By Liz Cahill — February 2, 2012

It’s Sunday afternoon. The extravagances of Saturday night still course mercilessly round your veins. Until now, the thought of eating anything has been a mere fantasy, foiled at each attempt by overwhelming nausea. But then, suddenly – a hunger pang. Finally, it’s time to placate your war-torn insides with some good wholesome grub. But what? And where?

This is the position my housemates and I found ourselves in on one such Sunday. Having decided that a roast dinner was the only viable option to cure our tender tummies, we decided to make the lengthy journey into town to seek out a suitable lunch purveyor. We settled on Harkers, a pub housed in an elegant building on St Helens Square.

With surroundings that were perfectly warm and cosy for our fragile selves, we quickly settled in and made our choices from the various roast dinner options available. Having selected chicken, lamb and beef respectively, we sat back and waited for our meals to arrive. Despite the restaurant being relatively busy, they were brought out in good time – and what meals they were. Plates piled high with meat, potatoes, stuffing, vegetables and a huge Yorkshire pudding were set out in front of us, much to the delight of our eyes and our appetites. Our already lethargic conversation halted completely as our attention was diverted entirely to the veritable feast before us.
The pièce de résistance of the meal, it must be said, was the Yorkshire pudding. Enormous and delicious, it certainly achieved its full Yorkshire potential, and proved very helpful in mopping up any leftover juices at the end. The meat was similarly satisfying; my chicken was succulent and well-seasoned, and they didn’t skimp on quantity – the portion was huge. I was assured that the beef was likewise tasty and filling. One criticism was that the lamb was somewhat fatty, but on the whole was still judged to be well cooked and seasoned, and generally very enjoyable.

The accompaniments were also a great success. The roast potatoes were crisp on the outside whilst wonderfully fluffy on the inside, and very flavoursome. The mashed potato was creamy and salty to exactly the right extent. The stuffing was unremarkable, but still pleasant, and complemented the rest of the meal well.

My main criticism of the meal concerns the vegetables. Paying attention to the way you cook vegetables makes or breaks a roast dinner – getting inventive can completely transform a meal. Disappointingly, whilst the vegetables at Harkers were fresh, they were plain and a little boring. Roasting or frying some of them would not have gone amiss.

Overall, I would highly recommend a roast dinner at Harkers. The quantity and quality of the food served provided excellent value for money. With cosy surroundings and friendly staff, Harkers made for a very pleasant dining experience – and I can vouch for it being perfect for those inevitable Sunday hangovers.