felt unreasonable. If you're in the area and looking for higher end Pub Food, stop in and check them out.

Went Sat 7th Sept. Had a good time. Have Camden Ale and Purity IPA on tap. Double cooked chips are Nice as a snack. Nice outdoor area (with heaters), when weather is nice. RECOMMEND.

We had a fabulous evening at the Lighterman pub restaurant- delicious cocktails, stunning food, excellent service and a great atmosphere- we will be back!

Beautiful view of the canal. Quiet and an amazing summers day outing!

Was here for a work event. The venue is very nice, great location for views, and friendly staff.

I was recommended The Lighterman by American Express Centurion who contacted them on my behalf to make the booking. From the get-go they were told that 'this was an important business meeting' and it would be just drinks. I arrived and was told that they only took bookings for food and drinks. After a bit of fuss (in from of my client) they relented and gave us a table next to the noisy, smelly kitchen. Apparently it wasn't possible to stop own the terrace due to safety issues although there were guest up there. The service was poor - don't fall for the tap water (no charge), filtered water (charge) trick. Worst of all I was overcharged. After brining the wrong bill, they bought another one which I stupidly didn't check. Rather than just a single bottle of champagne (£77 plus filtered water), they charged us for an additional glass (£14). So avoid. The atmosphere is awful and there are far better places a stones throw away.

Great location, lovely clean restaurant. Staff were friendly and helpful. Food was delicious, will be returning

Great place to stop for a drink or unexpected dinner.

Where do I start ! Other reviews noting 4/5 stars make me question my own sanity/experience . The interior is drab and cramped . Tables crowded together , no atmosphere whatsoever. Chicken salad was at best a disgrace ....and charged £19.00.!!! Staff were just about ok/average . The only saving grace that its in a great location so I suppose it relies on that . All in all food dreadful , service average and interior drab and zero atmosphere . Not for me but I suppose others have different expectations .

We arrived here for a drink; downstairs is the bar, and upstairs is the restaurant area. The bar garden was packed out, but we easily found somewhere to sit. Nice views of the canal, very picturesque.

Great location, fantastic atmosphere, really good food.

Amazing experience here, highly recommend!!

Only had a drink but it was a decent place

Have been coming to the Lighterman for years with friends for drinks along the canal, it’s a great spot for that. Decided to try out the food and visited with a party of 4, we had a table out on the roof terrace which may have been the reason for my slight concerns. The table itself was excellent, looking over the square outside Central St Martins. However, we felt that frustratingly the outside tables were left a little to their own devices and service was not nearly as quick as you would have hoped. This is a relatively small issue given the food itself was actually incredibly good for what we had thought would be pub standard. One thing to add was that the server called V almost entirely made up for the experience, such as nice guy and really good server. The chorizo flatbread, beef carpaccio and hake & chips are all highly recommended - could not fault any of the courses and as a result would definitely go back even with the slightly slow service. All round, if you can get a table on a sunny day out on the balcony then this place is a great shout for a group of friends to catch up at. Good wine list, great selection of beers and excellent food. In terms of price, I would say to expect anywhere between £40 - £80 pp depending on your choice of wine / drinks.

A very good drinking / eating spot right on Granary Square, with attentive and friendly service and a decent wine list. The food was a little overpriced for what you get, and the menu is sparse, but tasty nonetheless.

Writing this review as I sit here, frustrated by the service. Despite our repeated attempts to order, the waitress consistently ignored us, making the experience even more disappointing. Her demeanor was cold and unapproachable, and she barely attended to our table. We eventually had to approach the kitchen just to place our order, and even then, she turned away until one of my friends had to raise her arm to finally get her attention. To make matters worse, they still had the nerve to include a service charge on top of all this.

Terrible table service for food. Servers pointedly ignore you and still impose a completely unearned service charge.

Lovely breakfast on the balcony overlooking Granary Square. Had the sweetcorn fritters which were fab. Staff were attentive without being overbearing. Great value. Lovely experience

Good place although trying to get a coffee was hard work "A decaff Americano please" Not a difficult question one would think!!

Nice views in Granary Square, but portion sizes for the prices were v poor value. Good and friendly service. This is my second visit but o won’t return as there is better value elsewhere in this great area of London

Great location, but the service is a joke and it will cost you a fortune

Great place to end a lovely Saturday put with evening drinks by the canal.

Nice spot to have lunch. Friendly service. Food was a bit tasteless

Had a lovely meal with friends here on Monday night. Great atmosphere and we would definitely come back. The Spiced margarita was amazing!

A delightful place to enjoy your drinks with your friends and family. Excellent service

Was very busy but got a table and had a few drinks and snacks outside. Nice place

Great spot buzzing reasonably priced great view setting by the regents canal

It was a great experience, lovely food and excellent services. Specially the manager Jon and his staff were really friendly. Great day out to celebrate London sunny day😎👌.

Service and atmosphere is great! Good veggie options

**PLEASE READ** I would like to say that this place has immense potential, but on our visit with a party of 11 they fell short on various aspects. I found the food prices slightly excessive and the food quality very mediocre. Portion sizes for some dishes are reasonable and for others it was abysmal. Service was awful. Very long waits for drinks orders, we needed to confirm how many of a certain dish we needed to order, and we were still OVERCHARGED on the bill for a dish we didn’t order. I believe they are abusing the location to maximise profits and not focusing on the core of the purpose of a gastropub; to offer good quality food, good service for a good price. I urge you all to attend to for drinks as then venue is lovely, BUT PLEASE be outspoken about anything you’re unhappy with. They’ve been getting away with it for too long.

12.5 % discretionary tax exempted service charge. We got up and left. Raise prices instead of guilt-tripping customers. This is NOT advertised on the outside menu. Shame.

Good place to meet after work. The downside is you have to order food to sit on level 1.