Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith

The perfect weather for a Sunday roast

I had a few jobs to do in the garden today, and when I say a few… I mean A LOT. I’ve decided I’m going to have a delayed 50th birthday party in the garden which gives me a deadline to work to to turn this jungle round but, WOW, it’s chilly out there. It’s the kind of weather that has me wanting to be holed up inside wrapped up warmly (aka lying on the sofa under a duvet) and watching a film or, failing that, firmly planted in a cosy pub eating some good comforting pub grub. And what could be more comforting than a beautiful roast lunch (no no, I know plenty of you will be able to think of things – maybe a pie and mash or, sausages with onion gravy but for now, it’s the roasts I’m dreaming of).

I have to admit that when I think about pub roasts, I think about long walks in the country followed by a long lunch but, without the romance and scene setting of a country escape, when you’re just left with the food… I often find it a little disappointing. I find homecooked is often better. But, there are lots of pubs across London with exceptional food and lemme tell you, they can do a mean roast. One such pub is The WB Yeats N4. Set on the fashion mecca that is Fonthill Road (seriously… check it out if you’ve never been, if only for interest’s sake), it’s a stone’s throw from Finsbury Park underground.

Eating out with an allergy

Increasingly I find it borderline impossible to get a roast lunch out these days, garlic seems to be used in pretty much everything. I always check I can be accommodated before I go somewhere but roasts usually elicit a hard no. So, imagine my delight when I contacted the chef at WB Yeats to ask if he might be able to cope with me and he said yes!! Joy upon joy. I have to caveat this by saying, after all that preamble, I’m not actually headed out for a roast right now, I’m doing even better than that and staying tucked up, going through photos and reminiscing about when I did go, just before Christmas, with the fam, to WB Yeats.

Head chef, Killian Lynch, has worked in kitchens across London and Europe and specialises in classic, seasonal dishes, my kind of food – using beautiful ingredients, often local, and treating them with respect. It’s food that has to be done well to work and he succeeds. I’ve eaten at WB Yeats a few times, usually just a starter of burrata with griddled peaches or, something like that. But, I’ve long wanted to try their Sunday roasts, people rave about them, and finally I have! I wonder how soon I can subject Chef to the challenges of making a tasty gravy and full roast for me again? Thoughts on a postcard.

Eating with my eyes

Horatio and Dan had starters but I’m glad I didn’t as the portions were immense! I’m glad they did though because I always like seeing what the dishes look like, even if it does give me severe FOMO. Oddly, not to mention annoyingly, they both went for the same thing – black pudding with a duck egg and greens. Gotta say it looked delish. I love black pudding.

Horatio had grilled magret duck breast with clementines which looked superb, beautifully pink and juicy. I struggled to not steal a bit but, having had the chef go to the trouble of making me a ‘safe’ meal I decided it would be best not to.

Alex had pork belly with prune puree, I mean… c’mon, how perfect a combination is that. Meltingly soft meat with a deeply sweet yet tangy sauce. I’ve got to try making a version of that.

Dan and I had roast Cumbrian beef, moist, tender, flavoursome, elegant. Everything came with lashings of sides, the biggest Yorkshire puds I’ve seen, really good roast potatoes and a deeply flavoursome gravy. Oh, and we couldn’t resist getting a cauliflower cheese too! Eek. And very glad we did because it was SO good, deeply cheesy and gooey and messy and delightful. Yum.

And we’re not done yet

Surprisingly, most of us had room for pudding too. Horatio and Dan went for the chocolate mousse with poached pear and vanilla ice cream, and I had the baked plum and almond pudding which Chef later told me was a frangipane clafoutis. It was so good I had to shut my eyes to eat it! Another one I’ll be trying to make at home.

Thank you Chef Lynch, really, I always feel so blessed when people go to the trouble to accommodate me, and you did it so well.

WB Yeats is a great local/neighbourhood pub – it has a friendly vibe, I always judge places by how comfortable I feel going in on my own and I’ve always felt good there. They have live music on Saturday evenings, a weekly pub quiz, a good selection of wines and beers and ginormous Apérol Spritzes! Seriously, they’re like buckets. It feels as though it is part of the community and is well worth checking out, even if you’ve only time for a drink.

If you’re booking a table and have an aversion to stools, as I do, make sure to make a note on your booking that you want to be at a table with chairs! Other than that, get booking. Let me know if you do.