The Sunday roast is a plate of roasted joint, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal greens and gravy, eaten in London pubs on Sunday lunch. The capital's defining set-piece since the nineteenth century.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
The roast joint of meat on Sunday traces to medieval landowner kitchens and church-day eating. Industrial London pubs codified the modern format in the late 1800s: a single sitting, often midday to mid-afternoon, with one carved meat, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, greens and a gravy made from the pan. The Eagle on Farringdon Road, opened in 1991, is usually credited as the first London gastropub to take the dish seriously as a kitchen-led plate rather than school-dinner fare. The form spread through Anchor and Hope, The Camberwell Arms, Quality Chop House and the modern pub crawl that defines London Sundays today.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Get the oven fully hot before the Yorkshires go in. A cold oven gives flat pancakes; the right temperature gives an eight-centimetre rise.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Britain's first gastropub on Farringdon Road in Clerkenwell London, opened 1991 by Mike Belben and David Eyre, still serves Mediterranean-leaning daily-changing food at the bar.
Signature: Bife Ana steak sandwich, Whatever is on the chalkboard
Order: The Bife Ana steak sandwich, on the menu since 1991, and a pint of bitter.
Tip: Walk-in only. The chalkboard menu rewrites every day at 12:00; the best dishes go by 14:00 on a busy lunch.
Mike Davies's gastropub on Camberwell Church Street in south London, opened 2014, runs a daily-changing seasonal menu and a famous family-style Sunday roast.
Signature: Sunday roast, Whole roast meats
Order: Sunday roast for four (booked in advance), or whatever whole-animal cut is on weeknight dinner.
Tip: Sunday lunch books a fortnight ahead and serves until they run out. The bar room takes walk-ins all evening.
The 1869 Farringdon Road working-class dining room in Clerkenwell London, restored under Will Lander since 2012, runs daily-changing British cooking in original Victorian booths.
Signature: Confit potato, Mince and potatoes
Order: The famed confit potato, then mince and potatoes off the daily menu, with a bottle from the shop next door.
Tip: The wine shop next door is corkage-free if you buy a bottle there. Lunch takes walk-ins at the counter Tue-Sat.
Gordon Ker's basement chophouse on Great Windmill Street in Soho London, opened 2015, runs charcoal-grilled chops in a 1850s-era basement room, the cheap-and-loud Sunday roast destination.
Signature: Lamb chops, Pre-theatre skinny chops
Order: The all-in chops board with beef, lamb and pork, plus the bone-marrow gravy.
Tip: Sunday roast is £20 and books two weeks ahead through Resy. Pre-theatre chops at 17:00 walks in for half-price.
The Jugged Hare on Chiswell Street in the City of London, opened 2012 by ETM Group, runs a game-led gastropub menu with hung-game cabinets in the dining room.
Signature: Whole roast game, Sunday roast
Order: Whole roast partridge or grouse in season, or the family-style Sunday roast in winter.
Tip: Lunch and pre-theatre runs walk-in friendly. Sunday roast books a fortnight ahead through their site.
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