The best Sunday roasts in Sydney

They've changed owners here but the Sunday still continues every week and still pulls a serious crowd. For $25 you can choose between roast beef or crisp pork belly, both of which come served with golden potatoes, honey roasted carrots, steamed broccoli and gravy and a jumbo-sized Yorkshire pudding. They will reserve tables, which is a particularly good idea if the weather is suspect. Lunch is your best bet either way – they often sell out by dinner and all the craft beer in the world isn’t much consolation when your heart was set on a roast.

The Four in Hand kitchen is all over the roast meats business. The sunny bar is significantly less crowded at lunch and it means you are guaranteed a plate – they sold out by 6pm on one of our visits. The kitchen has also passed from one capable set of hands (Guillaume Brahimi) to another (John Collins) so now $24 buys you a big portion of roast lamb or chicken with seasonal sides like carrots, pumpkin and golden potatoes. It’s a big meal so if you want to sleep in and have a combined breakfast/lunch roast you’ll have our full support.

They like to change things up for their Sunday roasts – pork, lamb, turkey beef and chicken are all on rotation – and to make sure you know what you're in for, you can head to the website to see what's on the menu every week. The roast will set you back $19.90, making it one of the better value roasts in Sydney (but they don't skimp on the potion size either).

The elegantly refurbished establishment does a Sunday roast that will set you back $30 for a serve of roasted pork belly with crackling, baked potatoes, pumpkin mash, roasted apple puree, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Or if you don't fancy pork they also do a saddle of lamb with mint jelly and all the trimmings. Pair it with a Peroni, a 4 Pines or a James Squire amber ale out of the fridge and you've got a solid Sunday session right there.

This five star boozer has just started doing their Sunday roast again just in time for the cooler months. The meat changes every week rotating between beef brisket, pork belly and chook, with side veggies and gravy for $25. Prop yourself up under a mushroom heater in the courtyard, then head inside for a few rounds of pinball, and you've got a top way to round out your Sunday. 

Everyone knows Leichhardt’s reputation as Sydney’s little Italy but you can also get a decent Sunday roast at the Royal. A hunk of beef or lamb come serve with plenty of veggies (tomatoes, carrots, onions, green beans, potatoes) and all the trimmings, plus if it's not too cool you can enjoy it on the Royal's sunny balcony. It's best to get in there at lunch time as they usually sell out by dinner.

The Sunday roast is a hot ticket. Forty-five minute wait times are not unheard of, but with winter sun streaming through the windows of the British-styled gastro-pub and a James Squire Orchard Crush cider or a Little Creatures pale ale in hand there are worse places to kill some time. As a reward for our patience we get a pink slice of roast beef with peas, asparagus, roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding and a golden fried ball of goat’s cheese and cauliflower. Plus you get an excellent condiments trifecta of gravy, mustard and horseradish cream.

A pirate-themed bar that specialises in seafood and cocktails wouldn’t be the first place you’d think of for a traditional pub roast, but this Pyrmont drinking hole is pulling in a dedicated bunch of locals for its weekly plate of hearty meat and veg. Your roast comes on an enamel dish with a huge Yorkie, and a generous pour of salty gravy over the veggies. We're talking crispy chat potatoes, green beans and carrots and cheesy cream cauliflower. Finishing it all requires a sailor’s appetite and a pint of ale straight from the tap.

This surely has to be Sydney's swankiest Sunday roast. Rockpool Bar & Grill's executive chef Corey Costelloe is doing a decadent family-style menu of locally sourced meats, which are slow-roasted over the wood fire and served table-side. You need to book in by Wednesday and they're for groups of 6-10 people. Order up Tasmanian Cape Grim braided beef fillet with Café de Paris butter (2kg for $350) or slow-roasted Milly Hill lamb ($240), and order up sides of Sydney's creamiest potato gratin, mushy peas and butternut pumpkin.

In the backstreets of Chippo you'll find a Sunday roast going for both lunch and dinner. Just $26 will get you a generous serve of roast beef (and sometimes chicken or pork), with crisp potatoes, greens and loads of gravy.