The Sunday Roast is a modern-day family staple and one of the nation’s favourite dishes.
Cuts of tender meat, crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle potatoes, carrot and swede, roasted parsnips all covered in lashings of heavenly gravy with the centre-piece and, if you ask us, the best bit: a Yorkshire pudding. Comfort food doesn’t get much better than that and there’s nothing like the smell of a Sunday. Traditionally, Sunday roasts went in before the sermon and were to be enjoyed with family and friends afterwards. The world may be more secular and less holy but the roast still remains as popular. At what age do we stop pretending cauliflower isn’t nice without being smothered in cheese and nothing can save sprouts? Also, what actually is stuffing? Yeah, we know it is delicious but still to this day, nobody knows what it actually is.
Mums and Dads, Nans and Grandads around Liverpool, if you’re reading this, it is well known that it is you who does the best Sunday lunch but just in case you fancied a Sunday off, we’ve compiled a list of the best places for a roast. We know Sunday is meant to be about resting but we believe it should all be about roasting.
Buyers Club
Buyers Club is just beyond the Old Blind School, a narrow corridor of nothingness that doesn’t look like anything special. But, how often we’ve found that down these unassuming roads we come across the most special of spaces. Healthy slabs of bright orange and yellow tables break the mirage. They look like the kind of tables where one drink turns into five and strangers turn into friends. Upon first entering the dining hall you’re confronted with a library-like bookcase behind the bar towering with bottles of wine that go down far too easily with their incredible roast with homemade Yorkshire puddings bigger than your head.
Address: 24 Hardman St, Liverpool L1 9AX
Delifonseca
Situated on Brunswick Quay, Delifonseca has procured the best products from all over the world in one fantastic venue. Every product has a story and they’ll be happy to tell it to you. If you can’t wait until you get home to eat your goodies, they have a restaurant inside and cook one of Liverpool’s best Sunday lunches. Getting a seat can be quite difficult but after one mouthful of the roast you’ll see why. The Yorkshire puddings are so big that you could disregard the plate all together and use it to keep all the usual suspects inside. Ay, there’s an idea, plates made out of Yorkshire pudding, somebody get Dragons Den on the phone.
Address: Brunswick Way, L3 4BN
The Dovey
Formerly “The Dovedale Towers”, this local held a place in most people hearts in the Penny Lane area but was sadly shut down for what seemed an eternity. Don’t let the drinks menu distract you, they’re serious about their roasts. It is a game-changer and the reason you won’t be able to look your Mum in the eye when she asks if it was better than hers. They do an incredible rack of lamb with potato dauphinoise, cabbage with bacon and a red wine and Rosemary jus. The beef is rib eye and is cooked on the bone so the flavour is immense. It just so happens that the beer selection and wine selection is great so be warned a spot of lunch can turn into a day session quite quickly.
Address: 60 Penny Lane, L18 1DG
Barley & Beans
Barley & Beans opened up in Hatton Gardens just at the end of 2014 and their philosophy is to remind you to slow down. Whilst some places might be rushing to get you out, these guys are dying to keep you there – heading there on a Sunday for a roast is a fantastic excuse. They do a great rib of beef or half roast chicken but on special occasions do an incredible fillet of beef Wellington or Gressingham duck breast. The roast is huge but make sure you keep room for desserts as these guys are specialists. The cocktails aren’t bad either and we all know that eating roasts can be thirsty work.
Address: 17 Hatton Garden, Liverpool L3
The Baltic Social
The Baltic Social could be many things: a place for a few after work drinks to take the edge off the day at the office, a place to go see some live music, and most importantly it’s the perfect location for a Sunday roast where you don’t have to do the dishes. The Baltic Social’s roast is divine. We had juicy turkey, succulent ham, crispy roast potatoes, stuffing, honey roast parsnips and celeriac and carrot mash – all drowned in a sea of gorgeous gravy. Making you hungry just imagining it? Yes, we know the feeling. They also do one of the best veggie roasts in their city with cashew nut and vegetable roast with all the trimmings. Try save room for pudding, the sticky toffee pudding is life-changing.*
*Independent Liverpool cannot be held accountable if the pudding ends up to not be in fact life changing.
Address: 27 Parliament St, L8 5RN
Slim’s Pork Chop Express
Hot-pink neon signals XXX at the top of Seel Street but this isn’t a spot for the deviant, this is one of Liverpool’s best smokehouses and an unexpected destination for a roast. Slim’s is the place where smoking is encouraged, when it comes to meats that is. Choose between beef that melts in the mouth or chicken cooked with a beer up its rear to keep it as moist as possible. It comes on a huge tray with all your roasted veg and a mountain of Yorkshire puddings to dig through. Please make time for a nap straight after it as you’ll be in some form of roast-induced coma. We keep pestering the guys to put a mattress in the corner but they haven’t done so yet. Health and safety gone mad if you ask us.
Address: 85 Seel St, L1 4BB
The Monro
The Monro is a city centre award winning Gastropub in the Ropewalks area. With its Georgian bar, roaring fire and outside courtyard garden next to the old stables it provides a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city outside. The building was built in 1746 but their offering isn’t outdated. They’ve just been given a face lift but thankfully the Yorkshire pudding recipe remains the same and the interior is sheer elegance. They get their beef from The Lake District and do it justice by roasting it to perfection. For non-meat eaters, the Nut Roast is delightful and means dining-out doesn’t necessarily mean missing out. If you get the lamb, make sure you get lashings of mint sauce, they grow the mint on site and you can taste the difference.
Address: 92 Duke St, L1 5AG
HUS
From the same chaps behind The Baltic Social, HUS was born after spending time in Stockholm and Copenhagen and basically falling in love with the eating and drinking scene over there. The Tempest Building has been their home for some months now and they’ve become a firm favourite amongst the independent scene. Although Noridic-inspired, their Sunday roast is quintessentially British and it’s up there with the best. There’s also something so nice about gravy in mini-jugs.
Address: 12 Tithebarn St, Liverpool L2 2DT
East Avenue Bakehouse
There are no words or this one. Would you expect anything less from East Avenue Bakehouse?
112 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HY
The Blackburne Pub & Eatery
The Blackburne Pub and Eatery is a fine pub in an area of Liverpool City Centre that has many interesting pubs. Located in the beautiful Georgian Quarter, the legacy of Liverpool’s former wealth, The Blackburne is housed in a gorgeous Georgian building and put on a roast worth getting out of bed for. A huge slab of meat, perfectly roasted veg and a Yorkshire pudding like a clenched fist. We’re sold.
Address: 24 Catharine St, Liverpool L8 7NL
The Lodge
Lark Lane is home to all walks of this wonderful and weird thing that we call life. On the stretch that has become infamous for its independence is The Lodge, the perfect place to pull up a seat next to the fire for the remainder of the evening. What makes that scenario better? One of their roasts, an alcoholic beverage and some good company. The Lodge will do the rest, you’ll have to bring your own loved one.
Address: 34 Lark Ln, Liverpool L17 8UP
Camp and Furnace
Sometimes, you just need a whole chicken. Camp and Furnace’s roasts are an actual event and there’s good reason why you have to book in advance. Communal benches that stretch the length of the warehouse where the boundary between strangers and friends is lost is a beautiful sight and a hell of a way to spend a Sunday. The whole corn-fed chicken is ridiculously moist and we’ve never tasted parsnips quite like theirs. If you’re struggling to get a kid to eat his greens, this is the place to go as the whole experience from start to finish is delicious and they somehow make vegetables taste nice. The whole being sat next to strangers really encourages sharing but trust us, you won’t want to share a bite. Not even with the person you came with.
Address: 67 Greenland St, L1 0BY
The Clove Hitch
Hope Street is home to a plethora of culture, cathedrals and eateries. With a cathedral either side, award-winning architecture in between and some of the best theatres in the UK, it’s not a bad place to be. Along the strip is The Clove Hitch, an elegant eatery knocking out a pretty mean roast. They even make sprouts taste nice.
Address: 23 Hope St, Liverpool L1 9BQ
Hanover Street Social
You can’t talk about roasts without mentioning Hanover Street Social. The venue is a large, modern brasserie in the centre of Liverpool and has quite remarkably been listed in the Good Food Guide for its outstanding cuisine. If you didn’t trust our opinion, you might trust theirs. Away from the chaos and humdrum of the high street just a few feet away, Hanover Street Social is the perfect escape. And what escape would be perfect without a bottle of red to celebrate?
Address: 16-20 Hanover St, Liverpool L1 4AA
Alma De Cuba
Set in the heart of Liverpool’s night life is Alma De Cuba, an eclectic mix of Cuba, Hispanic and Latin American influences with a scouse cherry on top. As it was previously St.Peter’s Catholic Church, Sunday is a gospel day which is good as the roast borders on the lines of a religious experience. Again, we can’t look past the roast beef with homemade horseradish sauce and all the trimmings. The pan-fried roast vegetable and chickpea served with slow roasted pimento and savoy cabbage is also an interesting option for the veggies.
Address: St. Peter’s Church, Seel Street, L1 4BH
Oh Me Oh My
Come closer, a little bit closer.. no, not that close.. have you heard about the secret roast? Part of Oh Me Oh My’s brilliance is the fact that it is shrouded in secrecy and you can only talk about it by whispering. We’re here to unveil the secret roast like a maverick who has been kicked out the magic circle and although we apologise, this roast is far too good to be kept in the dark. They only do them every few months so keep up to date with their social media to find out when. We recommend going for the beef – it is cooked pink and is so tender you could eat it with plastic cutlery. It comes with silky mash, beef jus and all the trimmings. Bon Appetit.
Address: West Africa House, 25 Water St, Liverpool L2 0RG
Spitroast
Make up your own innuendos – Spitroast is a hidden gem. That is if you like chicken and if you know us, you’ll know we like chicken. They specialise in rotisserie chicken – whole birds slowly rotate in a pit of fire for hours on end perfectly cooking every crevice. The depth of flavour the chicken accumulates during this process is nothing short of moan-out-loud worthy and we’re pretty sure the skin of that chicken could be deemed a class B drug at least. You can even have it delivered to your house meaning you never have to leave the house or but put pants on or, if you fancy making your Sunday really special; both.
Address: 505 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool L15 5AE
Honourable mentions: The Brink, London Carriage Works, Fly In The Loaf, Penny Lane Wine Bar.
Have you got your Independent Liverpool card yet? For discounts off at places like Slim’s Pork Chop Express, The Baltic Social, Delifonseca and over 100 more the card is just £10 (special price!) a year of discounted discovery. What are you waiting for? Get yours here.
