Best Sunday Roasts in London

We've eaten our way around the capital, taken stock and then eaten some more to provide a new, bigger and better round-up of the capital's finest Sunday lunches.

These are London's roasts with the most — places that offer crispy-outside-fluffy-inside potatoes, puffy great Yorkshires, cracking crackling and the finest veg. That's on top of top quality and richly flavoured meat, of course.

Endure soggy potatoes tatties and limp greens no more. This list below, written in no particular order, is frequently being updated. Our choice covers all four corners of our city and caters for every budget – tuck in.

The Harwood Arms

No surprise London's only Michelin-starred pub is a dab hand with a Sunday Roast. The Harwood's great strength is that its never let the star go to its head: it's definitely a gastropub – you'd feel odd just popping in for a pint, even if they wouldn't say a word – but it's also just comfortable, unpretentious, and easy to be in. The roast borders on absurd, such are the portions: be starving to get through the three courses. Their beef, 45 day aged, is always on at a £7.50 supplement, and is their star; as tender and flavoursome as a piece of particularly good steak. It comes with bone marrow gravy, so good it should be mandatory across the capital, and potatoes that are the best on this list (the meat and other veg are a matter of debate, but the potatoes are not). They've some wonderful wines, too. If it's on, have the game tea, too – technically a drink, but still comfort food. Not cheap at £49.50, but worth it.

Walham Grove, SW61QP, harwoodarms.com

The Pig and Butcher

Located a stone’s throw from Angel station, this handsome pub boasts a hearty roast offering, from leg of lamb to pulled pork shoulder. Tender meats are topped with a enormous Yorkie pud and lashing of gravy. Not for the faint-hearted, this one is a serious belt-loosening lunch that will leave you feeling wholly satisfied.

80 Liverpool Rd, N1 0QD, thepigandbutcher.co.uk

The Grill at the Dorchester

Chef Tom Booton’s takeover of the longstanding restaurant at The Dorchester hotel came not only with a brand new “Dessert Bar”, but a whole new Sunday lunch menu. At the heart of the three-course selection are the likes of Middle White suckling pig served with pumpkin, bitter leaves, sherry sauce, and beef sirloin with a stuffed Yorkshire pudding and cauliflower cheese. Leave room for pudding: a chocolate and whiskey bar comes with hazelnuts and muscovado ice cream, while banana soft serve with crispy walnuts and “lockdown banana bread” makes for a lighter close.

53 Park Ln, W1K 1QA, dorchestercollection.com

The Sekforde

This place is something of a gem in an unassuming part of town – Clerkenwell is quiet on the weekends – and serves a good, proper roast. It was a no nonsense old boozer once upon a time but has since been refurbished; now, though it keeps all the charm of being the neighbourhood's best pub, it also has a sheen of Scandi cool. They've a decent choice of beers, one that's clearly been thought about, some stonking wine – the house red is a gorgeous little splash of fruit – and staff are knowledgeable but unassuming; if you ask, they've plenty to say, but they're not boring anyone with unedifying lectures on barley and hops.

The roast doesn't have bells and whistles and nothing is plated up to look pretty for Instagram, but what's there is gorgeously comforting. There's minimal choice – three meats on offer, plus one vegan option – but no need for more. Plates come piled high, a huge Yorkshire pudding as steady a tightrope walker on top of pink slices of meat, a bed of greens and potatoes crispy and browned and smelling of rosemary. Better yet, it's the sort of pub you'll want to spend all afternoon in after finishing up.

34 Sekforde St, EC1R 0HA, thesekforde.com

Sam’s Riverside

While Sunday roasts are made for cosy nooks in creaky pubs, the floor-to-ceiling windows of Sam’s Riverside make for a light, bright and contemporary atmosphere that is just as enjoyable. Hammersmith Bridge and the river make a pretty picture outside, but the view on your table is just as good: roasts come in the form of silken sheets of glistening roast sirloin, Fosse Meadows chicken, or a luxuriously well-flavoured mushroom and spinach Wellington with a rich mushroom gravy.

1 Crisp Rd, W6 9DN, samsriverside.co.uk

The Game Bird

The Game Bird, like the hotel it sits in, is somewhere to be fond of. Places like this one inspire those sentimental, protective feelings. It is the restaurant incarnate of a champagne cocktail: it is elegant and crisp, it charms and comforts, it takes the edges off. It leaves you nicely light headed. The restaurant manages to serve perfectly classic dishes, all straightforward British cooking, without feeling old fashioned – which is an underappreciated art. The Sunday lunch comes in at £40 for two courses or £45 for three, which seems pricey but actually seems rather reasonable once you're in and among all the loveliness. Roast beef is carved at the table, the roast potatoes are among the best of any on this list and the veg comes properly crunchy, just as it should be. Sure, there could be more choice, but what's here is just splendid.

The Stafford London, 16-18 St James's Place, SW1A 1NJ, thestaffordlondon.com

Adam Handling Chelsea

Adam Handling (not pictured – that's his man Steven Kerr, the group's head chef) has laid on what is very possibly London's most decadent lunch. Not a traditional roast, exactly, it's more a feast of Roman proportions. Covid has sadly done away with the epic buffet-style beginning, but has replaced it with similarly stirring starters of ham hock terrine with salt-baked pineapple and hazelnut or wagyu beef and tuna tartare, before the choice of beef Wellington – better, even, than it looks here – or a vegetarian version, a half chicken with garlic and thyme, or market fish with cafe de Paris butter. Puddings follow, suitably indulgent, almost too beautiful to be touched. All of it, down to the last, is gorgeous. At £60 per head, it should be, but frankly, it's worth paying for, a true special occasion lunch. Better yet, there are bottomless drinks should you want them; a respectable 'classic' package of Bellinis, white and red is £35, while an upgraded 'premium' take is £75. Stick to the classic drinks and, for £95 all in, it's among the best ways to spend a few hours on a Sunday. Somewhat overwhelming, utterly brilliant.

75 Sloane St, Chelsea, SW1X 9SG, ​adamhandlingchelsea.co.uk

45 Jermyn St.

For a supremely civilised Sunday, the sleek dining room of the St James gem will do more than nicely. 45 Jermyn St. has an exceptional talent with beef whatever the day (the Wellington is a must-try), but weekend sojourns are met with roasted Yorkshire Glenarm Estate sirloin with Yorkshire puddings, those chic orange banquettes are even more inviting. If you’re there at the right time of year, tuck into the restaurant’s annual grouse menu, featuring a whole roasted bird with game chips and bread sauce.

45 Jermyn St, SW1Y 6DN, 45jermynst.com

Blacklock Soho

The roast at subterranean Soho chop house Blacklock is extraordinary. Opt for the All-In, which offers a whopping sharing plate of beef, lamb, pork and all the trimmings. Succulent, juicy medium-rare meat is served along with crunchy pork crackling; enormous, chewy Yorkshires; exemplary, ultra-crispy duck fat roasties; a helping of assorted seasonal veg; and a large boat of deep-flavoured bone marrow gravy. Come hungry to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer generosity of it all — this roast is up there with London’s very, very best.

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

Guinea Grill

Mayfair institution the Guinea is a favourite of the Standard. Firstly, it serves one of the best pints of Guinness in London – unquestionably important – and secondly, behind the charming, boozer-ish front, is a wonderful steak restaurant. It’s the beef which you must come for. The 28-day dry aged roasted rump comes with duck fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, honey-glazed baby carrots, baby parsnips and kale along with optional bacon. It is moist, tender, intensely flavoured and a seductive deep pink colour. There have been no waterbaths or fancy techniques involved, either — this is roast beef cooked as it always has been, only far better than it usually is.

30 Bruton Pl, W1J 6NL, theguinea.co.uk

The Dining Room at The Goring

It seemed a shame for the Goring, the grandest of London's grand hotels, that chef Shay Cooper left (drawn into the promised glamour of revived celebrity haunt, Julie's). Cooper has an obvious talent and clear feeling for his food, so heading back to the Dining Room came with a touch of trepidation. No need to worry: Richard Galli, stepping up from head chef to executive chef, has blossomed. The food is perhaps finer than it's ever been; classically British, precise but loved. Aged Huntsman Farm pork is served with barbecue kalibos cabbage, confit potato and prune purée. Before that, Eggs Drumkilbo, which sees lobster, quail's egg, salad and sherry jelly layered together, made for a fresh, bright start, and some will get a kick from knowing it was the Queen Mother's favourite dish, and served at the wedding breakfast of Princess Margaret. The Dining Room does other roasts, too, beef and chicken and, on our visit, a beautifully flavoured piece of grouse. Seafood is there as well, including a lobster omelette. Three courses come in at £58.

Follow their recommendations on the wine; we drank plenty of it and found their cellar, well, stellar. Oh, and service is faultless; everyone is a sweetheart here. Owner Jeremy Goring knows what he's doing; in four years of coming here, we've never eaten better.

15 Beeston Pl, SW1W 0JW, thegoring.com

The Swan at Shakespeare's Globe

Nothing quite beats the old English classics at this old-English pub, which sits looking out over the Thames. There’s five to choose from, including sharing options of Chateaubriand and a saddle of Welsh lamb, all served with drool-inducing trimmings. The Swan also has a stellar selection of quintessentially British puds for the perfect closing act, including a plum jelly trifle.

21 New Globe Walk, SE1 9DT, swanlondon.co.uk

Junction Tavern

This neighbourhood spot has a charming feel to it. The menu boasts three roast offerings (beef, pork and a vegan Wellington) as well as three different kinds for sharing; a 12-hour braised lamb shoulder, a whole roasted chicken, or a Pichanha rump of roasted beef, all very reasonably priced. Every dish is served with carrot and swede mash, roast potatoes, braised red cabbage, Yorkshires and more.

101 Fortess Rd, NW5 1AG, junctiontavern.co.uk

Kerridge's Bar & Grill

Londoners, rejoice – you no longer need to take a trip down the Thames to try Tom Kerridge’s masterful British fare. The two Michelin-starred Marlow pub owner has set up shop in the capital, with Kerridge’s Bar & Grill doing drool-worthy things to Sundays at the swanky Corinthia Hotel. Meats are fired up on an open rotisserie, twisting tantalisingly across the room – but be sure to save room for the exceptional extras. The roasted veggies are cooked in the rotisserie too, collecting meaty juices and coming up sublime. Beef is served with a Yorkshire stuffed with gravy-soaked pork mince, and pork comes with Mirabelle sauce and stuffing, while the rotisserie roasted Creedy Carver duck comes with orange, rainbow chard and a sausage cassoulet. Order the garlic-laced hispi cabbage on the side, finish up with a bread and butter panna cotta, and enjoy it all with some sommelier selected wines.

10 Northumberland Ave, WC2N 5AE, kerridgesbarandgrill.co.uk

Smokehouse Islington

Meat and fire are the specialities of this gastropub, which makes the Sunday roasts a safe bet. The traditional options are given twists that really make them stand out – like an option of grilled poussin with citrus and garlic, a slow-roasted lamb shoulder, or a roasted celeriac with oat milk purée and hazelnuts for vegetarians. The supreme beef dripping roast potatoes are also noteworthy.

63-69 Canonbury Rd, N1 2DG, smokehouseislington.co.uk

Hawksmoor

You might think that Hawksmoor is all about the steak, but the clever team can whip up a mightily impressive roast dinner, too. As you might have guessed, it’s all about the beef. While it’s the top notch slow roasted rump of meat that really makes it a winner, a gutsy onion and bone marrow gravy, tip-top tatties roasted in beef dripping and pleasantly chewy Yorkshires all have a role to play.

Across London, thehawksmoor.com

Roast

Somewhere that is named after the Great British tradition of a roast dinner really ought to do one well, and thankfully Roast does. Though you’ll find an exemplary roast whatever your meat of choice: the rare, thinly sliced (but not meanly portioned) roast beef is worthy of particular praise. Just bear in mind that it’s a restaurant not a pub – with both atmosphere and prices to match.

Stoney Street, SE1 1TL, roast-restaurant.com

The Marksman

This smart Hackney Road spot might look like a boozer from the outside, but hasn't been one for quite some while. Thankfully it still retains a fair whack of character. Its roasts, which have long been a highlight, haven’t changed too much either – in fact, they may have got even better. Gutsy gravy and crispy roasties are high points, along with some well-aged beef that’s best enjoyed Barbie pink.

254 Hackney Rd, E2 7SJ, marksmanpublichouse.com

The Gun

Sitting in a rather off-the-beaten-track location in the shadow of Canary Wharf, The Gun is a real find. Alongside its impressive waterside views and atmospheric terraces, this Fuller's Kitchen serves some splendid Sunday roasts. A whole free-range chicken for two to share is a highlight, and comes with pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings and bread sauce. Besides, it's got a cracking view out over the Thames.

27 Coldharbour, E14 9NS, thegundocklands.com

Parlour

Chef Jesse Dunford Wood has the helm at this Kensal Green gastropub, and that’s a very good thing indeed. Choose from sirloin of beef with fresh horseradish, brined and roasted Norfolk chicken with bread sauce, or pork with Bramley apple sauce. Or opt for "Parlour's Posh Roast Platter" for between two and four people to share. The Yorkshires are plump and the gravy plentiful. This is fun, inventive cooking but it stays true to tradition.

5 Regent St, NW10 5LG, parlourkensal.com

The Duke of Cambridge

Run by the team behind fellow stellar food pubs the Culpeper and the Buxton, this is the UK’s first certified organic pub. You can really taste how top-notch the produce is here, from the succulent meat to the delicately-cooked veg. Rest assured it’s all as seasonal as can be.

30 St Peter's St, N1 8JT, dukeorganic.co.uk

The Three Stags

The kitchen operates to a strong eco ethos at this local pub near Lambeth North station. This means that not only can you can be sure of the meat’s provenance, but that much of the veg is locally sourced too – including some grown on a plot next door. Bear in mind that the pub has also ditched beef altogether, so expect roasts filled with chicken and lamb instead. If you’re dining in a group, try and reserve the semi-private Chaplin’s Corner at the far end of the pub, so-called because this is where Charlie Chaplin’s father used to sit drinking.

67-69 Kennington Rd, SE1 7PZ, thethreestags.london

The Canton Arms

It may have been the foie gras toasties that made this south Lambeth pub famous, but the roasts deserve a spot in the limelight too. The changing selection will often feature hunks of game, while a tendency towards slow cooking means those who like their meat tender are in luck.

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

The Spaniard’s Inn

One of London’s oldest pubs, immortalised by Dickens in The Pickwick Papers, and quite possibly haunted – there’s a lot going on at this heathside boozer. But none of these things should distract from the roasts, which are well worth braving any ghouls for. A roast rib of beef and pork belly with red wine jus take equal top billing, while a half chicken with gingerbread stuffing and pigs in blankets is a warming twist on a standard. Sides such as cauliflower cheese, thyme roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables to share at the table are also well received.

Spaniards Rd, NW3 7JJ, thespaniardshampstead.co.uk

The Jugged Hare

Sunday roasts are cooked on the rotisserie at this meat-focused City pub, which really comes into its own during game season (from August to January, give or take). Choose from half chickens, roasted pork belly or a 45-day aged Longhorn beef rump. Duck fat roasties are wonderfully crisp-coated, while the rotisserie gravy (made as the varying meats drip their juices while cooking) has to be among the best in London.

49 Chiswell St, EC1Y 4SA, thejuggedhare.com

Jones & Sons

Contrary to its minimalist layout, this Dalston bar and restaurant serves an impressively homely roast. Big portions of big-flavour meat (or a spinach, mushroom and ricotta Wellington for vegetarians, and a stuffed roasted squash for vegans), chewy Yorkshires, crisp potatoes, homemade horseradish sauce and forthcoming gravy top-ups all add to the appeal.

3 Gillett St, N16 8JH, jonesandsonsdalston.com

The Anchor & Hope

This Waterloo longtimer was an early adopter of gastropub culture and remains one of the best food pubs in the capital despite growing competition. Sunday lunch options include plenty other than traditional roasts – from Spanish-style pig’s cheeks to an Atlantic octopus stew – but it’s hard to beat the classics. A particular signature of the menu is the range of sharing plates and joints to carve at the table, such as a recently served seven-hour lamb shoulder with gratin dauphinois.

36 The Cut, SE1 8LP, anchorandhopepub.co.uk

The Dean Swift

Update: The Dean Swift has only recently reopened, and is due to start serving roasts from October 25.

Set just back from the river near Tower Bridge, this is a proper pub with a very accomplished kitchen rather than an out-and-out gastropub. Slow-cooked beef that makes the most of (rather than steering away from) the full-flavoured fatty parts is a particular triumph. An impressive array of both beers and board games complete the Sunday afternoon package.

10 Gainsford St, SE1 2NE, thedeanswift.com

Hack & Hop

Update: The Hack & Hop is not currently serving roasts, but aims to resume full service soon.

This City pub pairs craft beers galore with a very good Sunday roast. If you’re in a group, the best way to sample it is by opting for the Feast Special, for three to four people. It features pork belly (impressively crunchy crackling), beef (served medium-rare and richly-flavoured), chicken (moist-fleshed and rubbed with lemon and thyme), a scotch egg, four fluffy Yorkshires, sweet potato mash, buttery greens, an abundance of excellent fluffy and crisp roasties, and plenty of rich red wine gravy.

35 Whitefriars St, EC4Y 8BH, thehackandhop.com

Simpson's In The Strand

Update: Simpson's in the Strand is temporarily closed.

God bless Simpsons. Granted, at one point it had almost lost its way – the carving trolley was "tarnished and dull like old medals in a drawer" – but it has since been rescued. Even if the 2017 refurbishment was initially a little overenthusiastic, now Simpsons has settled into its groove and, under the watchful eye of the Savoy's director of restaurants, Anne Lomas, and with the talent of Master Cook Matthaios Tsistrakis in the kitchen, it's serving the food it's always been supposed to. This roast is exceptional: not merely very lovely or charming or any of that – it's downright, eye-rolling, hands-clutching-the-table-cloth exceptional. The kind where you tell your guest to zip it for a moment because the food deserves full attention.

The aged beef is a thing of beauty, all sorts of colours; at some points its Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce, elsewhere its red like Dorothy's homebound slippers. It is gorgeously flavoured; tender, yes, but fortunately not in that wobbly, jelly-like way which is such a turn-off. The roasts that come with it, cooked in dripping, are absolutely the one. The other choice comes from a Welsh lady called Daphne who calls up the restaurant to see what's needed every week. This saddle of lamb is a beautiful thing, especially served three ways as it is, and the sharp mint sauce it comes with has all the reviving power of smelling salts, or cocaine. Have it with a glass of the surprisingly gorgeous Hush Heath Manoir pinot noir – it's beautifully good for a still English red. All of this come very highly recommended; it is, however, damned expensive. For something a little more relaxed, try their £15 roast beef sandwich, pictured, which is plenty of fun and served upstairs in the Knights Bar.

100 Strand, WC2R 0EW, simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk