Restaurants

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Great Queen Street
One sitting
To our joy earlier this summer, this convivial spot followed the lead of gastropub sister Anchor & Hope and began serving Sunday lunches. The robust menu changes weekly. On one visit, we were spoiled with meaty pork rillettes and a gorgeous roast spring chicken with aioli; a more recent menu proffered crab and scallop bisque (a dish we fell in love with), pressed tongue and pig’s cheek with sauerkraut. Hearty meat options may range from a belly-warming ragù to roast Hereford beef with béarnaise; all mains are served with the fluffiest chips and a hefty amount of salad greens. Leave room for dessert if you can – the little chocolate pots provide a naughty-but-nice finish. The room can often feel a bit sparse, with stolid, utilitarian wooden furniture and blood-red walls, but the buzz of customers and energetic, chatty service compensate.
Great Queen Street, 32 Great Queen St, WC2B 5AA (020 7242 0622). Covent Garden or Holborn tube. Lunch served Sun 2pm (one sitting). Feature continues

Duke of Wellington
The Duke, runner-up in this year’s Time Out Eating & Drinking Awards for best gastropub, is a scrubbed-up boozer that walks the line between proper old-fashioned pub and contemporary pretension, but we like it for its thoroughly good taste in food. Sunday lunch options veer from the traditional without being too nouveau. Crab bisque may be a little froufrou but we found the deep-fried baby artichokes with aioli hearty and flavourful. Mains showcase ingredient provenance, with an excellent roast 40-day-aged beef sirloin from the nearby Ginger Pig, and fillet of line-caught cod with heritage tomatoes, capers and brandade croûtons. Desserts are big and proper: Jersey cream rice pudding, sticky toffee pudding and chocolate mint pot are among the stars.
Duke of Wellington, 94a Crawford St, W1H 2HQ (020 7723 2790). Baker St tube or Marylebone tube/rail. Lunch served Sun 12.30-4pm.

Hix Oyster & Chop House
One sitting
A characterful restaurant headed by a great chef (Mark Hix), Sunday lunch here is something special. The room is comfortable, decked out with retro touches – the cream walls, dark wood chairs, ceiling fans and the like hark back to a simpler era. A modest lunch selection is available on Sunday. You might start with smoked salmon on toast; crisp duck, pea and pea shoot salad; or soft-boiled duck-egg mayonnaise. The no-choice main course might be a roast rib of Herefordshire beef with Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes, spring greens, buttered peas and carrots and copious amounts of rich, velvety gravy.
Hix Oyster & Chop House, 36-37 Greenhill Rents, off Cowcross St, EC1M 6BN (020 7017 1930/www.restaurantsetcltd.co.uk). Farringdon tube/rail. Lunch served Sun 2pm (one sitting).

National Dining Rooms
Culture
You don’t have to be an art fart to appreciate the beauty of both the NDR’s elegant interior and its British staples. Chicken liver pâté with piccallili is an arresting starter, while mains offer a good range of meat, fish and the odd veggie option.
National Dining Rooms, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN (020 7747 2525/www.thenationaldiningrooms.co.uk). Charing Cross tube/rail. Lunch served Sun 12noon-3.30pm.

Royal China Club
Dim sum
No joke – RCC’s dim sum are fit for royalty. Families have made a point to come here every weekend to enjoy the faultless dim sum, from basic pan-fried turnip cake to delicate deep-fried taro-root dumplings.
Royal China Club, 40-42 Baker St, W1U 7AJ (020 7486 3898). Baker St or Marble Arch tube. Dim sum served Sun 12noon-5pm.

Tamarind
Good for vegetarians
This capacious and stylish pan-Indian restaurant’s Sunday-lunch tasting menu features a flurry of treats from yellow lentils with cumin, tomato, garlic and coriander, to seasonal vegetables in a creamy tomato sauce. A special two-for-one offer applies to Sunday-lunch tasting menus until the end of October.
Tamarind, 20-22 Queen St, W1J 5PR (020 7629 3561/www.tamarindrestaurant.com). Green Park tube. Lunch served Sun 12noon-2.45pm.

Tate Modern
Culture
The Level 7 restaurant has the best views; alternatively, the buzzing café on Level 2 is another good choice.
Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG (020 7887 8888/www.tate.org.uk). London Bridge tube/rail or Southwark tube. Lunch served Sun 11.30am-3pm.

The Wallace
Culture
After perusing the Wallace Collection’s unrivalled display of eighteenth-century artworks, settle down in the restaurant, housed in the museum’s covered courtyard. Roast nettle soup, native oysters and devilled lamb’s kidneys on toast are among the starters; follow with roast salt-marsh lamb with roast parsnips and minted gravy, or grilled giant puffball mushroom with duck egg, parsley and garlic sauce.
The Wallace, Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN (020 7563 9505/www.thewallacerestaurant. com). Bond St tube. Lunch served Sun 12noon-3.30pm.

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