Sunday Special: The Best Sunday Roasts In London

There are few better ways to round out a weekend than spending a long, leisurely afternoon devouring a well-cooked roast; in London, a lazy Sunday lunch is considered a modern tradition. Arguments abound about where serves the perfect roast in the city – some put it on the quality of the potatoes, others won’t entertain any offerings that don’t include a fluffy Yorkshire pudding. The capital isn’t short of excellent roasts, but some do it better than others. We’ve rounded up the establishments serving a tiptop offering, from classic pubs to classy restaurants. Here’s our pick of London’s best Sunday lunches.

The 12 Best Sunday Lunches In London

The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell

Tucked between the numerous recent openings that have made Camberwell Church Street a buzzy south London dining destination, this elegant gastropub – opened in 2014 – is the neighbourhood’s stalwart lazy Sunday favourite. Booking is essential, so plan ahead to nab a table, or you’ll be left sipping a liquid lunch of house negroni at the bar. The menu takes classic roasts to new heights,with meaty platters for two of succulent lamb leg, blushing onglet steak and spit-roasted chicken joining sides of roast potatoes and chilli-spiked greens. There are snacks and smaller seasonal plates, too – think scotch bonnet and pork fat on toast, smoked haddock fritters with a green chilli yoghurt and a salty taramasalata, with cucumbers and crispy potatoes for dipping. If you’ve got the space, order a nostalgic dessert. Highlights include the plum tart and Eton mess. Daily changing guest ales and a responsibly priced wine list will keep you there from noon ’til night.

65 Camberwell Church St, SE5 8TR; thecamberwellarms.com

The Tamil Crown, Angel

If you really want to warm up on a crisp autumnal afternoon, try chowing down on an Indian take on the classic Sunday roast. At this Angel pub – the second opening from the team behind the Tamil Prince – heart-warming roasts of masala chicken, lamb shank and sea bream arrive alongside mouth-tingling sides such as potatoes and peas masala, coconut stir-fried cabbage, gobi, roast potatoes and buttery roti. The team took over an empty, old-school boozer in 2023 and have transformed it into a contemporary pub with a pared-back, simple dining room, plus benches on the street that catch the autumn afternoon sunshine.

16 Elia St, N1 8DE; thetamilcrown.com

Brixton’s The Laundry pairs elegant interiors with a new winter roast menu | Credit: Jack Lewis Williams

The Laundry, Brixton

Tucked into a former steam laundry on Brixton’s Coldharbour Lane, this all-day dining spot runs its Sunday menu from 1pm ’til 6pm, with seating inside or on the heated al fresco terrace. The menu is joyfully generous – crackling-accompanied roast pork belly with apple sauce and Yorkshire pudding; 28-day aged Hereford sirloin with creamed horseradish – and mains come bolstered by roast squash, crispy potatoes, glazed carrots, minted peas and bottomless gravy. Vegans aren’t left out, either: a roast squash and sage tart with miso-caramel chestnuts and chilli sambal is equally spectacular.

374 Coldharbour Ln, SW9 8PL; thelaundrybrixton.com

The Cow, Notting Hill

Where David Beckham leads, we follow. On Sundays, everyone’s favourite No.7 has been known to frequent this Notting Hill local, which, when the weekend comes about, departs from its typical seafood-stuffed dinner menu and stays true to its name, plating up one of west London’s best roasts in its upstairs dining room. Whelks, oysters and pint o’ prawns are out the window – the chefs pick a meat and plate it up beautifully alongside all the classic accoutrements. Those pining for shellfish specialities need not fear, though: “The Cow Special” – a £30 platter of six oysters with a pint of Guinness – is also available.

89 Westbourne Park Rd, W2 5QH; thecowlondon.com

Smart pub interiors at Hackey’s Marksman | Credit: Anton Rodriguez

Marksman, Hackney

Open for nearly a decade, Hackney’s most beautiful Victorian boozer has become something of an institution for hungover east Londoners – you’ll spot regulars racing their way down Columbia Road’s flower market, pit-stopping at Oyster Boy for some shucked shells and a bloody mary, before making tracks to this nearby Hackney Road pub for a leisurely Sunday sit-down. The two- and three-course set menus might be pricey, but they’re worth the splash-out: pick from a handful of seasonal starters such as chalk stream trout, chilled tomato and cucumber soup and duck liver parfait on brioche, before diving into the main event. Roasted Hereford rump, roasted chicken, a delightful spinach and goat’s curd pie for vegetarians, or a creamy chicken and mushroom pie to share await.

54 Hackney Rd, E2 7SJ; marksmanpublichouse.com

The Clarence Tavern, Stoke Newington

The Sunday menu at this Stoke Newington pub is unexpectedly expansive, so there’s little worry of fussy eaters not finding something they like. It’s not quite a classic roast – slow-cooked lamb comes with a dauphinois gratin and buttered greens, while pork belly arrives on a bed of cannellini beans with an electric salsa verde – but the cooking is so good, we’ll let them off. Other highlights include grilled sardines, harissa roast beetroots and a creamy burrata drizzled with a chilli honey that’s enough to send anyone swooning. Finish with a generous wedge of apple crumble.

102 Stoke Newington Church St, N16 0LA; clarencetavern.com

A recent renovation has made the Bull & Last Highgate’s roast reservation of choice | Credit: Joe Howard

Bull & Last, Highgate

After a muddy traipse around Hampstead Heath on a drizzly autumn Sunday, the warm and inviting interior of the Bull & Last makes a welcoming refuge. Roasts of gargantuan proportions are the order of the day at this Highgate address. Opt for the North Essex Shorthorn prime rib – a wedge of blushing beef – to share, or revel in an apple sauce-accompanied pork loin. All Sunday mains come with potatoes, kale, carrots, parsnips and Yorkshire puddings, and for those less keen on the classic meat and veg, there’s fish and chips and seasonal small plates, too.

168 Highgate Rd, NW5 1QS; thebullandlast.co.uk

The Audley Public House, Mayfair

With pleasingly old-fashioned interiors featuring green leather bar stools and walnut-coloured wooden walls adorned with unexpected artwork (look up to appreciate the colourful, Phyllida Barlow-created ceiling), this revamped Mayfair boozer is one of Artfarm’s addresses, the hospitality arm of gallerists Hauser & Wirth. And in keeping with those jazzed-up pub interiors, Sundays at Audley sees traditional roasts given a little razzle-dazzle. Plates such as a roast chicken with bread sauce and seasonal veg, and thickly cut slices of blushing beef with Yorkshire pudding and gravy, join less typical – but no less traditional – dishes of Cornish haddock and chips, bangers and mash, and chicken and Marmite pie. Puddings, meanwhile, are nursery favourites: sticky toffee or bread and butter. Don’t skip the bar snacks of yolky Scotch egg and London rarebit, either.

41-43 Mount St, W1K 2RX; theaudleypublichouse.com

Sultry Sunday dining at Blacklock’s Soho address

Blacklock, Soho

Meat-eaters, head to Blacklock. Of the London chophouse’s five addresses, the subterranean Soho den is our favourite. Once a brothel and notorious lap-dancing club, the moody basement space has been transformed into a sultry dining destination, with a meat-filled Sunday menu as seductive as the building’s backstory. Soho showgirls are here no more, but former carnal pleasures have been replaced with carnivorous ones: tongue-tingling bloody marys are spiked with beef jus, and a pig’s head terrine on toast kicks off the Sunday-menu starters. Then, it’s onto the mains – gluttonous meat cuts roasted over open coals. Pick from beef rump, lamb leg, pork loin or celeriac roast, and expect it to come accompanied by seasonal vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and duck fat roast potatoes.

24 Great Windmill St, W1D 7LG; theblacklock.com

The Quality Chop House, Clerkwenwell

Those seeking hefty cuts of meat for their Sunday lunch can’t go wrong with a seat at the table of this Grade-II listed Clerkenwell establishment. Open in one form or another since 1869, the restaurant was reborn in 2012 with chef Shaun Searley at the helm, who put the “best of British” back on the menu. On Sundays, the kitchen offers a three-course, £55 menu of meaty delights. Kick-start proceedings with starters of mushroom quiche or mackerel pâté, before turning to rumps, shoulders, topsides and loins of beef, lamb and pork, served beside roasties, Yorkshire puddings, Marmite butter-covered sweetcorn and cider-braised red cabbage.

92-94 Farringdon Rd, EC1R 3EA; thequalitychophouse.com

Jamaican-inspired roasts plated up at Buster Mantis | Credit: Anton Rodriguez

Buster Mantis, Deptford

Sundays are done best with a rum punch in hand. Down in Deptford, Buster Mantis pours and plates up a Jamaican-inspired Sunday special, borrowing the best bits of both a British roast and a Jamaican weekend spread to create a flavour-packed menu. After perusing the drinks – a trio of punch options include rum, nutmeg-spiked Guinness and homemade, non-alcoholic tropical iterations – turn to the dishes of saltfish fritters with pineapple salsa, oxtail croquettes and crispy sesame prawns. Roast-wise, you’ll find chicken with onion and thyme stuffing, lamb and mint sauce, and an apple sauce-accompanied pork belly, plus a vegan pumpkin-stuffed cho cho (a squash-like Jamaican fruit) with a coconut milk sauce. Don’t skip the sweets: the steamed pineapple and ginger pudding with mango custard is out of this world.

3-4 Resolution Way, SE8 4NT; bustermantis.com

Canton Arms, Stockwell

The team behind the Canton Arms are resolutely wedded to keeping the atmosphere of this Stockwell spot suitably pub-like, so if you’ve booked a table in the maroon-painted, panelled dining room out back, expect to navigate a buzzy bar propped up by locals sipping real ale on your way to your table. The kitchen sends out good, old-fashioned, well-cooked classics of the British cookbook – think thick slices of roast Dexter beef, seven hour-cooked salt marsh lamb shoulder, slow-cooked rabbit leg and roast Yorkshire chicken, as well as flaky Cornish skate and grilled sardines. From starters through to sweets (hello, damson bakewell tart), the regularly changing menu is always jam-packed and prices are pretty democratic. Note that the previous no-bookings resolution has changed and you’ll now need to reserve a table, although there is sometimes space for walk-ins.

177 S Lambeth Rd, SW8 1XP; cantonarms.com


This article was updated on 7 October 2024.