Best Sunday Roast- London?

[aheape1979]

We are staying in the Westminster area, but can travel pretty much anywhere in the city.  Where is your favorite place for a Sunday roast (lunchtime?)  We plan to visit the Columbia Road Flower Market that morning, so something in that area would be awesome, but not required!

TIA!

[Post Captain]

aheape1979 ~

 

I noted in the previous conversation that you had booked a table at the Marksman.  As others noted, it's now a gastropub rather than a traditional London pub.  Frankly, being an old stick-in-the-mud, I'm not at all a fan of gastropubs.  The best Sunday roasts I've experienced have all been far afield from London, in countryside or small-town pubs in Yorkshire, Shropshire, Cornwall...   

 

That said, there are still a few pubs in London that maintain some traditional charm and haven't entirely succumbed to the modern gastropub mania.

 

Take a look at the following.  I'm familiar with all of these pubs and have enjoyed a fair few pints and the occasional meal in each of them over a long period of years.  I haven't experienced their Sunday roasts, so can't vouch for the quality of that meal in these establishments, but I would happily give any of them a try:  

 

The Lady Ottoline:  https://www.theladyottoline.net

 

The Lamb:  https://www.thelamblondon.com

 

The Holly Bush:  https://www.hollybushhampstead.co.uk

 

Also see the following web page.  It's basically a promotional page for Sunday roasts at various Fuller's pubs in and around London; but in my experience, Fuller's houses rarely disappoint.

 

https://www.fullers.co.uk/blog/pubs-articles/best-sunday-roasts-london

 

Incidentally, John Bull will be horrified to learn that the going rate for a basic Sunday roast in the big bad city is £18.😵😱  But various 'Spoons around town do a nice lasagne meal for £8.95, or five-bean chili with chips for £7.45 !😁

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Post Captain

[princeton123211]

16 hours ago, aheape1979 said:

Where is your favorite place for a Sunday roast (lunchtime?) 

On the posher side of things (and assuming you are more focused on red meat) you also have Simpson's in the Strand at The Savoy as well as Rules Restaurant a few blocks away. Both serve traditional Sunday roast meals 7 days a week for both lunch and dinner.

 

Simpsons has a very old school trolley tableside carving service with all the traditional accompaniments. Rules claims to be the oldest restaurant in London and just oozes old school Edwardian atmosphere. Rules is very game focused, so in addition to a traditional beef roast with yorkshire pudding etc they also have an extensive menu of wild game roasts available. 

 

As an honorable mention, the bar upstairs at Simpsons has a not very well publicized small food menu that includes their beef roast made into a sandwich in the middle of a yorkshire pudding and its just delicious.  

[Bob++]

7 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Simpsons has a very old school trolley tableside carving service with all the traditional accompaniments. Rules claims to be the oldest restaurant in London and just oozes old school Edwardian atmosphere. 

I have to say that my old school served a pretty mediocre Sunday Lunch, and not from a trolley. 🙂

 

Hyphens rule OK?

Edited January 11, 2020 by Bob++

[aheape1979]

On 1/10/2020 at 2:11 PM, Post Captain said:

aheape1979 ~

 

I noted in the previous conversation that you had booked a table at the Marksman.  As others noted, it's now a gastropub rather than a traditional London pub.  Frankly, being an old stick-in-the-mud, I'm not at all a fan of gastropubs.  The best Sunday roasts I've experienced have all been far afield from London, in countryside or small-town pubs in Yorkshire, Shropshire, Cornwall...   

 

That said, there are still a few pubs in London that maintain some traditional charm and haven't entirely succumbed to the modern gastropub mania.

 

Take a look at the following.  I'm familiar with all of these pubs and have enjoyed a fair few pints and the occasional meal in each of them over a long period of years.  I haven't experienced their Sunday roasts, so can't vouch for the quality of that meal in these establishments, but I would happily give any of them a try:  

 

The Lady Ottoline:  https://www.theladyottoline.net

 

The Lamb:  https://www.thelamblondon.com

 

The Holly Bush:  https://www.hollybushhampstead.co.uk

 

Also see the following web page.  It's basically a promotional page for Sunday roasts at various Fuller's pubs in and around London; but in my experience, Fuller's houses rarely disappoint.

 

https://www.fullers.co.uk/blog/pubs-articles/best-sunday-roasts-london

 

Incidentally, John Bull will be horrified to learn that the going rate for a basic Sunday roast in the big bad city is £18.😵😱  But various 'Spoons around town do a nice lasagne meal for £8.95, or five-bean chili with chips for £7.45 !😁

 

 

 

Thank you!  I think I will cancel the Marksman and choose something more local.  That's why I love the CC boards!  I get good advice!

[Globaliser]

On 1/10/2020 at 1:41 PM, aheape1979 said:

Where is your favorite place for a Sunday roast (lunchtime?)  We plan to visit the Columbia Road Flower Market that morning, so something in that area would be awesome, but not required!

 

If you want to push the boat out, Galvin La Chapelle will do a nice roast in very nice (ie Michelin-starred) surroundings. This is a ~20 minute walk from the flower market.

 

For a gastropub on that side of town, even though it will involve a bit of travel, you might look at The Narrow, which has the advantage of being by the river and having good views both upstream (into town) and downstream (to Canary Wharf) if you're allocated a table in the conservatory. From the flower market, I think the fastest way would be Overground from Hoxton to Shadwell (3 stops), then DLR to Limehouse (1 stop).

[Morgans]

Excellent Sunday roast at the Town of Ramsgate, Wapping. The 100 bus stops more or less outside the door. Echo the recommendation for the Narrow and Galvin.

[John Bull]

Can I suggest you check out the menus & prices of some of the recommendations.

 

At around £40, a roast at Galvin la Chapelle or Simpson's in the Strand is way over double what I pay for a good sunday lunch locally, where a roast costs about the same as a starter in those establishments.

And they have the stilted & formal sort of set-up that suits fine dining, not sunday roasts.

 

Prices at Rules are a bit more reasonable, but I don't see a traditional roast on their menu.

They offer their rib of beef with Yorkshire, which is a positive clue.

But with dauphinoise potato instead of roast, which negates it.

 

No doubt those places are very very nice. Perhaps for dinner as a special treat, but for me not a "sunday roast lunch"

 

The roast at The Narrow looks to be "proper" for a sunday roast, as a Gordon Ramsay establishment should be.

And £25 is at least closer to the mark.

It's also a riverside spot, with outside dining, and only a 5-minute walk from Limehouse LDR station. (LDR links with the tube system). 

 

If I wanted to push the boat out I'd certainly consider The Narrow.

 

The Town at Ramsgate in Wapping is a traditional and historic East-End pub, more the sort of place for a sunday roast. and £11.95 is very sensible for London. Similar value-for-money for other meals and snacks. 

But it's a buffet - at buffets they usually carve and serve the meat & Yorkshires and you help yourselves to veg etc.

My experience of sunday roast buffets in my corner of England is that you get there super-early or you're often faced with a long & slow line at the buffet, which kinda takes the shine off. This place seems to get good reviews generally, worth sifting to look for comments about sunday lunch

Like The Narrow it's by the river, but has very little by way of views or outside space.

Both are in the East End - way back a very working-class area, but now the waterfront warehouses have been converted to sought-after flats and the old terraced houses demolished to make way for modern living, so the "in" area for city types..

A 20-minute walk from Tower Hill tube station.

Other than my concerns that it's buffet service, I'd put it very broadly in the same league as the pubs linked by Post Captain - they're well worth another look. 

 

All just MHO as always.

 

JB 

 

 

 

 

 

[Morgans]

Forgot to say it's best to book in advance for all the places mentioned especially the Town of Ramsgate. Don't worry about the buffet element - it.s all very civilised as people tootle along to the buffet when it suits. It,s no way like a huge long line of customers waiting for ever. Go up as and when you,re ready...... bus 100 from Tower .  There's also a Sunday roast at the Chamberlain (Fullers) which is 1 minute from Aldgate tube but they seem to have gone a bit up market since their refurb and I can't see Yorkshire pud on the menu although they do offer roast beef and chicken on Sundays.  It's a good excuse to pop in and find out!!

JB - I must be a city type !!!😀 

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, Morgans said:

 

JB - I must be a city type !!!😀 

 

Do you drive a beemer?

If so, yes you probably are.

If you wear red braces with a tie which clashes and no jacket, and say "yah" a lot  - you definitely are..

 

But if you wear a flat hat, a grandad shirt and baggy trousers, and say "my old son" a lot - you should have moved out decades ago. 

 

JB

(inveterate stereotyper) 

Edited January 25, 2020 by John Bull

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, John Bull said:

At around £40, a roast at Galvin la Chapelle or Simpson's in the Strand is way over double what I pay for a good sunday lunch locally, where a roast costs about the same as a starter in those establishments.

 

 

...

 

 

No doubt those places are very very nice. Perhaps for dinner as a special treat, but for me not a "sunday roast lunch"

 

The roast at The Narrow looks to be "proper" for a sunday roast, as a Gordon Ramsay establishment should be.

And £25 is at least closer to the mark.

It's also a riverside spot, with outside dining, and only a 5-minute walk from Limehouse LDR station. (LDR links with the tube system). 

 

If I wanted to push the boat out I'd certainly consider The Narrow. ...

 

To be fair to Galvin La Chapelle, £42.50 gets you a three-course lunch. So it's actually about what it would cost you at The Narrow if you order three courses (£25 roast + £10 starter + £7 dessert). I suspect, though, that one difference is that if you have the roast at The Narrow, you probably won't have room for either a starter or a dessert.

 

I also suspect that you'd consider me a city type too. The friends who live near The Narrow regard it as a local place to pop round to at short notice when they're bored of cooking for themselves and just want someone else to do it for them ...

[John Bull]

2 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

I also suspect that you'd consider me a city type too.

 

Hi, G.

 

You've reminded me that in the stereotype I should have added......

 "and cusses about being stuck behind ho-ho bus-loads of tourists".

Does that ring any bells, G? 

 

JB 

All in jest, of course. 

[aheape1979]

Thanks everyone!  Has anyone dined at the Dove?  Captain suggested any of the Fullers restaurants and I've seen some good reviews on the Dove.

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, aheape1979 said:

Thanks everyone!  Has anyone dined at the Dove?  Captain suggested any of the Fullers restaurants and I've seen some good reviews on the Dove.

 

There are several Doves in London, guessing this is the Fullers pub in Hammersmith.

Looks like a very good find.

 

Attractive & historic pub in an excellent relatively-leafy riverside location, some outdoor riverside seating.

A little outside central London so likely to have a local rather than city or tourist clientele, but less than 10 minute walk from Ravenscourt tube station. 

 

The £18 price for a sunday roast is actually the same as Fullers'pubs in the provinces (ie no London loading )

Served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, buttered kale, honey roast parsnips & carrots, butternut squash puree, cauliflower cheese, gravy

All the correct essentials and more.  

Yes, a proper traditional English pub sunday lunch. 

 

Haven't read the reviews, but  plenty of them & the scores are high 

Probably very popular, I'd be inclined to book.

 

Never been there, but I've ear-marked it for when I'm up that way.

 

JB 

 

[aheape1979]

On 1/26/2020 at 1:13 PM, John Bull said:

 

There are several Doves in London, guessing this is the Fullers pub in Hammersmith.

Looks like a very good find.

 

Attractive & historic pub in an excellent relatively-leafy riverside location, some outdoor riverside seating.

A little outside central London so likely to have a local rather than city or tourist clientele, but less than 10 minute walk from Ravenscourt tube station. 

 

The £18 price for a sunday roast is actually the same as Fullers'pubs in the provinces (ie no London loading )

Served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, buttered kale, honey roast parsnips & carrots, butternut squash puree, cauliflower cheese, gravy

All the correct essentials and more.  

Yes, a proper traditional English pub sunday lunch. 

 

Haven't read the reviews, but  plenty of them & the scores are high 

Probably very popular, I'd be inclined to book.

 

Never been there, but I've ear-marked it for when I'm up that way.

 

JB 

 

Thanks!  I have a reservation there (Hammersmith), and another at Victoria near Paddington station after our train from the Cotswolds.  I'm very excited!

[scottbee]

The Lamb and Flag (Covent Garden Area - Fuller's Pub) was pretty reasonable for a Sunday roast as well, and based on the popularity well received.  I didn't order the roast, but I actually wished I had as I saw a few cross my path on the way to another table.  What I did have was excellent, and reasonably priced for London.