Where to Find the Best Sunday Roast in London in 2026
The Sunday roast is the meal Londoners argue about most, and the city does it across every budget, from £18 platters to Michelin-starred pub kitchens. This guide picks the best Sunday roast in London by what you are after, from dry-aged beef to roast chicken, a vegan version, or wood-fired meat for the table. Each section says where it is and what to order. My favorite is last (it’s the wood-fired option). Book ahead, as the good spots fill up weeks out.
Best Beef Sunday Roast in London: Hawksmoor
Hawksmoor built its name on steak, so the beef roast was always going to be the one to beat, and it is. The Sunday menu runs a single option, a 55-day dry-aged rump started over charcoal and finished in the oven, served with beef-dripping potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and bone marrow and onion gravy. There are branches across London, with the Seven Dials site near Covent Garden the cosiest for a roast. A classic plate runs around £29.50, with larger sharing cuts off the blackboard.
What to Order: The dry-aged rump with all the trimmings, and the bone marrow gravy refilled. Add the cauliflower cheese and the roasted bone marrow on the side if you are going all in.
Best If: You are a beef person first, and you want the roast potatoes and gravy done to a very high standard.
Skip If: You want choice. The Sunday roast here is beef or nothing, so a mixed group with a chicken or pork craving is better served elsewhere.
Best Sunday Roast Chicken in London: The Camberwell Arms
The Camberwell Arms, in Camberwell in South London, does the roast that most reliably wins over a table that cannot agree. Most mains are sharers for two, with slow-cooked lamb, roast chicken, and pork served alongside several kinds of roast potatoes and cabbage. The roast chicken is the one to get, properly seasoned and generous, and the menu changes often around eclectic starters and Mediterranean-leaning sides. It holds a strong reputation as a South London roast institution.
What to Order: The roast chicken to share, and whatever the kitchen is doing with seasonal sides that week. Start with the scotch bonnet pork fat on toast if it is on.
Best If: You want a generous, sociable roast in South London, with sides that go beyond the standard.
Skip If: You want a quiet, formal lunch. The Camberwell Arms is loud, busy, and built for feasting rather than a hushed meal.
Best Value Sunday Roast in London: Blacklock
Blacklock is the value pick, with branches in Soho, Shoreditch, the City, and Canary Wharf. The roast comes as beef, lamb, or pork, or as the All In, which piles all three on one plate with the trimmings for sharing. Prices run roughly £18 to £28, which is rare for cooking this good, and the meat comes from one of Cornwall’s longest-running farming families. The atmosphere is loud and unfussy, built around shared plates and breakfast martinis.
What to Order: The All In for a group, or a single meat if you want to keep it simple. Start with the pig’s head on toast and finish with the white chocolate cheesecake.
Best If: You want a high-quality roast that does not cost a fortune, in a lively room good for groups.
Skip If: You want a calm or refined setting. Blacklock trades on volume and energy, so it is a poor fit for a quiet table.
Best Traditional Sunday Roast in London: The Guinea Grill
The Guinea Grill, in Mayfair, is the roast for anyone who wants the traditional version done by people who have done it for decades. The inn dates back centuries and the grill has served dry-aged British beef over open flame since the 1950s, with Young’s ales and a strong pint of Guinness at the bar. The Sunday beef arrives perfectly pink with Yorkshire puddings, and the room is old-school in the best sense.
What to Order: The roast beef with all the trimmings, paired with a pint of Guinness or a Young’s ale. The Yorkshire puddings are the highlight of the plate.
Best If: You want a classic, traditional Mayfair roast with history and a proper pub bar attached.
Skip If: You want something inventive or cheap. The Guinea Grill is traditional and Mayfair-priced, so it is a poor match for either.
Best Sunday Roast for Sides: The Quality Chop House
The Quality Chop House, in Clerkenwell, has been feeding Farringdon since 1896, and it is the roast to choose when the trimmings matter as much as the meat. The Sunday menu runs Suffolk lamb shoulder to share, roast pork belly with apple sauce, and beef rump, but it is the sides that get the loudest praise. The room keeps its original Victorian booths, which gives the meal a sense of place most roasts cannot match.
What to Order: The Suffolk lamb shoulder to share or the pork belly, and as many of the sides as the table will allow. The potatoes are the ones people return for.
Best If: You care about the full plate, sides included, and you like a dining room with real history.
Skip If: You want a casual pub feel or a budget meal. This is a restaurant roast at restaurant prices.
Best Vegan Sunday Roast in London: The Spread Eagle
The Spread Eagle, in Homerton in East London, is the city’s first fully vegan pub, and it serves one of the best plant-based roasts in London. Everything is 100% vegan, down to the drinks, and the Sunday roast is the draw, built around a beet Wellington, a nut and celeriac roast, and roasted celeriac with potato crackling. Two of the three roasts are gluten-free, and reviewers single out the vegan Yorkshire puddings as hard to tell from the original.
What to Order: The beet Wellington or the celeriac roast, with the creamy leeks on the side. Save room for the gluten-free apple crumble.
Best If: You are vegan, or eating with someone who is, and you want a roast where the whole menu is built for it rather than tacked on.
Skip If: You want meat at the table. The Spread Eagle is entirely plant-based, so it is not the spot for a mixed meat-and-vegan group who want both done well.
Best Wood-Fired Sunday Roast in London: Elliot’s
Elliot’s has cooked seasonal, wood-fired food in Borough Market since 2011, with a second site in Hackney since 2021, and its Sunday roast applies that same live-fire approach to the British classic. The roasts are sized for sharing, from a flat iron steak for one to a sirloin on the bone for three or four, with the wood fire giving the meat a depth most kitchens cannot reach. It holds a 4.6 rating, and the small plates before the roast are worth arriving hungry for.
🏆 My Personal Pick
Elliot’s is my pick of the whole list. The wood-fired cooking is what sets it apart, and the marrow-rich cuts come off the fire deeply savory and tender. I go for the lamb, either the chops or the braised shoulder for the table, and the sirloin on the bone is the one to order for a group. My wife prefers lighter fare, and she is well looked after here too, since the roasted portobello mushrooms with shallot and all the trimmings is a proper meat-free roast rather than an afterthought. Start with the Isle of Mull cheese puffs and the anchovy toast, and book the Borough site for the market setting.
What to Order: The braised lamb shoulder or sirloin on the bone to share, and the roasted portobello with all the trimmings for anyone going meat-free. The cheese puffs and anchovy toast to start.
Best If: You want a wood-fired roast with genuine depth of flavor, in a Borough Market room, with strong sharing options for the table.
Skip If: You want a cheap solo plate. The roasts are built for sharing and priced for the quality, so it works best for two or more.
Best Sunday Roast in London: What to Know Before You Go
A few practical points apply across all of these. Sunday roasts are usually served from around noon to 4pm or 5pm, and the best kitchens run out of the popular cuts, so an earlier booking is the safer one. Reserve ahead, since the top roasts at Blacklock, Hawksmoor, and Elliot’s fill weeks in advance, especially in winter. Prices range from about £18 at Blacklock to £30 and up at the Mayfair and restaurant spots, so match the venue to the occasion. For vegan or gluten-free diners, The Spread Eagle is the safest bet, while Elliot’s and the Camberwell Arms handle a meat-free roast well alongside the meat.
🍪 Final Bite
London takes the Sunday roast seriously enough that you can pick by the cut and never go wrong. For beef, go to Hawksmoor. For a sociable South London chicken roast, the Camberwell Arms. For value, Blacklock. For tradition, the Guinea Grill. For a vegan version where the whole kitchen is built for it, The Spread Eagle. And for the best wood-fired roast in the city, Elliot’s is my pick, marrow-rich, fire-cooked, and worth the Borough Market booking.
Got a London Sunday roast you swear by? Tell me your favorite in the comments.
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