Food and Drink

The Lighthouse

Above: The Lighthouse

This pub seems to have changed hands more often than Battersea Power Station. Its latest incarnation is as The Lighthouse, a stylish and comfortable gastro pub with a garden to match. The interior design is a step forward from the neutral coloured days and is decorated with an eclectic mix of ornaments, pictures and colours. The furniture is worn and unpredictable, with faded leather sofas, distressed wood tables and reclaimed church chairs. This informal mix of styles, together with some dependable Norah Jones-like music, gives The Lighthouse a homely warmth which attracts a varied clientele. The menu meanwhile is undeniably British, peppered with North Atlantic prawns, Welsh rarebit, Devon crab and steak with watercress. The crab is a fine find, providing a delicate and refreshing light bite that suggests there is an ambition in the kitchen to go beyond the spring rolls and potato wedge starters that seem to be the mainstay of many ‘Gastro’ pubs. More substantial meals are provided by the homemade chicken, leek and tarragon pie or whole roasted sea bream with fennel, rocket and orange salad. Indeed, it’s another notable aspect of this creative menu that fish and meat are almost equally represented. The wines too are an eclectic mix, with more French grapes featured than are normally found and reasonably priced too, which is even more unusual. In all, this is one lighthouse worth making for.