The best Sunday roasts in London

Big-hearted, meaty British dishes are given full rein at this sibling of The Camberwell Arms – especially on Sundays. You can drop by and get stuck into a plate of rare roast Dexter beef with carrots, roasties and watercress, but why not go big, bring some mates and share the spoils from the showpiece saltmarsh lamb shoulder, cooked for seven hours and served with potato and olive oil gratin? It should feed up to five famished souls, but beware – it’s fall-off-the-bone stuff and it sells out quickly. After that, you might just have room for a helping of apple and maple syrup pudding with custard. The pub’s hugely popular and doesn’t take bookings, so be sure to get there early.

This one means business. The Quality Chop House is a slice of delicious London history, a 150+ year old Victorian dining room in the centre of town with a magnificent meaty menu. On Sundays they pull out all the stops with a set roast menu with three courses for a pricey £55. Pick from sweet starters such as crispy pig’s head with sauce gribiche before getting stuck into the main event. Add on QCH's legendary confit potatoes for an extra £8 and finish up with a decadent drunken pecan tart. For atmosphere, nothing comes close. 

If you like your Sunday lunches big and bold, the Marksman on Hackney Road is bang on target – whether you plump for the bar’s polished oak surrounds and green leather banquettes or graduate to the strikingly modern first-floor dining room. It’s not cheap, but you’re paying for the calibre of the cooking. Check it out by ordering the Hereford beef rump with a Yorkshire pudding so big it threatens to eat you first. Otherwise, go down the sharing route by bagging a whole roast chicken or a full Hereford wing rib with all the trimmings. You can get extra helpings of roasties and buttered greens, while pud might be brown butter and honey tart.

We get it, you’ve had plenty of Sunday lunches, but you haven't seen it all until you’ve tried the Asian-inspired roast at Ling Ling’s, a modern Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant with a permanent residency at beloved Hackney pub The Gun. Options for your centrepiece include a five-spiced braised pork belly, Korean-inspired glass skin chicken, and even a whole seabass. They’re all served with roasties, a huge sesame Yorkshire pudding, nori mustard, garlic panko, miso gravy and veggies. The best part? You can get a hash brown topped with sichuan tofu cream and fish roe to start. Obviously you should also opt for Ling Ling’s famous poached wontons too. You heard us. Hash browns, wontons and a roast. It works. 

Looking for an all-vegan roast with a heavy metal twist? Then it's off to Camden's Black Heart with you. This divey rock pub's food comes courtesy of the Bristol-born LD’s Kitchen and features a full plant-based offering every Sunday until 6pm. Try 'pork' tofu belly, beef style steak or a chicken-ish main, complete with garlic and rosemary roasties, collard greens with garlic, roasted sweet potato, swede and basil puree, creamy mustard leeks and spinach, maple and fennel glazed carrots and a crispy yorkshire pud. Don't forget the southern-style Guinness gravy. Cauliflower 'cheeze' comes as extra. 

If it's spectacular surroundings you're after, then you can't do better than the lavish Booking Office 1869. This used to be the spot to get your train tickets and now it's a fabulous, 1930s-style brasserie, complete with palm trees set against the original building's grand Gothic architecture. Sunday roasts are a fun, two or three course affair with cured salmon or beetroot hummus to start, followed by chicken, rib-eye or a braised butternut squash for the main event. Roasties are crisp as anything and yorkshire puddings bigger than average. A Sunday lunch to impress.  

Home to one of north London’s most photogenic dining rooms, the Old Queen’s Head can also now boast one of the area’s most accomplished and rewarding Sunday roasts. When we visited, the leg of lamb was expertly prepared and served with loads of delicious trimmings (which included the eternal favourite: honey-glazed carrots). Air-punchingly good food, complemented by a bouncy, fun atmosphere and very polite, obliging staff.

This Stokey beer nerd paradise is also home to one of N16's best roasts (and this is an area absolutely drowning in them). Fennel porchetta, vegan nut roast, free-range chicken and beef topside are all on offer, with sides of cauliflower cheese, and extra roasties an option too. They also do Negronis on tap, and Four Roses picklebacks, if you need a solid Sunday sharpener. 

You can't help but feel like you're bang in the middle of town at this extremely central branch of the ever-popular meat mecca. The Art Deco-ish upstairs dining room is big, roomy and especially boomy (big, cheerful groups and birthday dates et al) on a Sunday, but their revamped roast dinner unparalleled. The meat (roast beef is your only option) comes with extra crispy beef-dripping roast potatoes, a giant yorkshire, carrots, greens, gravy and a head of roasted garlic as standard, but added extras include a phenomenal sausage stuffing, sweet Madeira shallots and bite-sized chunks of roasted bone marrow. Drinks-wise, the Bloody Mary is great, but the zingy and refreshing Green Snapper (made with green tomato juice, jalepeno, lime and pea vodka) is even better. What's not to like? 

A bright gastropub on the outskirts of Angel, The Pig & Butcher is meticulous about meat, sourcing rare-breed lamb, pork, beef, chicken and specialist cuts with care, butchering the carcases on site and serving them up with gusto. For around £25, you get a bountiful portion of meat cooked perfectly – rare for lamb and beef – atop freshly steamed greens, crisp beef-dripping roasties and Yorkshire pudding. They don’t skimp on gravy, plus all orders come with cauliflower cheese as standard. This is roasting as an art form.

The well-proportioned Camberwell Arms famously takes the classic Sunday roast and moves it up a gear, with things like scotch bonnet on toast giving way to eclectic starters such as celeriac, tarragon and caper fritters with almond aïoli. The main event is a choice of five roasts (usually spit-roasted chicken, roast pork belly, braised lamb, lamb steak or dry-aged hereford beef) served for two people to share, plus something a bit different – perhaps a pie or some seasonal game. For afters, ice creams, sorbets and cheeses are on hand for those who still have room to spare. The pub’s pared-back, 1940s brasserie aesthetic – pastel walls, bare tables, dangly lights and salvaged furniture – goes well with the no-nonsense service, daily changing guest ales and fairly priced wine list.

Officially Fulham’s worst-kept secret, this terrific gastropub gets booked up weeks in advance – you could be looking at a month-long wait for a Sunday lunch table. However, patience brings its own rewards in the form of sharing roasts made up of slow cooked fallow deer and loin and jowl of Cumbrian pork. There are also starters such as venison pâté en croûte and fine puds like mandarin trifle. At £65 a head it isn't cheap (or two courses for £50), but remember, this is a Michelin-starred spot. 

It’s named after a song by The Strokes, there are vinyl sleeves on the walls and the tables are all scuffed up, but it’s quality all the way at this near-flawless solo venture from chef James Cochran (ex-The Ledbury and the Harwood Arms). Sunday lunch consists of just one mighty plateful for £28 per person. Expect something like a 42-day aged sirloin with beef dripping roast potatoes, carrot puree, chargrilled hispi cabbage, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings and smoked bone marrow gravy. It doesn’t serve this meaty extravaganza for singletons, so team up with a mate or a date.

A relatively recent addition to Camden’s famous pub scene, the Farrier puts most of the neighbourhood’s foodie boozers to shame. Expect high-quality food in a welcoming, warm environment. The Sunday roast is one of the best we’ve had for ages, with the beef and chicken cooked to perfection and all all the trimmings bang on the money. 

Most Londoners know the Spaniards Inn – it’s been a feature of Hampstead Heath since 1585, with Keats and Dickens both former quaffers. It's atmospheric as you’d hope, with dark panels and low beams stretching through the bar and restaurant rooms. It's also the perfect place for a post Heath stroll roast, with sharing beef, chicken and pork belly options, with pigs in blankets on the side; as well as the feeling that you're dining in a slightly haunted house. 

You’d expect a trendy British chophouse to be clued up when it comes to Sunday roasts, and Blacklock really nails it – serving up the kind of nostalgic grub that your nan might produce for the family. Of course, it’s brought the whole shebang up to date, adding a touch of theatre by slow-roasting whole joints over open coals (not the way nan would do it!) and providing a choice of three meats – usually beef, pork or lamb, as well as a veggie option. All the trimmings are present and correct (the gravy is off the scale for flavour) and portions are strictly family-sized, right down to the cheesecake for afters. Blacklock’s outlets in Soho and the City and Covent Garden offer a similar menu.

This pub first opened its doors in 1854 and it's been lovingly refurbished again and again since. At the moment it has a charming light and airy feel to it thanks to the huge windows, an easy-access central bar, a seasonal pub grub menu and regular events. Roasts are a decadent affair, with veggie and vegan haggis options, skin-on fries, and a hearty helping of seasonal veg. 

Don’t be put off by the stylishly spartan interiors of this converted butcher’s shop, because Tom Pemberton’s big-boned British cooking provides all the visual nourishment you'll need. Mr P started out working for the groundbreaking St John Bread & Wine, and the ‘nose-to-tail’ influence of hero owner Fergus Henderson is apparent when it comes to sourcing and handling ingredients (humble or otherwise). On Sundays, there’s always a roast – usually a forerib of beef with Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes, roast parsnips and gravy, or perhaps roast Middle White pork with apple sauce and all the trimmings, plus more adventurous options such as mutton and game when in season. Try to bag a booth in the no-frills dining room.

In the backstreets of Leyton and off the beaten track, the Heathcote & Star doesn't just boast the biggest bear garden in the area, but a killer Sunday roast. After Thai street food heroes Krapow! finish up for the week, the Sunday squad serve up a punchy ribeye, pork belly, chicken or vegan nut roast. Good at 12pm, and good at 4pm – the sign of true roast quality.

This backstreet Stokey local does a fine trade in the best meal of the week. Pork, chicken and beef are the meat options, but there's also a mushroom, spinach and feta wellington. Everything comes with duck fat potatoes, carrot and butternut squash mash, seasonal greens, leek gratin and a Yorkshire pudding. Amiable staff, bountiful supplies of gravy and the hum of local chatter really warm the cockles.

Sitting proud at the helm of Hackney’s Broadway Market, this sizeable boozer has been welcoming all sorts since 1729 – and it’s still a prime local asset. Take a Sunday stroll around the stalls before decamping to the Cat’s bar for one of its mighty roast lunches, served with roasted potatoes, charred hispi cabbage, maple roasted carrots and parsnips, celeriac purée, Yorkshire pudding and a rich red wine gravy. There are normally three meaty choices (aged beef sirloin, roast chicken and pork) plus a veggie option. If they have vegan sorbets and Hackney Gelato pots on the menu, make yourself popular by ordering plenty to share around. It is the weekend, after all.

Tom Conran’s Cow has been putting the ‘gastro’ in gastropub for ages, but his bovine-themed hybrid venue still delivers in spades. Despite the meaty moniker, seafood is the main attraction here (oysters and Guinness in the saloon bar is something of a local tradition), but the kitchen also comes up trumps with a proper sit-down roast served in the colourful upstairs dining room on Sundays. There’s no choice, but when the chefs can produce a beautifully cooked forerib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, roasties, carrots and horseradish cream, no one’s complaining. Rest assured, you’ll also be properly looked after in the drinks department too.

If you’re looking for a slap-up Sunday lunch with a spectacular view, you can’t go wrong with Duck and Waffle. With a set menu of three courses for £55, this roast don’t come cheap, but it's a corker. The menu is short but classic, with a choice of succulent chicken, beef or a mushroom and camembert wellington (nothing for the vegans though, sadly). This comes served on a bed of creamy sweet potato mash, with perfectly crisp roasties, parsnips, tenderstem broccoli and thick gravy that’s to die for. For dessert, get the seriously indulgent sticky toffee pudding waffle. Thirty-nine floors up, food tastes even better.

During the week you'll get graceful Mediterranean-ish cuisine from executive chef Alan Christie, but on Sundays this chic hotel, restaurant and private members' club in Mayfair pulls out all the stops. Their roasts are a thing of beauty, with sharing sides of cauliflower cheese, individual yorkshire puds in copper pans and light and fluffy roasties accompanying some serious servings of meat. They don't come cheap, with chicken, lamb or beef all teetering around the £40 mark – and that's before you add on your essential Bloody Mary – but the elegant service, stunning room, and potential celeb spots make it all worth it.

Meat is put on a pedestal at this popular joint on an Islington backstreet, and it has the balance between pub and restaurant spot on. Sunday roasts have an edge here, particularly as the carefully sourced flesh is smoked in-house: lamb shoulder is a heavenly mound with beautiful burnt ends that fall apart when teased with a fork, although the pork ribeye and beef sirloin are equally tempting. Best of all, first-rate Yorkshire puddings come as standard, so there’s no need to worry about dish envy. Nachos and other starters are top-notch too, while the sticky toffee pudding will have you begging for mercy. Strange global brews feature heavily on the beer list.

This Mexican-inspired BBQ joint is perfect for a slightly left of centre Sunday session. Meats include smoked baby chicken with chimichurri and roast aged beef, while the family-style sharing roast is a 'three beast feast' of beef, roasted pork and smoked lamb shoulder for two. Seasonal sides include chunky veg, a huge Yorkshire pudding and (the best bit) a heap of gloriously moreish beef-fat potatoes. Roast-averse? You can order a juicy steak or even some wood-roasted fish on Sundays, too. Just remember that supplies are limited: when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Part of the Cubitt House group, this grand building in the posh part of Pimlico might look like a gastropub, but deep down it’s a smart restaurant. The Sunday roast is equally as impressive, whether you plump for a plate of porchetta with spiced apple or fancy half a chicken with all the traditional accoutrements, of course. Those who don’t want a roast can choose a pizza, pie, burger or something flashier from the full menu. Unless you hanker after the bustle of the ground-floor dining space, request a table in the upstairs room, where the refined vibe is spot-on for a lazy Sunday afternoon with drinks and chatter.

Famed for its rooftop garden/greenhouse/growing patch, this ice-cool east London gastropub with knobs on is also a diamond for Sunday roasts – although you’ll need to be an early bird to catch the pick of the meats. Expect lamb, chicken or pork, served in mind-boggling, stomach-challenging portions alongside made-to-order yorkies, fluffy roast potatoes, carrots glazed in the meat juices, and greens grown just a few floors up on the aforementioned rooftop. You can eat in the upstairs dining room (noon-6pm) or take pot luck in the airy ground-floor pub, whose bare bricks, eclectic vintage chairs and industrial lighting reference a hip New York loft.

Superior Sunday lunches at user-friendly prices bring crowds of Kentish Town weekenders to this enduring popular watering hole. There’s sirloin of beef (cooked rare) and slow-roast pork loin with apple sauce (plus a couple of veggie/vegan offerings), or you can share one of the biggies – perhaps a whole chicken, all served with Yorkshire pudding, gravy and a harvest festival of essential veg. The menu kicks off with a selection of Med-influenced starters and snacks, but unless you’re feeling heroically hungry, sacrifice them in favour of the roasts, then fill up any extra available space with one of the excellent desserts. The fun continues right through to 9pm, supplies permitting.

Roast potato alert! This light and airy Stokey boozer is a wonderfully calm place to get your spud fix. Pick a table next to the open side doors on a sunny day or a sofa by the fire when it’s wintry, but make sure to arrive early; even with two meat options (chicken or rump of beef) plus an unusually tempting nut roast (mushroom and Stilton, perhaps), the lunches will be sold out well before the 4pm cut-off. Clearly word has got out about how damn fine they are – from the Yorkshire puddings right down to the gravy, not forgetting generous seasonal veg and even a side of cauliflower cheese. Best book ahead to be on the safe side.

You can choose to eat your Sunday lunch in the elegant downstairs bar of this handsome gussied-up Shoreditch boozer or head up the spiral staircase to the chic surrounds of the first-floor restaurant. A two course set menu is £32 (£27 for veggies), and three comes in at £39 (or £34 for meat-free dining). The kitchen manages to tease out every last bit of flavour from each bite, be it a stuffed Norfolk Black chicken,  pork loin with apple sauce or pecan and apricot nut roast. All are served with a big, tasty Yorkshire pudding, plus roasties, seasonal veg (including kale) and chicken sauce (we’ll continue to call it gravy). Cauliflower cheese is an extra £4 but you won't regret it. 

Birthplace of Camden Town Brewery, this enterprising pub keeps the tables in its front bar reservation-free on Sundays. That’s the good news. The bad news is you really have to be there at noon to nab one if you haven’t booked in the separate dining room at the back. Roasts run from opening time until they’re gone, although the centrepiece rare-breed meats such as dry-aged Hereford beef sirloin or Tamworth pork belly sell out fast. Meanwhile, the stylish bar keeps pace with demand for Bloody Marys, sophisticated wines and beers.

All things to all people at all hours, whatever the occasion, this buzzy Soho all-dayer has the smooth and swanky feel of a private members’ club, but the food of your favourite British auntie. On Sundays, there’s a set roast menu of two or three courses, offering (usually) Hereford beef or roast chicken with stuffing, plus roasties, cauliflower cheese, seasonal veg and Yorkshire pudding. Finish with a comforting dessert (sticky toffee pud) or a plate of British cheese. Enjoy it all within the suave confines of a Georgian-era townhouse overlooking Dean Street’s comings and goings.