London's best Sunday lunches
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Time Out Restaurant editors. Photography Rob Greig and Ed Marshall
Updated: Tue Nov 24 2009
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Bull & Last
168 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1QS
A top contender for the 'Best Gastropub' category of the Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards in 2009, the Bull & Last (created by the same crew behind Putney’s Prince of Wales) does Sunday roasts in spades. Impressive selections such as roast topside of beef with Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, parsnips, fine beans and horseradish left us drooling; roast loin of pork is cheekily served with sauerkraut along with the more traditional English accompaniments of carrots, potatoes and apple sauce. There are lots of fine desserts to be had – if you have room – from own-made ‘Ferrero Rocher’ ice cream (in fact inspired by the flavours of the famed confection), wild blackberry baked cheesecake or raspberry millefeuille with lavender ice-cream. The bar offers a great range of draught ales: Spitfire, Cocker Hoop and Hooky Bitter. A fine place that’s laid-back, child- and dog-friendly, and on the right side of professional. Sunday lunch served 12.30-4.30pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £50. Read more
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Compass
58 Penton St, Islington, N1 9PZ
With its frosted windows long gone, the Compass is now a cheerful light-filled destination even on grey days. Sunday lunch is all about roasts – one of each of the most popular meats, nothing scary, and a dish such as risotto as a vegetarian option. It’s the details that make it such a winner: rare-breed beef (ribeye, rosy red at centre) and pork (belly, not too fatty) come sliced over a bed of braised red cabbage. The gravy jug is handed separately along with a sizeable bowl of veg, roasties and puffy Yorkshires. Cauli, carrots and broccoli are just right and the gravy goes where you want it. Desserts (glazed orange tart, bread-and-butter pudding) are okay but lack the finesse of the main event. On our visit, draught options were not as exciting as expected – just Adnams Bitter and Cheddar Valley cider – and our pint tasted like the first one through the pump that day. The lager and wine drinkers around us didn’t care, however, and a 500ml carafe of tempranillo (at £11, the second-cheapest wine) provided solace. At 4pm you might head upstairs for an old film such as ‘Kiss Me Deadly’. Sunday lunch served noon-9pm. Sunday lunch for two with drinks and service: around £50. Read more
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Charles Lamb
16 Elia Street, Islington, N1 8DE
For Sunday lunch, this Islington local gastropub mainly sticks to the classics, such as rare roast beef and roast duck with all the trimmings – both hitting all the right notes. No bookings are taken though, and you need to get there early to be assured of a table in one of the charming old rooms. Sunday lunch served noon-6pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £50. Read more
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Lexington
96 Pentonville Rd, Islington, N1 9HS
Sunday afternoons at this Islington whiskey bar play host to ‘The Hangover Lounge’, a day-after session with soothing indie music and fortifying drinks. The kitchen serves up an American-influenced menu which includes burgers and pumpkin pie as well as British roasts. Sunday lunch served noon-10pm. Sunday lunch for two with wine and service: around £55. Read more
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Yum Cha
28 Chalk Farm Road, Chalk Farm, NW1 8AG
Going for dim sum is the Chinese equivalent of the British Sunday roast, and there are few better places to carry out the ritual than this Chalk Farm restaurant. The interior is frankly uninspiring (and it’s good to arrive early to avoid being stuffed into the dim basement karaoke room when seats are scarce), but the dim sum is exquisite. Dumplings are delicate and bursting with flavour; you’ll want to order seconds and thirds of the fresh prawn har gau and broth-filled xiao long bao. Char siu bao (barbecue pork buns) are pork-filled clouds, steamed to perfection. Don’t bother with wine – the selection is grim – do it properly and order pots of cleansing Chinese tea, refills of which are frequent and free. Sunday lunch served noon-11pm Sun. Dim Sum for two with tea and service: around £25. Read more
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St James
4 Topsfield Parade, Middle Lane, Crouch End, N8 8PR
Proof that you don’t need to leave the suburbs for fine dining, St James’s international menu and elegant interior have won it many fans in Crouch End. As well as the more eclectic mains (salmon with chickpea and spinach curry, for example), there’s traditional roast lamb or beef with veg and gravy. Sunday lunch served noon-4pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around £60. Read more
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46 comments
The Stag on Fleet Road in Hampstead does an amazing Sunday roast, all ingredients are locally sourced, service is attentive without being too on your face and they have live acoustic sets from 7:30pm every Sunday. Do give it a go!
Any Toby Carvery for me £8 and you can keep going back for veg you will be stuffed to the brim for the price you cannot beat them I use the The Eagle in Snaresbrook. its great.
The Sunday Roast at Lost Society in Clapham was fantastic. Plus their bloody mary was one of the best I've tasted.
The Alma in Newington Green on 73 bus route does an amazing roast every Sunday. There is always a delicious veg roast aswell as the meat options, and usually fish and other stuff too. The atmosphere is so cosy and the staff are lovely.
Well worth the trip
me and my friend Nicola had so much fun at The Great Queen Street and oh how we laughed!!
Great food and great company, Thanks Nicola!!!!
Can't believe they didn't stop in at Luigis, Gipsy Hill, Dulwich for Sunday Lunch!
A general rule of thumb.
Avoid Sarf of the river(=its full of would be loonies who are really nerds) for eating out and ABOVE ALL avoid Yappie Neo Lib Gastro pubs=what are they? Basically you rip a trad boozer by the bollocks inside out and tranform it into some psys ida of Paris or some other place of the imagination.See my blog THE WORLD for pubs
to JRC
Dont woirry bout getting embarrassed in front of an Italian .I live in Milan and have a holiday home near Gallipoli in the Salento and believe me I've eaten some really crap meals in the land of Dante.Its more or less the norm unless you pay big bucks.When I bring Italians to my home in Arsenaland (alas) I take em up Wetherspoons-they love it!!! Especially the beef night.If you don't knw Italy apart from occasional visits well you don't know the food.
Best Sunday Lunch and value for money at Corelli's in Battersea Park Road (and not only on Sundays; the chef Enzo serves top Italian grub any time, any day of the week).
The tastiest Sunday Lunch I've had in ages is at the Britannia in Victoria Park, especially the sharing dishes of chicken for two or rib of beef for four and excellent value for money. fantastically, they serve from midday till 8pm, so it doesn't matter how late you got in the night before you can still get your roast on Sunday all accompanied by some great loungey DJ's till late.
The Anglesey Arms (west London) is a firm favourite for Sunday lunch. Comfortable. relaxed atmosphere and they are very child/family friendly.
Spitalfields & Shoreditch aren't the only places in East London. I think this article should have tried harder; they've barely left The City. East17 in E17 Walthamstow is great for instance. King Edward VII in Stratford E15 gastropub is good. Islington has loads of places too.
The address for the Carpenters Arms (as featured in the 'East" section of 'best Sunday lunches') is wrong. It is not in Hammersmith (west!). The correct address is 73 Cheshire Street, E2 6EG.
The Water Poet? Are you sure?? I had the worst Sunday Lunch there ever a few months back. It was like reheated school dinners.
Worst still, I was introducing an Italian friend to a traditional English Sunday lunch and all he got was confirmation that English food is stodge!
Thankfully, when he came back a few weeks later the Peasant on St John St came up trumps for us.
The Bull and Last in Kentish Town is by far the best for Sunday lunch or any day of the week......