Calling all South Londoners; it’s time to defer responsibility to the city’s best chefs for your favourite meal of the week.
Sunday roasts, the quintessential British celebratory feast, are best enjoyed in a traditional British pub, preferably in front of a roaring fire, with good British ale and even better friends. Although no roast will ever compare to your mum’s, if you live in South London, these 7 come pretty close.
Harwood Arms, Fulham
This is London’s only Michelin starred pub, but the only thing that gives this critical-acclaim away is the food.
The pub itself is no different to any British boozer in design or atmosphere, and the Sunday Roast here is refreshingly traditional, but the standard is above and beyond your usual pub grub, and that is something of an understatement.
A set lunch affair comprising three courses and costing £65, the starters are reassuringly light (the seabream tartare on our last visit was exceptional), which leaves you room for the generous, expertly cooked main event.
For that main event, it’s a choice of pork T-bone, slow cooked lamb shoulder, or the signature sirloin of Belted Galloway, with yorkies, cauliflower cheese, roast spuds and more all served as standard.
Desserts right now are summer-exemplified, with English strawberries, blackcurrants and Richmond park honey all making an appearance, and representing a wonderful way to end your meal.
Oh, but don’t leave without trying the pub’s iconic venison scotch egg; it’s a thing of beauty, whether you have it as a snack or a petit four!
Spolier Alert: The crisp and fluffy Yorkshire puddings have a little meaty surprise inside.
Address: Walham Grove, Fulham, London SW6 1QP, UK
Website: harwoodarms.com
The Canton Arms, Stockwell
Get up early for this roast because the Canton Arms kitchen closes at 4pm on a Sunday, and you can’t book. However, if you don’t mind waiting for a table, a pint at the bar is a great way to spend your Sunday – and if you get peckish, they also do a fantastic scotch egg (hey, we’re sensing a theme here!).
Once you are seated, this is rustic English cooking at its best. The roast is superb and the quality of the meat shines through. If you want to go off-piste, the Canton Arms is famous for its sharing pie – the crust alone is worth going for.
Address: 177 S Lambeth Rd, London SW8 1XP, UK
Website: cantonarms.com
The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell
Like the Canton Arms (and run by the same restaurant group), this pub’s kitchen closes at 4pm, but you can book. Even if you don’t live in South London, a trip to the Camberwell Arms is well worth the journey – they’ve won awards for their seasonal roasts.
However, if you’re a traditionalist, the Camberwell Arms may not be for you, as roast beef with all the trimmings this is not. The birds are often cooked over a charcoal grill and their charcuterie, cured in-house, makes up the bulk of the snack section, which is no bad thing. The chefs here love their game, too, with rabbit and hare often featured on the menu. This is, again, no bad thing.
This pub is perfect for big groups as they offer sharing plates for larger parties.
Address: 65 Camberwell Church St, Camberwell, London SE5 8TR,
Website: thecamberwellarms.co.uk
Ideal Tip: If you fancy a Sunday lunch with a difference, then why not head to Britalian joint Artusi in Peckham, just a short walk from Camberwell. For a ridiculously good £25, they do a three course menu whose size, generosity and quality belies the price tag.
The Coal Room, Peckham
Speaking of Peckham, and if you like your Sunday roast with an unmistakable flavour of the grill, then it’s to the Coal Rooms you should head. The current ‘summer roast’ menu is a dream, offering a lightness of touch in keeping with the season, but still delivering on that Sunday satisfaction you’re craving.
We’re particularly enamoured with the smoked hogget shoulder, paired with grilled Cornish new potatoes that are served almost collapsing, as well as bobby beans given a similar treatment, and ending up both refreshing and umami-laden via the process. Or, if you’re going big before going home (for a lie down), then the restaurant’s ex-dairy sirloin packs some serious flavour and heft. What a treat!
All that said, those wishing to avoid a meat coma are well-catered for here, too; a smoked aubergine and salsa verde ‘roast’ dinner is just as satisfying as its carnivorous counterparts.
Address: 11a Station Way, Peckham, London, Rye Station SE15 4RX
Website: coalroomspeckham.com
Anchor and Hope, Waterloo
Another cracker from the restaurant group behind The Camberwell Arms and Canton Arms, if fish is your thing, then the Anchor & Hope will see you right. The menu is fish heavy – think grilled wild turbot, gurnard, eel, cuttlefish, crab, salt cod – you get the picture.
If your party are card-carrying carnivores, then worry not; The Anchor and Hope does a killer roast beef, too, as well as a sharing, seven-hour braised lamb neck with North African spicing that’s well worth waiting for.
Address: 36 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LP, UK
Website: anchorandhopepub.co.uk
Roast, Borough Market
With a name like that, we simply had to include Borough Market’s Roast in our list of the best roast dinners in South London. Serving this beloved British Sunday staple every day of the week, here the star turn is a 48 day dry-aged roast beef with all the trimmings, fixin’s, and gubbins. It’s quite simply a wonderful plate of food, and one which we’ve been caught having midweek more times than we care to admit. Check out our full review of Roast for more.
Address: The Floral Hall, Stoney St, London SE1 1TL
Website: roast-restaurant.com
Queen Of The South Pub, Tulse Hill
We’re also hugely looking forward to this new opening from the guys behind the popular Prince Of Peckham.
After three long years of planning, deliberating and searching for the perfect premises, the owners of the Queen Of The South Pub South East London have renovated this old-style pub (formally the White Hart) with a lovely new design whilst remaining faithful to its previous soul and sense of tradition.
When the doors open, drinkers and diners can expect live music, games, DJs on occasion, and, of course, excellent Sunday roasts, which will hopefully follow the format of the Prince of Peckham, with their beloved jerk-style lunches. We can’t wait!
Address: 367 Norwood Rd, Tulse Hill, Norwood, London SE27 9BQ
Website: queenofthesouthpub.co.uk
Next up check out our article on the best restaurants to eat game in London, places which are particularly on song right now, during game season.