1Joanna’s, Crystal Palace
This family-run restaurant has been a fixture of Crystal Palace life since opening in 1978. Originally an American diner, it is now a modern brasserie whose goal is to serve customers simple but delicious food in elegant yet unstuffy surroundings. On Sundays, the regular a la carte menu, which already features roast pork belly and lamb rump, is boosted by an additional traditional roast offering: roast 28 day-aged rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, duck fat roasties, seasonal vegetables (sourced from Turnips in Borough Market), beef gravy and horseradish (£17.50). Owner William Ellner is particularly proud of the gravy: ‘we make it from veal bones, which give an incredibly rich flavor’. He also speaks lovingly of the kitchen’s slow-roasting oven, which ‘breaks down fibres’ and ensures ‘perfectly tender meat’.
56 Westow Hill, Crystal Palace SE19 1RX; 020 8670 4052; joannas.uk.com
Joanna’s Sunday Roast (photo by Keith Sheriff)
2Chapters, Blackheath
Chapters’ Sunday roasts aren’t Sunday roasts as such – they’re available all week on the a la carte menu, but chef-patron Andy McLeish is big on autumnal dishes and, especially, game. So you’ll find hearty, meaty dishes like roasted pork belly with mashed potato, choucroute (similar to sauerkraut but cooked in wine) and apple purée (£14.25) and big game flavours like roasted haunch of Chart’s Farm venison with braised red cabbages, carrots and damson jam (£15.95). Everything is sourced and prepared with the utmost care, the service is flawless and the prices compare with the local pub, which makes this an absolute steal.
43-45 Montpelier Vale, Blackheath Village SE3 OTJ; chaptersblackheath.com
Chapters’ roast venison
3The Crooked Well, Camberwell
The Michelin Guide-recommended Crooked Well never fails to provide. It is housed in a single high-ceilinged room replete with chandeliers and velvet banquettes, local celebs Florence Welsh and Erin O’Connor are regulars, and Sunday lunch is a particular highlight. The meat is from William Rose in East Dulwich and many dishes are shared – roast chicken with all the trimmings, including pigs in blankets (£31), and a spectacular rack of lamb for two (£38). There are also single-portion pork and beef roasts (both £15.50). ‘Roasts have always been very important to my family and we wanted to make them a focus,’ co-founder Hector Skinner says. ‘We want coming here for Sunday lunch to be as close to home as possible.’
16 Grove Lane, Camberwell SE5 8SY; 020 7252 7798; thecrookedwell.com
The Crooked Well (photo by Keith Sheriff)
4The Guildford Arms, Greenwich
The Guildford Arms’ chef-patron Guy Awford is all about the honesty, seasonality and quality of the food he serves, which is sourced fresh from local suppliers. Everything they serve is made on the premises, and since the style of cooking is imaginative modern British, it’s a great spot to head for a roast. Choose from dishes such as slow roast shoulder of Yorkshire lamb with roast vegetables, dauphinoise potatoes and rosemary jus (£16.50) and honey and mustard roast ham with roast spuds, roast veg, Yorkshire pudding and cider jus (£15).
55 Guildford Grove, Greenwich SE10 8JY; 020 8691 6293; theguildfordarms.co.uk
5Pedler, Peckham
Pedler is all about seasonal food and daily changing menus – whatever’s freshest, whatever’s the best, that’s what you’ll be eating. Chef G loves to mix things up, so you’re never going to get anything too ‘standard issue’. Traditionalists, be wary. But those who love original flavours, embrace the likes of a Flock & Herd pheasant for two to share with bread sauce and berry gravy (£30) and 41-day aged beef rump with horseradish (£18), both served with red cabbage, celeriac, sprouts, kale, roasties and yorkies.
58 Peckham Rye SE15 4JR; 020 3030 5015; pedlerpeckhamrye.com
Chapters’ roast venison
6The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell
The Camberwell Arms is a great dining-style pub with some very fancy roastie offerings. Head over with a bunch of foodie friends for upscale sharing offerings like slow-roast Salt Marsh lamb shoulder and dauphinoise potatoes for five (£75), or perhaps the Welsh Black forerib, potatoes, watercress and béarnaise sauce for two to three (£75). There’s also a lovely, long list of old and new-world wines to help it all along with. Don’t dawdle though, lunch is only served from noon to 4pm.
65 Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell SE5 8TR; 020 7358 4364; thecamberwellarms.co.uk
7ToastED, East Dulwich
The Sunday roast is in keeping with the overall vibe of seasonally inspired, innovative cooking. ‘We wanted to do something a bit different,’ explains manager Alex Thorp. ‘More Sunday lunch than traditional roast.’ Meat, procured from The Butchery in Forest Hill, is all rare breed, of impeccable provenance (cross-cut short ribs of beef, brisket and suckling pig) and is typically given an initial sear on the kitchen’s plancha grill before being cooked through in the wood-fired oven. Don’t expect Yorkshire pud and roast tatties – you’re more likely to get parley root mash or roasted beets.
36-38 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich SE22 8HJ; 020 8693 9021; toastdulwich.co.uk
8Hare & Billet, Blackheath
The Hare & Billet, which was refurbished and reopened earlier this year, is Blackheath’s most grown up pub. Quiet and sophisticated, with a separate dining area and a great range of beers, many from small local breweries. The fresh, seasonal, rustic-style British cuisine features a lot of pies and slow cooking, and their roasts are just that little bit fancy. Try slow-braised beef shin ragu, pappardelle and parmesan (£15) or 28 day-aged Cote de beouf on the bone with chips, grill garnish and café de Paris butter (£21.50).
1A Hare & Billet Road, Blackheath SE3 0QJ; 020 8852 2352; hareandbillet.com
The Hare & Billet, Blackheath
9The Crown Tavern, Lee
The Crown Tavern in Lee is the latest pub to get the Young’s contemporary makeover, and it looks great. The spacious bar area hosts various styles of seating from ‘quick drink’ to ‘Sunday slouch’, there’s a bright, airy dining room to the rear and a colourful, family friendly beer garden out front. Their Sunday roasts look fantastic too – choose from 21-day aged British sirloin, rare-breed pork loin with crackling, lemon-and-thyme-roasted chicken with stuffing or slow-roasted roasted butternut squash – all served with a double egg Yorkie, goose fat roasties, seasonal greens and ale gravy.
117 Burnt Ash Hill, Lee SE12 0AJ; 020 8857 6607; thecrownlee.co.uk
Sunday roasts at The Crown Tavern, Lee
10The Sylvan Post, Forest Hill
This relaxed boozer is housed in a former post office and retains many original features, from the letter boxes out front to its bar fashioned from a 1960s Royal Mail desk. Known above all for its excellent craft beers, its Sunday lunch – with roasts all at a reasonable £13 – has also become a cherished feature of Forest Hill life. ‘We really try to get the little touches right that make the difference,’ explains sous chef Jon Phillips. Pork is outdoor reared, while the beef is dry aged and the chicken is brined for two days in salt and ale.
24-28 Dartmouth Park Road, Forest Hill SE23 3XU; 020 8291 5712; sylvanpost.com
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11The Orchard, Brockley
The Orchard’s loyal, predominantly local clientele love its substantial Sunday roasts (the wickedly spicy bloody Marys are another key attraction). The Sunday menu, which changes regularly, currently features roast 21 day-aged Hereford beef sirloin, horseradish cream (£15.95) and slow roast salt marsh lamb shoulder (£16.40), both served with roast potatoes, sautéed greens and a towering Yorkshire pud – ‘the biggest in south east London’. The meat is sourced from W Bunting, a much-loved family butcher just off the Old Kent Road, and everything is prepared on the premises with evident care.
5 Harefield Road, Brockley SE4 1LW; 020 8692 4756; thebrockleyorchard.com
The Orchard by Michael Leckie
12The Princess of Wales, Blackheath
Always bustling, the Princess of Wales has an area for every occasion – tables under the TV for Sunday sports viewing, booths for crowding into with friends, high stools, low sofas, high-backed chairs and even conservatory-style dining. There are usually only a couple of roasts on offer – 21-day-aged West Country beef (£13.75), half a roasted Shropshire chicken with parsley and thyme butter (£12.50), plus a nut roast – but they’re done well with fresh, seasonal ingredients and served with roast potatoes, seasonal veg (the honey-glazed carrots are particularly good), a huge homemade yorkie and plenty of gravy.
1a Montpelier Row, Blackheath SE3 0RL; 020 8852 5784; princessofwalespub.co.uk
13The Woolwich Equitable, Woolwich
This building is magnificent. Originally the headquarters of the Woolwich Equitable Building Society, dating back to 1935, it was beautifully refurbished last year to show off the double-height ceilings, grand marble columns and spectacular Art Deco glass ceiling. The Sunday roast menu features a selection of carefully sourced meats like the Norfolk Black Angus top-side of beef and the Devon Black Face lamb leg, all served on pretty, chintzy plates handsomely stacked with roast potatoes, Chantenay carrots, honey roasted parsnips, buttered Savoy cabbage, Yorkshire puddings and red wine gravy.
Equitable House, General Gordon Square, Woolwich SE18 6AB; 020 8317 7190; woolwichpub.com
The Woolwich Equitable delivers dishes that are way beyond your standard pub food
14The Prince Regent, Herne Hill
An excellent stop off after a stroll in Brockwell Park, The Prince Regent serves up a good roast chicken with that saviour of all Sundays – cauliflower cheese – as well as roast potatoes and mange tout, for the bargain price of £11. But not one to be accused of keeping things too simple, you can also get a roast duck breast with celeriac rosti, pak choi and raspberry jus (£13). It’s also one of the few places left in the universe where you can have a prawn cocktail starter (£7.50).
69 Dulwich Road, Herne Hill SE24 0NJ; 020 7274 1567; theprinceregent.co.uk
15Railway Telegraph, Forest Hill
The Railway Telegraph, established in 1853, reopened in late 2014 after an extensive refurb and has already become a Forest Hill institution. As well as a gorgeous interior and dining room serving up the likes of juniper chicken legs with rosemary and garlic and warm mushroom salad, the pub also has an underground cocktail bar. Admittedly we’ve yet to sample their roasts, but if they’re half as good as they look (pictures below), we’re sold…
112 Stanstead Road, Forest Hill SE23 1BS; 020 8699 6644; railwaytelegraph.com
Words: Will Skidelsky & Victoria Purcell
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