The File
The Best Sunday Roast in London
A good Sunday roast is a specific, narrow thing to get right: a joint that’s actually been rested, gravy made from the roasting tray rather than a stock cube, a Yorkshire pudding that’s crisp at the edge and soft in the middle, and timing tight enough that nothing on the plate has gone cold waiting for something else to catch up.
London has no shortage of pubs advertising a roast on a Sunday blackboard. Far fewer are worth building an entire afternoon around. These are the ones that are.
What separates a good roast from a great one
The meat matters less than the things around it.
Any decent kitchen can put a joint in an oven; the difference shows up in whether the potatoes were actually roasted in the meat’s own fat rather than a neutral oil, whether the gravy was built from the tray drippings or poured from a jug that tastes the same regardless of what’s on the plate, and whether the Yorkshire pudding was made to order or reheated from a batch cooked hours earlier.
Portion honesty matters too — a roast that looks generous on the plate but turns out to be mostly potato once you start eating is a worse meal than a smaller one where everything on it earns its place.
The Harwood Arms, Fulham
London’s only Michelin-starred pub, tucked into a residential backstreet in Fulham, does a Sunday roast that regularly gets named as the best in the city — sirloin, pork belly, and skate wing are typical options, built from the same focus on game and well-sourced British produce that earned the kitchen its star in the first place.
It runs closer to a full restaurant experience than a pub lunch, with pricing to match (a three-course Sunday roast lands around £79), and bookings go fast enough that a same-week table is unlikely. This is the one worth planning weeks ahead for rather than deciding on a Sunday morning.
The Marksman, Hackney
Already one of the neighbourhood’s most complete kitchens on any given day — The Marksman earns its Michelin mention most clearly on a Sunday, when the roast upstairs becomes the dish regulars build their week around. Proper joints, correctly rested, gravy that’s obviously come off the roasting tray rather than out of a jug.
Book the upstairs dining room specifically; walking in on a Sunday without a reservation is likely to end in disappointment, though the ground floor bar still works for something quicker on any other day.
The Drapers Arms, Islington
Most gastropubs plate a roast the standard way — one portion per person, a gravy boat passed politely down the table. The Drapers Arms does something closer to how a roast actually gets eaten at home: a whole joint — a slow-cooked lamb shoulder, a roast forerib of beef, a whole roast chicken — arrives at the table and the table works out how to divide it.
It changes the entire rhythm of a Sunday lunch, and it’s the clearest reason this 1830s pub is routinely named among London’s best gastropubs. Splitting a shoulder or forerib across three or four people also tends to work out better value per head than ordering individual roasts elsewhere in the neighbourhood.
Blacklock, Soho
A louder, cheaper, more high-volume version of the format that still gets the fundamentals right. Blacklock’s “All In” Sunday roast — a mix of beef, lamb and pork with Yorkshire pudding, duck-fat roast potatoes, seasonal veg and gravy, at around £26 a head — has become one of the most talked-about roasts in central London specifically because it delivers real quantity without the kitchen cutting corners on the meat itself.
The basement room is dark, packed, and not built for a quiet afternoon, which is part of the appeal if you want a roast with some energy around it rather than a sedate Sunday.
The Dove, Hammersmith
The Dove trades on its riverside terrace and a genuine 17th-century pub history as much as on kitchen ambition, but a traditional Sunday roast here — generously portioned, in the way a proper riverside pub roast should be — is worth planning a weekend around specifically because of where you’re eating it.
Arrive early; the terrace fills fast on a good Sunday, and a roast eaten a few feet from the Thames is a different experience from the same dish eaten indoors.
The Guinea Grill, Mayfair
Behind Berkeley Square, this Young’s pub has been serving essentially the same menu since 1952, and its steak-and-kidney pie has won more British Pie Awards than the staff bother to keep count of. On Sundays (midday to 5pm) the regular menu gets four roast additions: classic roast beef, slow-cooked pork belly, a wild mushroom, chestnut and puy lentil Wellington for anyone not eating meat, and a grilled sirloin joint.
It’s a smaller, more traditional room than most of this list, and the appeal is exactly that — a Mayfair institution doing a straightforward roast well rather than reinventing it.
Booking and timing
Every kitchen on this list runs a proper roast in limited numbers, not an all-day rolling service — sittings are typically staggered across early afternoon and the best tables (or in Harwood Arms and The Marksman’s case, any table at all) go within days of the week opening up on a booking system. If a specific Sunday matters, book by midweek.
Turning up without a reservation works occasionally at somewhere like The Dove on a quiet week, but it is not a strategy to rely on at any of the others.
Dietary options
A wild mushroom, chestnut and puy lentil Wellington (The Guinea Grill) is the clearest vegetarian option on this list and a genuine alternative rather than an afterthought vegetable plate. Elsewhere, it’s worth calling ahead — a kitchen built around a single joint of meat doesn’t always have a vegetarian roast ready by default, even if it can produce one with notice.
Frequently asked questions
What time does Sunday roast service usually start in London?
Most pubs on this list start around midday and run through mid-to-late afternoon, with The Guinea Grill’s service ending at 5pm being fairly typical. A handful, like The Marksman, effectively turn the roast into a dedicated Sunday lunch sitting rather than an all-day option.
Do I need to book ahead for a Sunday roast in London?
For the busiest kitchens on this list — The Harwood Arms and The Marksman especially — yes, and well ahead; same-week availability is unlikely. Others, like The Dove or The Guinea Grill, have more flexibility for a walk-in on a quieter week, but booking is still the safer move.
What makes a Sunday roast "sharing style" rather than individually plated?
At a sharing-style roast, like The Drapers Arms’, a whole joint — a lamb shoulder, a forerib of beef, a whole chicken — comes to the table rather than each diner receiving a pre-portioned plate. The table carves and divides it themselves, alongside shared sides, which changes both the pace of the meal and, often, the value per head.
Is a Michelin-starred Sunday roast actually different from a good gastropub roast?
At The Harwood Arms, the difference shows up mainly in sourcing and technique — a focus on game and specifically chosen British produce, cooked with more precision than a standard pub kitchen. It also runs closer to full restaurant pricing (around £79 for three courses) than a typical pub lunch, which is the trade-off for the extra level of craft.
Which of these is best for a large group?
The Drapers Arms’ sharing roasts are built specifically for groups of three or four splitting a single joint, which makes it the most natural pick for a bigger table. Blacklock’s basement room in Soho is also set up for groups, though the format there is individually plated rather than shared.
Is there a good vegetarian Sunday roast option in London?
The Guinea Grill’s wild mushroom, chestnut and puy lentil Wellington is the strongest dedicated vegetarian roast on this list. At most of the others, it’s worth calling ahead of a booking to check what the kitchen can put together, since the format is generally built around a single meat joint by default.
What's the most affordable proper Sunday roast on this list?
Blacklock’s “All In” roast, at around £26 a head, is the most affordable while still delivering a genuinely generous plate of beef, lamb and pork with all the trimmings. It’s a different kind of experience from the sit-down pricing at The Harwood Arms, but it holds up well on its own terms.
Can I get a Sunday roast with a river view in London?
The Dove in Hammersmith is the clearest option — its riverside terrace, a few feet from the Thames, fills quickly on a good Sunday, so arriving early is worth it if the weather cooperates.
What should I avoid ordering alongside a Sunday roast?
A starter heavy enough to compete with the roast itself is usually a mistake — something lighter, like the baked Camembert at The Drapers Arms, works better as a way into the meal than a rich dish that leaves you full before the joint even arrives.
Is Yorkshire pudding always included with a London Sunday roast?
At most pubs on this list, yes, though quality varies more than any other single element of the plate — the difference between a Yorkshire pudding made to order and one reheated from a batch is usually the clearest tell of how seriously a kitchen takes its roast.
Do any of these do a roast outside of Sunday?
The Guinea Grill’s steak-and-kidney pie is available in the bar daily, but the dedicated roast menu additions on this list are specifically a Sunday fixture — that’s the point of a proper Sunday roast rather than an everyday dish available on demand.
How much should I expect to pay per person?
It ranges widely — from around £26 at Blacklock to closer to £45–60 for The Drapers Arms’s à la carte sharing roasts, up to around £79 for a three-course sitting at The Harwood Arms. The gap generally reflects sourcing and kitchen ambition rather than portion size alone.
Which pub on this list has the most history?
The Dove dates to the 17th century, and The Guinea Grill has been serving essentially the same menu since 1952 — both trade on a genuine, long-standing identity rather than a recently opened concept.
Looking for somewhere to go afterwards, or a different kind of meal entirely? The neighbourhood guides cover Hackney & Bethnal Green, Islington-adjacent Highbury, and Hammersmith in more depth, and the brunch guide and afternoon tea guide cover the other end of a London weekend.