Sunday Pub Lunch!

When I was growing up, Sunday lunch was my favorite time as a child. We would have a big Sunday English meal, and we would argue about things.

Joanna Coles

I've not done a foody one of these for a while so, when a friend of mine suggested Sunday Lunch I thought I'd give you a taste of my favourite places for the best meal of the week! I'm afraid it's a bit Londoncentric but I know several of you have found it helpful when you've been visiting.

Sunday lunch is Sunday lunch, it's a light starter, a juicy roast with roasties and other veg and a lovely pud like apple pie or sticky toffee pudding, if you're a veggie or a pescatarian, I'm sure you will find an alternative however, this post is aimed largely at my fellow carnivores!

The other thing about Sunday lunch is the environment, I'm sure there are many fabulous lunches served in the lovely hotels and restaurants in London however, for me, there are no finer venues for ambiance than a good old traditional pub.

Blacklock Soho

This popular destination serves arguably the city’s best roast subsequently, you have to book in advance. The meat is sourced from one of Britain’s best butchers (Warren’s in Cornwall) together with enthusiastic portioning and solid trimmings make Blacklock’s roast one worth going out for. Incidentally, during the week it’s one of central London’s finest chop house, if you can't get there on a Sunday, Butcher Price Monday is worth a look, enormous steaks at very reasonable prices!

The Quality Chop House

Clerkenwell is a hugely under visited corner of London however, over recent years it's become a foodies heaven. On Sunday, the team at the Quality Chop House offer a three-course set lunch for £35 per head, bloody brilliant for London. The main courses might include: Butter-roasted celeriac; Hampshire cross pork loin, apple sauce; Hebredian lamb shoulder, mint sauce (for 2 to share); Angus beef rump and brisket; or Yorkshire partridge, plum jam. All are served with Yorkshire pudding; roast potatoes; carrots, seeds and oats; kale, shallot, almonds; and Jerusalem artichokes in dripping with onion, not for the faint hearted but yummy!

The Compton Arms

The Compton won an award a few years ago for the best traditional burger in the country so, given the surrounds, a quality roast was always likely to follow: fancy Cantabrian anchovies or rich brown crab can precede a whole blistered mackerel, belted Galloway beef, or roast chicken with decidedly unroasty accoutrements: fries and aioli. Come on, it’s better than roast potatoes. Bookings most definitely required!

Marksman Public House

All of these roasts are worth going out for, but the Marksman’s is one of those that leaves diners asking why so many pubs get it so, so wrong. Two essential orders here: the beef and barley bun with horseradish cream, and the brown butter tart, with the latter often necessitating a knowing pre-order at the start of the meal. The structure is in the meat, carb, veg lineage, of course, but look for deviations: Tamworth ham belly with luxurious coco beans and a properly herbed green sauce, or a crab and tomato broth to kick things off, absolutely gorgeous!

The Black Dog Beer House

A compact menu of Sunday roasts at a traditionally furnished neighbourhood pub — and quite a lot more, actually. If you like beer, this newish Brentford pub’s selection is extensive, covering cask ales to trendy new pale ales, ask the waiting staff for recommendations to accompany your specific roast, makes a lovely change to wine! The food, as you would expect, is respectfully trad while offering little nudges here and there. Poussin comes with a clever bean sprout salad, while porchetta is given a Britalian bent with a cider gravy. Book, as it’s very popular.

The Brown Dog

Yet another dog! Skirt through south west London’s riverside procession of pastel terraces and bougie delis to find a gastropub that loves dogs. Knick knacks and paddy whacks line the walls — bones in the kitchen — with British charcuterie platters, briniest Maldon oysters and sticky poussin with green sauce or strip loin on heavy-set tables, olive oil roast potatoes obligatory. Settle in with a bottle of wine from a concise, conventional list or an assertive cask ale, and mind out for four-legged customers snaffling any scraps.

I have no particular favourite here, honestly, take your pick, you can't go wrong!

What's on this week?