Where to book a Sunday roast in Soho, and when to go
Five Soho tables worth booking for a Sunday roast, what to order at each and the hour to turn up.
By Only Soho Editorial
Soho does a Sunday roast the way it does most things: in a basement, with fire involved, and with a booking you should have made days ago. Roasts here generally run from about £25 to £40 a head, with drinks and service on top. Prices move, so treat every figure below as a guide at the time of writing.
The timing rules
Roast is usually served from noon until somewhere between four and six. The busiest slot is one to three, so a table at half twelve or after half three is easier to land and calmer to sit in. Book early: temper says its Sundays sell out by Friday.
temper Soho, 25 Broadwick Street
A basement room built around fire. The roast runs every Sunday from noon until six at the Soho branch only, and each individual roast is £29.90. The choices are aged beef with horseradish cream, Mount Grace pork loin with smoked apple sauce, smoked Yorkshire chicken with chimichurri, or smoked and pulled lamb shoulder with mint sauce. The venue points to giant Yorkshire puddings, beef-dripping potatoes and a gravy cooked for 16 hours. Go at opening, or book outside one to three. Order: the Three Beast Feast at £38.50 a head if you cannot choose.
Blacklock Soho, 24 Great Windmill Street
Another basement, with roasts cooked slowly over open coals and unlimited gravy. Sunday service starts at quarter to twelve, with last seating at eight, so it suits the late roast better than most. Reports of the price vary, so budget roughly £25 to £30 a head for the roast, and around £50 if you add a drink and dessert. One review recommends the two o'clock slot so you are not rushed; another says arrive by one for the best cuts. Hot Dinners notes it has previously won the OFM Award for best Sunday roast. Order: the All In, a sharing roast of beef, lamb and pork.
The Devonshire, 17 Denman Street
A pub with an upstairs dining room, run by Oisín Rogers and Charlie Carroll. The Sunday menu has one meat, roast rib of beef. The Infatuation praises the buttery peas with lardons, honey-sweet carrots, crispy potatoes and the pots of sauces, horseradish included. Tables are reportedly released on Thursday mornings about three weeks ahead and go within minutes, so check the pub's own booking page for the current routine. Expect to spend more than at most pubs. Order: the rib of beef, with the white crab salad to start.
The Ganton Arms, 18 to 20 Ganton Street
Just off Carnaby Street, and the easiest of the lot on the wallet: SquareMeal puts it under £30. A roast is served every Sunday, with 28 day aged sirloin, Suffolk chicken, pork belly or a mushroom, lentil and kale Wellington. Bowls of roasties, cauliflower cheese and pigs in blankets are among the extras. The pub also promotes a Bloody Mary on Sundays. Order: the aged sirloin, with the cauliflower cheese on the side.
On the edge of Soho: Hawksmoor Air Street, 5A Air Street
Strictly just off Piccadilly Circus, so Soho-adjacent rather than Soho proper. Dry-aged rump is £29.50 and sirloin £35, with trimmings at £9.50 if you go for the blackboard steaks instead. The Sunday roast is served until five, and OpenTable warns it cannot be guaranteed after that, so keep it to lunch. Order: the sirloin, or a sharing prime rib if you are in a pair.
How to play it
- Want a fire-cooked roast and a firm booking: temper, at opening.
- Want to linger into the evening: Blacklock, with its last seating at eight.
- Want a pub and a long shot: The Devonshire, booked as far ahead as the pub allows.
- Want a roast under £30 near Carnaby: The Ganton Arms.
Details: temper's Sunday roast page, Blacklock Soho, The Devonshire on the Michelin Guide.
