Where London goes for a proper Sunday roast

If you’re looking for something different to your standard roast dinner, head to 2210 in Herne Hill. Chef Nathaniel Mortley’s elevated Caribbean restaurant puts a unique spin on the traditional Sunday roast with a wealth of Caribbean-inspired options, from roast oxtail to jerk chicken to lobster tail, plus a veggie option. All are served with a choice of rice and peas or jollof rice, Scotch chimichurri roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, honey-glazed roasted vegetables and tempura broccoli. If you still have room, and it’s a big if, there is just one dessert option to keep things simple: a cake of the day.

Starting with one Soho steak and chop house, the successful Blacklock group now has five London restaurants, plus locations in Manchester and Birmingham. The reason for that success is meat: cooked well and lots of it, from pig’s head on toast to burgers to, of course, steaks and chops, to chips cooked in beef dripping (there’s even beef jus in their cocktails). It stands to reason that Blacklock would offer one of London’s best Sunday roasts; in fact, it’s award winning: your choice of beef, lamb, pork or veggie, or a mix, with all the trimmings. [Various locations]

Heading to the throng of Columbia Road’s flower market on a Sunday? Your absolute next stop for Sunday lunch should be the Marksman on nearby Hackney Road, one of London’s best gastropubs. The distinctly modern British menu includes, naturally, on a Sunday, classic roast meats, but you could also opt for a pie for two or a nice piece of grilled fish like a Dover sole. The bread and buns on their snack menu are well worth investigating, but make sure you save room for a dessert – there’s sure to be a tart or a cake or a selection of British cheeses to seduce you. 

Chef Sally Abé’s “little British bistro” in Hackney may be a concise space, but the food is big on flavour, generous and full of character, with playful nods to classic British recipes and Victorian confectionery. On a Sunday, Teal opens its arms to roast lovers with a menu that could include rump of Hereford beef with horseradish cream, a gobsmacking Cumberland-stuffed pork belly with thick crackling and apple sauce, and a seasonal veggie option. All the trimmings come on the side, but you could bolster with cauliflower cheese or opt for double potatoes with a side of mash. Come hungry and you won’t be disappointed.

Ask many people south of the river where the best Sunday roast in London can be found and there’s a good chance they’ll say The Camberwell Arms. Again, one of London’s best gastropubs, The Camberwell Arms is split into a bar area with a counter and a restaurant space at the back, with a menu leaning Mediterranean-British enjoyed in both spaces. Sunday is when the pub really comes into its own, with the vibe being very much about big hunks of meat to share (chef-owner Mike Davies is a big fan of sheep that have had a bit more time on the pasture, so you’ll often find hogget and mutton on the menu). Desserts are pure comfort, ranging from warming cakes, perhaps topped with thick custard, down to a simple scoop of delicious homemade ice cream.

Soho’s The Devonshire has been one of London's recent success stories, part of a new wave of gastropubs that have become serious food destinations. The downstairs bar is always heaving with hundreds of pints of a certain Irish stout being downed from opening to closing, but upstairs there’s a proper restaurant, serving one of London’s best Sunday roasts. There’s no choice at The Devonshire, just roast rib of beef with all the trimmings, bookmarked by starters like white crab salad and desserts like sticky toffee pudding. If that’s what you’re after, there aren’t many better places for a roast dinner in London.

North London’s The Golden Tooth is a pub with a difference, a bright open space with an incumbent disco ball and a pure pop soundtrack. The ‘restaurant’ space is, pleasingly, only superficially separated from the rest of the pub – elsewhere, you can sometimes feel a little tucked away – where, once you’re seated, the friendly team will guide you through a concise Sunday lunch menu that includes a variety of roast meats with flourishes (like rolled pork loin with crackling, merguez sausage and apple ketchup), as well as veggie options, with all the trimmings. Look out for one of their very good homemade ice creams on the dessert menu, perfect for slurping along to the Spice Girls. 

This much-loved local in Queen’s Park has a fine swathe of options for anyone searching for the best Sunday roast in London, from porchetta to aged beef sirloin to smaller portions for the kids. What also entices, though, is the chance to try some of the pub’s standout dishes from their daily menu in starter form, including the fantastic Parmesan churros (the perfect crunchy, salty, savoury amuse-bouche) and Dorset crab linguine ‘cacio e pepe’. Should you not be in the mood for a roast dinner, there are usually a couple of alternative mains on too. A lively local, The Salusbury is not only one of London’s best gastropubs, but one of the best places to enjoy a roast dinner in the city.