The best Sunday roasts in Melbourne

At $65 per person, Neighbourhood Wine’s Sunday roast offers a different three-course set menu every week until 4pm or sold out. The menu may include a warming potato and leek soup to start (which is exactly what we need in winter), followed by a roast pork shoulder with mustard leaves and a Yorkshire pudding, finished off with a stewed apple crumble. The menu might sound humble, but the kitchen doesn’t mess around. Wine is not included, but the list is as well-priced as, well, the Sunday roast. 

The Estelle has received a refurb and a shake-up, but we're glad to report its Sunday roast roster hasn’t. Over winter, $50 gets you three courses that could be gnocchi with smoked ham hock, pork belly with a quince puree and a rhubarb tart; or tartare, roast lamb and a house made lamington. The menu is updated weekly and also includes a glass of wine, beer or a cocktail. This is one that you definitely have to book for.

Victoria's Mighty Sunday Roast offer brings its own local spin to the beloved British tradition. The farm-to-table restaurant overlooking the Yarra is the perfect spot to enjoy an indulgent three-course winter warmer feast with friends and family. Available all day every Sunday, the classy affair costs $85 a head and makes the most of Victoria's seasonal produce in a relaxed share-style menu. And yes, before you ask, Yorkie puddings will be on the table. Get all the juicy details here.

Every Sunday, The Orrong Hotel in Armadale offers a different pub roast special with all the trimmings. And now that the weather has cooled down, they've cranked up their open fireplaces giving pub-goers the perfect opportunity to defrost. They've got a solid list of Australian wines and beers to pair with your toasty roast, too.

Perhaps the heart of Brunswick, the iconic Sarah Sands Hotel has had a major refurb – and lucky for us, they're dishing up Brunswick's largest roast every week from 12pm. There's a weekly rotating protein served with some seriously hearty seasonal sides for $28. And, if you're feeling on the wild side, you can add in bottomless wine for an additional $17.  

The Cricketers in Port Melbourne is a little hidden gem – a nearly 150-year-old hidden gem, that is. The iconic pub remains a well-loved local and is the perfect place to gather the family (or the pooch – it's dog friendly!) on a cold Sunday evening. The neighbourhood eatery offers up a $26 Sunday roast and has four fireplaces throughout the venue to make the experience all that much better.

The Sunday roast was brought to us by English tradition, so it makes sense that British chef and owner Michael Slade does a mean one. It also doesn’t hurt that he used to be a butcher, so he gives that meat some much-deserved respect. Meats and sides change weekly, but expect the typical beef, pork or lamb with sides like roast spuds, brussels sprouts or cauliflower gratin with the obligatory Yorkshire pudding and gravy. It's guaranteed to be better than your mum’s.

Epocha has been known for its generous Sunday roasts since it opened. Angie Giannakodakis uses what other venues consider the day of rest to change the pace of this fancy diner, and she delivers the kind of Greek hospitality she would provide in her own home. For $65 you get a roast lunch with snacks (think crispy pig ears or chicken liver pâté) and all the trimmings, served family-style. Keep an eye out on their website as the protein changes every week. Book ahead or be prepared for disappointment.

The Lincoln might not be your standard pub, but it does offer a Sunday roast like a standard pub. Each week, the menu rotates between chicken, pork and beef, and the meat is accompanied by roast potatoes and heritage vegetables from Day’s Walk Farm. It's $34 a serve, but if you’re a big eater, the regular menu is also available, so you can start yourself off with some cheddar and leek croquettes, throw in some triple-cooked chips and end on some Harper and Blohm cheeses. Book your plate of roast in advance if you don’t want to miss out – the word’s out!

When it comes to bang for your buck, the Wolf and I in Windsor howls down the competition. On Sundays, $25 buys you a plate stacked high with meat and veg, perhaps tender roast pork with apple crisps, cheesy cauliflower bake, roast broccoli, a hunk of pumpkin, sweet potato puree, carrots, potatoes and a standalone sheet of glass-like crackling. That’s your seven-a-day in one delicious package. Oh, and it comes with a side order of live music. 

When you call up this Fitzroy neighbourhood fave to ask what the day’s roast is, don’t be surprised if the answer is a tad vague. We were greeted with, “I’m not sure yet, but it’s always changing, and it’s always delicious.” Correct on two points, Mr Marquis. The roast changes but on one particular weekend, the cosy backstreet pub was dishing out slow-cooked lamb shoulder with golden kipflers, a savoury lick of gravy and a bitter note from the charred radicchio. Expect something just as sophisticated. 

Why do we subject ourselves to a full roast on scorching-hot Christmas days? The kitchen crew at the Great Northern Hotel in Carlton North – quite rightly – believe that you should be able to eat a roast any time of the year. Which is why you might get served roast turkey breast with cranberry sauce, vegetables and sauteed pine mushrooms in the middle of May for only $30. The roast changes often according to what interests the chefs, so the staff will only know what's on a few hours before you do. And the best part? You can drink as many pints as you like and you don’t have to deal with your mad old aunty.

There’s more to the Napier Hotel than the gargantuan bogan burger (you know, that head-sized assembly of steak, chicken schnitzel, bacon, egg and potato cake). This historic boozer in the backstreets of Fitzroy also does one helluva weekend roast. Grab a seat by the fire in the art-filled dining room for the weekly special, perhaps rolled pork belly with high-decibel crackling, caramelised figs, charred broccolini, pumpkin, potatoes, braised cabbage and a little jug of herby cider gravy. Pure comfort.

With its beaten leather couches downstairs and communal tables on the rooftop (don’t worry, they pull the awning over when the weather’s not playing ball), the Local in St Kilda has that hard-to-fake lived-in vibe that cries out for a long lunch. You’ll need a couple of hours, too, if you plan on ordering the $25 roast that's plenty generous and almost always fork-tender, with the best of trimmings. Add on dessert for only an extra $5.

When you’re feeling nostalgic for Nanna’s roast, get yourself down to the Exchange Hotel in Port Melbourne for the Sunday Roast Collection. From midday until sold out, $27 buys you a choice of meat with the classic counter-meal accoutrements of carrots, peas, parsnip and potatoes. Serviceable and sturdy, it tastes like childhood, right down to the fluoro green mint jelly spooned straight from the jar.