London's best Sunday lunches
Traditional pub roast? Dim sum? Here's our guide to the capital's best Sunday lunch spreads
Let the Time Out experts guide you through the best Sunday lunches in London - from traditional pub roasts to Chinese dim sum and modern French cooking. Time Out reviews anonymously and pays for all meals.
Think we've missed a great place to have Sunday lunch? Let us know in the comment box below.
Sunday lunch reviews by: Guy Dimond, Anne Faber, Euan Ferguson, Ruth Jarvis, Charmaine Mok, Jenni Muir, Sally Peck
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The best Sunday lunches in west London
The Dock Kitchen
Don’t expect to find the traditional Sunday lunch at Dock Kitchen, as chef Stevie Parle likes to use international influences in his eclectic dishes. You’ll find North African touches such as chermoula cod (the fish marinated in a Moroccan herb mix) or Mediterranean flavours in the charcoal pork chops with chickpeas in a Spanish-style romesco sauce. Don’t be shy to ask for explanations regarding the menu’s less-familiar culinary terms, as there are plenty of them. The weekly-changing menu usually offers one roast meat dish to share, as well as one vegetarian option, such as artichokes alla romana with grilled polenta.
Sunday lunch served noon-3.30pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £50.
- 344 Ladbroke Grove, W10 5BU
Harwood Arms
This terrific gastropub is the worst-kept secret in Fulham. It serves dishes that are far beyond the standard of any other pub in west London, and even trounces many far more expensive restaurants. As a result, you need to book well in advance – at least one week for Sunday lunch. But it’s worth it: if you manage to bag a spot, you're in for a treat that reminds you just how good simple, classic British cooking can be. The Harwood Arms dishes up proper Sunday roasts – think sirloin beef with smoked bone marrow and all the trimmings, or less obvious options such as wild Cornish sea bass with cauliflower and oat-crusted mussels. Leave some room for dessert though, as it will be hard to say no to cinnamon buttermilk pudding with poached pears and marmalade cake.
Sunday lunch served 12.30-3.45pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £60.
- Corner of Walham Grove and Farm Lane, SW6 1QP
Hereford Road
Try not to be put off by the bare interior of Hereford Road (there's not a single picture on the walls) - Tom Pemberton's British cooking provides all the visual nourishment you'll need. Pemberton worked for the ground-breaking St John Bread & Wine, and the influence of Fergus Henderson is apparent.
Sunday lunch served noon-3.30pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £55.
- 3 Hereford Road, W2 4AB
Le Café Anglais
The set Sunday lunch menu at this elegant Queensway brasserie gives you a choice of seasonal British-style roasts – lamb, maybe, or roast loin of pork with apple sauce – or classic French dishes such as bouillabaisse or lemon sole. The family-friendly ambience is promoted by the special kids’ menu: they can dig into a roast of their own, or munch on perennial favourites such as spaghetti with tomato sauce. Le Café Anglais is not the place for the sort of pile-it-high meal you might expect in a neighbourhood pub. Fortunately, hearty desserts such as apple crumble and brownies will make sure no one leaves the table hungry. Chef Rowley Leigh also supervises the superior snack menu of the adjacent Odeon cinema’s new boutique theatre, called The Lounge, where you can watch movies and eat full meals with table service at the same time.
Sunday lunch served noon-3.30pm. Set Sunday lunch menu: 2 courses £25, 3 courses £30. Kids’ menu: 2 courses £13.50. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £65.
- 8 Porchester Gardens, W2 4DB
Royal China
Royal China is still the place in London to get high-quality, authentic dim sum at a reasonable price. The original branch in Queensway does a roaring trade on a Sunday: the doors open at 11am and there is a queue pretty much from then until 3pm to nab a spot in the bustling dining room. Bookings are not taken. Still, a bit of bustle is what you want in an authentic dim sum restaurant, and Royal China is worth the wait: the food is of reliably high quality, the service efficient, and the newly-renovated dining room quite posh for the price.The classic and well-priced dim sum menu has not changed.
Sunday lunch served 11am-3pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £40.
- 13 Queensway, W2 4QJ
Also good for Sunday lunch in west London
Cadogan Arms
- Offer
King’s Road gastropub from the Martin brothers who run a chain of successful gastropubs across London.
- 298 King's Road, SW3 5UG
Cow
Continental and British Isles styles mixed up at this popular pub with a first-floor dining room.
- 89 Westbourne Park Road, W2 5QH
Launceston Place
Smart dining from D&D London, with all the polish you’d expect from this professional chain.
- 1A Launceston Place, W8 5RL
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