Few meals are as revered — or as resolutely British — as a good old-fashioned Sunday lunch. It is, in essence, our great nation on a plate – a plate piled high with sustenance and sentiment.
Once the domain of god-fearing, penny-pinching housewives sneaking joints into empty bakery ovens before church, it’s come a long way since its thrifty beginnings.
These days, it’s less waste-not-want-not, more truffle-stuffed poultry and celeriac velouté. From roasted bone marrow to Bordelaise sauces, the UK’s top chefs revel in putting their own stamp on this fine culinary creation.
From theatrical tableside carving and Michelin-level mastery to the five-star hotel dishing out bottomless prime rib, we’ve dutifully eaten our way around the capital in pursuit of the ultimate Sunday lunch.
Every joint listed in this beefy little black book overdelivers in some way, from grandiose gueridon service and bottomless roasties to unlimited prime rib. For those keen to make a day of it, we have a handful of rural roasts – local gems within easy reach of the big smoke, where you can enjoy a yomp with your Yorkie.
So, whether you’re reaching for your Jimmy Choos or walking shoes, we have the perfect Sunday lunch venue for you!
Hot new opening: Michael Caines at The Stafford, St. James’s (main picture)
Oozing old-school charm and boasting one of the most legendary bars in the West End, this grand dame has always proved catnip to big names. Linked to St James’s Palace via a secret(ish) tunnel, it’s rumoured that the late Queen would scuttle in via the wine cellars, give a discreet knock and charm her way into a 5-star supper. With Michael Caines MBE now installed as The Stafford’s Culinary Strategist, one imagines His Majesty might be tempted to give the paparazzi the slip and follow suit.
Combining one of Britain’s most storied hotels and one of its most celebrated chefs makes Michael Caines at The Stafford one of the hottest tables in town right now. Blending heritage with innovation, the restaurant celebrates British gastronomy with an ever-evolving menu, studded with Caines’s signature dishes — warm lobster salad, anyone?
On Sundays, his Michelin-level mastery shakes up the nation’s favourite meal, in the form of a bells-and-whistles 3-course set menu, kicking off with a meticulously crafted appetiser — in our case, Loch Duart salmon rillette with beetroot glaze, buttermilk and horseradish. Starters range from brown-butter-poached Brixham cod to roasted quail, while genuinely thoughtful vegetarian and pescatarian mains tempt even the most ardent carnivores — the barbecued hen of the wood with black garlic, celeriac purée, almonds and mushroom tea very nearly swayed us. I say nearly, because clocking the carving trolley roll in, white gloves at the ready, resistance to the roast beef was futile. Does it live up to the hype? Yes, Ma’am.
Michael Caines at The Stafford’s 3-course Sunday lunch is priced at £55.00pp (or £68.00pp for 4-courses). To book visit www.thestaffordlondon.com.
Unlimited Prime Rib: Lutyens at The Ned, City
27 Poultry is no stranger to big spenders. Once the headquarters of the Midland Bank, the formidable building is now better known simply as The Ned — a flashy 5-star pleasure palace where city boy swagger meets old-world glamour. The burly façade may still hold its ground, but thanks to the Soho House gang, stepping inside is like tumbling into another world altogether. The 3,000 sqm marble-clad banking hall is now a riot of bars and restaurants, offering everything from juice and jazz to jeroboams. Yet beyond the visible razzmatazz thrumming beneath the hall’s 92 gleaming African verdite columns, hides one of the city’s finest steak restaurants: Lutyens Grill.
Named after the building’s designer, this hush-hush, dimly lit eatery places world-class, rare-breed cuts front and centre. Ranked No. 39 among the world’s best steakhouses, the beefy bolthole — all dark wood panelling and tasselled lampshades — serves everything from 100‑day-aged El Caprincho ox chop to magnificently marbled Black Kagoshima wagyu.
The excitement cranks up a notch come Friday, when their unlimited 45-day-aged, slow-roasted prime rib takes centre stage on the restaurant’s stately carving trolley. It’s a decadent three-course affair: oysters, lobster and steak tartare pave the way for the gargantuan hunk of perfectly cooked beef, served with velvety mash and creamed spinach. By Sunday, the feast evolves into a grand roast, where the same prime rib comes with all the usual trimmings. Now that’s a sound investment.
Lutyens Grill at The Ned offers a 3-course set Sunday lunch menu with unlimited prime rib for £100pp.
The ultimate beef wellington: The Lobby at The Peninsula London, Belgravia
Sitting pretty, haloed by royal parks, The Peninsula London offers some of the spenniest digs in the city. The first new-build 5-star hotel to be built in the capital in over a decade, every detail of this pristine pleasure palace has been meticulously planned from scratch – and it shows. From its Michelin-starred rooftop restaurant to its dazzling subterranean swimming pool, it’s easy to see why this uber-luxe Belgravia bolthole – which cost an eye-watering £1bn to create – caused such a stir. Rooms will set you back upwards of £1,000 a night – but if you’re keen to experience this lavish lair without having to cash in your crypto (or harvest a kidney), Sunday lunch is just the ticket.
Guarded by the chain’s iconic hand-carved guardian lions, the light and airy Lobby restaurant certainly packs a visual punch; all imposing colonnades and fabulous frescoes with hand-blown crystal chandeliers hanging from its neck-cricking, triple-height ceilings, with a pianist to boot. Their meal itself is, unsurprisingly, a sumptuous affair; three impeccably presented courses showcasing the finest British ingredients, with a couple of welcome wildcard mains for good measure (duck, anyone? Or miso-glazed aubergine, perhaps?). Alternatively, their three-course beef wellington menu for two takes some beating– and what better to order when just metres from Wellington Arch. The pristine parcel, sliced tableside, comes with succulent artichoke hearts and the option of indulging in a decadent sprinkling of freshly grated black truffle. The dish is finished off with a fabulous truffle jus which is, well… rich.
The Peninsula London’s beef wellington menu is served lunchtimes from Friday – Sunday and is priced at £85pp (or £100pp with freshly grated black truffle). To book, visit www.peninsula.com.
The heritage roast: Charlie’s at Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair
Flanked by London’s smartest doormen, each crowned with a solitary red feather, arriving at Brown’s has a sense of theatre about it. Since opening its doors in 1837, the capital’s oldest hotel has played host to history: Napoleon III found refuge in one of its suites, Queen Victoria took tea in the resplendent Drawing Room and Alexander Graham Bell made the world’s first telephone call here. Nestled within this storied time capsule of a hotel is Charlie’s – playfully named after Lord Charles Forte. Here, amid glorious surrounds, straight-backed waiters ceremoniously glide gilded trolleys of steaming roast beef and glistening smoked salmon from one velvet banquette to the next.
The menu—shaped by Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, whose grandfather also worked at the hotel—elevates humble British classics using the nation as its pantry – Norfolk hogget, Dover sole, Cornish turbot… Less Sunday lunch, more Sunday best, the beef is carved tableside and arrives with crisp duck fat potatoes, seasonal veg and a Yorkshire pudding that’s more puffed up than an old Etonian. It’s fair to say that a roast here feels less like a simple meal and more like tasting an exquisitely preserved chapter of London’s gastronomic past — one duck fat roast potato at a time.
Charlie’s set Sunday lunch menu is priced at £65 for two-courses or £75 for three-courses. To book visit www.roccofortehotels.com.
The award-winning roast: Hawksmoor, London
Yes, it’s a steakhouse chain (oh, who are we kidding — the steakhouse chain), but this meaty mecca hasn’t been crowned the nation’s best roast twice for nothing. Since launching almost twenty years ago, Hawksmoor’s grass-fed, charcoal-grilled cuts have become a firm favourite among steak-loving Londoners, with outposts scattered across the city.
Our pick? Right now, it’s Seven Dials — though come Christmas, it’s likely to be their new, arresting St Pancras restaurant, set to open just in time for silly season. But I digress… deep beneath Covent Garden’s cobbles, in a colonnaded former brewery, their Seven Dials flagship is a subterranean temple to beef. On Sundays, a whole rump of 35-day dry-aged beef is slow-cooked — first over real charcoal, then finished in the oven. It’s exceptional: the kind of meat that hushes a table.
There’s also a ‘feasting’ option, where one can swap the perfectly pink rump for a cut of choice from the blackboard selection and simply add the trimmings. Ohhh, the trimmings — beef-dripping roast potatoes, bone marrow gravy rich enough to warrant confession, a Yorkshire pudding the size of a bowler hat, and a whole bulb of roasted garlic to squeeze with abandon.
As Samuel Johnson reminds us on the back of the menu, “The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef.” Dining at Hawksmoor feels exactly that — an afternoon well spent with an old friend. Here’s to another year at the top of the carving trolley.
Hawksmoor’s Sunday roast is available across its London restaurants, priced from £27pp. To book visit www.thehawksmoor.com
For bottomless roasties: 108 Brasserie, Marylebone
Just a stone’s throw from Oxford Street’s maddening crowds, Marylebone Lane is part thoroughfare, part time machine — transporting in-the-know Londoners back to village life. Its cobbles slalom through one of the capital’s most charming spots, faithfully tracing the long-lost River Tyburn, which still murmurs beneath foot today. Each step north draws you deeper into this rom-com-worthy enclave — the sort of place that leaves one pining for a wicker basket and a still-warm baguette.
Passing a cavalcade of curious boutiques — flogging everything from fabulous feather fascinators to melon-sized meringues — one eventually stumbles upon a dreamy string of alfresco tables, where well-heeled diners watch the world go by over Jersey oysters, blissfully unaware of the river rampaging below. The spot? The Marylebone Hotel’s 108 Brasserie.
As winter descends on this chi-chi corner of town, things turn deliciously cosy, with ravenous locals flocking here for the mother of all roasts. And when it comes to what truly makes a Sunday roast, it’s not the meat that causes debate — it’s the potato. Thankfully, whatever meat you opt for, it arrives with an enormous Yorkshire pudding, sweet honey and tarragon tickled heritage carrots, crisp greens and — the clincher — unlimited roast potatoes. You’re welcome.
108 Brasserie’s roast is available every Sunday from 12pm-5pm, priced at £38 for 2-courses or £46 for 3-courses. To book visit www.108brasserie.com.
For a ramble with your roast: Cowshed Restaurant at Tewinbury Farm, Hertfordshire
It may be a country mile from London, but sitting pretty on the flower-filled banks of the Mimram, this family-run farm has become a bucolic hangout for weary city folk. Just thirty minutes from the capital, Tewinbury Farm has everything from yoga sessions and live music to riverside dining hidden amidst its hedgerows. Crowning the estate’s culinary ambitions is its fine-dining outpost, Cowshed restaurant. The field-to-fork affair offers a seasonal, kitchen-garden-led menu shaped by Tewinbury’s 700 acres of rolling farmland.
Come Sunday, cherry-cheeked locals abandon the area’s tracks and trails and drift in for one of the area’s best roasts. The nibbles hit the spot and the salads sing with freshness — unsurprising, given the surrounds — but it’s the cured, slow-roasted Old Spot pork that steals the show: tender, flavour-packed and topped with a hearty slab of just-crisp crackling. Wholesome, unpretentious and unashamedly hearty — it’s country dining done properly.
Fancy a ramble with your roast? Footpaths snake out from the farm in every direction — ancient woodland, wildflower meadows and even a mini ‘waterfall’ await.
Cowshed at Tewinbury Farm is a 5-minute taxi journey from Welwyn North railway station. On Sundays its roast is served from noon. To book, visit www.tewinbury.co.uk.
For stately strolls: The Stables at The Grove, Hertfordshire
Just 18 miles from the capital, The Grove is often dubbed London’s country estate — a sprawling bucolic bolthole where city fatigue is traded in for birdsong and billiards. This renowned Hertfordshire retreat has long been a playground for the glitterati, with everyone from Kylie Minogue to Johnny Depp hiding out around its award-winning spa and championship golf course.
If these luxe digs look familiar, you may have witnessed Grace Dent gleefully tackling The Glasshouse’s now-famous all-you-can-eat buffet on Netflix. But, if unlimited lobster and rib-eye feel a little… extravagant, trot over to the hotel’s more relaxed all-day brasserie, the Stables. Set on a spacious terrace overlooking rolling lawns, it serves up patriotic British fare which manages to feel as comforting and familiar as it does treaty – think Gressingham duck confit, Ashridge venison and Dingley Dell pork tomahawk.
Come Sunday, the roast takes centre stage, with generous servings of golden potatoes, glossy gravy and just-picked trimmings – many of which hail from The Grove’s very own kitchen garden. Defeated? Walk it off (well, a roastie or two, perhaps) around The Grove’s glorious grounds, home to various themed hiking trails – you can even access the Grand Union canal towpath from the estate – now that’s guilt-free gluttony!
To book Sunday lunch at The Stables, visit www.thegrove.co.uk.
