Best Sunday Roast in W1: 8 Tables Worth Booking

A great Sunday roast is one of the few things W1 does as well in a Soho pub as in a Mayfair dining room. Finding the best Sunday roast in W1 is mostly about knowing which kitchens take it seriously and booking ahead. This is the opinionated short list: eight Sunday roasts in central London we would actually book, from cult sharing platters to carving trolleys, grouped by neighbourhood, each with its style, a price band, the address and a note on the occasion it suits best.

A traditional Sunday roast of beef with Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and gravy on a table in a warm London dining room

Why W1 does the roast so well

Sunday lunch is the one meal that crosses every part of the postcode. Soho has turned the roast into a destination event, with kitchens whose Sunday tables are booked out faster than any other service of the week. Mayfair offers the grand, traditional version, beef rib wheeled to the table and carved in front of you. Marylebone keeps it as a relaxed neighbourhood lunch. The common thread is quality British meat, treated simply and seriously.

Two things to know before you read on. First, every name here is genuinely in W1, and all were trading at the time of writing. Second, this is the curated counterpart to our full W1 restaurant directory, which lists the wider field with addresses and details. For the rest of the postcode's eating, the where to eat in W1 pillar covers Mayfair, Soho, Marylebone and Fitzrovia.

Soho: the destination roasts

Soho has become the centre of gravity for the London Sunday roast. These three are the hardest tables to get, and worth the planning.

Blacklock Soho

British, chop house. ££. 24 Great Windmill Street, W1F 7AB. The roast that built a following. Blacklock's Sunday "All In" is a sharing platter of beef, lamb and pork piled over a Yorkshire pudding, with bottomless trimmings and a gravy so good they sell it by the bottle. Why book it: it is the best value serious roast in W1 and the most fun to share, a noisy basement dinner-party of a lunch. Bookings essential, well ahead; go as a group to do the All In justice.

The Devonshire

British pub and dining room. £££. 17 Denman Street, W1D 7HW. The runaway hit near Piccadilly Circus from Oisin Rogers and chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, where the Sunday roast is carved tableside from an old carvery trolley and the meat is treated with real care. Why book it: it pairs a proper pint downstairs with one of the most talked-about roasts in London upstairs. Bookings essential and notoriously hard; book the moment the diary opens.

Ducksoup

Modern European, seasonal. £££. 41 Dean Street, W1D 4PY. A tiny, candlelit Dean Street room that does Sunday differently, a curated, seasonal sharing menu rather than a giant single plate, with a wine list that rewards the curious. Why book it: it is the choice for a cosy, grown-up Sunday for two or four who want the roast reimagined rather than supersized. Bookings essential; the counter suits a couple.

Mayfair: the grand, traditional roast

Mayfair does the classic version, the carving trolley and the handsome room. Book these for a celebration or a long, indulgent Sunday.

The Audley

British pub. £££. 41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RX. The Mount Street pub reborn by Artfarm, with a stylish upstairs Mount St. Restaurant hung with serious art and a proper traditional roast at its heart. Why book it: it is the most polished pub roast in Mayfair, the rare place that is both a genuine local and a destination. Bookings recommended; the upstairs room is the one to ask for on a Sunday.

The Connaught Grill

British, fine dining. ££££. The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL. The grandest roast on the list, where a carving trolley delivers perfectly pink Hereford beef rib to the table alongside colossal Yorkshire puddings, beef-dripping roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese. Why book it: this is Sunday lunch as an occasion, formal, generous and memorable, in one of Mayfair's great hotel rooms. Bookings essential and well ahead.

The Twenty Two

Modern British. ££££. 22 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6LF. The dining room of the fashionable Grosvenor Square townhouse, where the kitchen turns out a refined Sunday roast of Aberdeen Angus sirloin, lamb and free-range chicken with a Mediterranean lightness of touch. Why book it: it is the glamorous, see-and-be-seen choice for a special Sunday in Mayfair, and the dining room takes public bookings. Bookings essential.

By Piccadilly: a modern classic

Hawksmoor Air Street

British steakhouse. £££. 5a Air Street, W1J 0AD. The Regent Street branch of the steakhouse whose Sunday roast is a perennial on every London best-of list: one cut done brilliantly, a slow-roast rump with beef-dripping roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding and bone marrow and onion gravy. Why book it: it is the most reliable great roast in the heart of W1, in a handsome room a minute from Piccadilly Circus. Bookings essential; the roast is Sundays only and runs until it sells out.

Marylebone: the relaxed neighbourhood roast

The Grazing Goat

British gastropub. £££. 6 New Quebec Street, W1H 7RW. A handsome Cubitt House pub just off Marylebone's Portman Village, with a ground-floor bar, an upstairs dining room and a seasonal modern-British roast. Why book it: it is the easy, unhurried Sunday near Marble Arch, comfortable for a group and a step calmer than the Soho crush. Bookings recommended; the upstairs room suits a longer lunch.

How to choose: pub buzz, group feast or special occasion

Three questions usually decide where to sit for Sunday lunch in W1.

  • Pub buzz. Want a lively, pint-first roast? Blacklock and The Devonshire in Soho, or The Audley and The Grazing Goat for a pub with a quieter dining room upstairs.
  • A group feast. For sharing and value, Blacklock's All In is built for a table of friends. The Grazing Goat and The Audley also seat groups comfortably.
  • A special occasion. For the grand version, The Connaught Grill's carving trolley or The Twenty Two's glamour. Hawksmoor sits neatly between the two: serious cooking in a smart room without the formality.

Whichever you choose, book early: W1's best Sunday tables go faster than any other service. If you are deciding late, browse the full W1 restaurant directory for somewhere with availability nearby. For a wider sense of how the West End fits together, Visit London keeps an official food and drink guide for the city.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best Sunday roast in central London W1?

For serious meat-lovers, Blacklock in Soho and Hawksmoor on Air Street set the standard, the first with its sharing All In platter and the second with a single slow-roast rump and beef-dripping potatoes. The Devonshire in Soho carves from a trolley, while in Mayfair The Audley and The Connaught Grill offer the grander, traditional version. The Grazing Goat covers Marylebone. The right pick depends on whether you want a buzzy pub or a polished dining room.

Do I need to book a Sunday roast in W1?

Yes, almost always. The best W1 roasts sell out their Sunday tables days or weeks ahead, and many serve the roast only until it runs out. Blacklock, The Devonshire and Hawksmoor are particularly hard to walk into on a Sunday, so reserve as early as you can and ask whether the roast is a set menu or a separate dish.

What is the most traditional Sunday roast in W1?

For the classic carving-trolley experience, The Connaught Grill in Mayfair wheels out Hereford beef rib with towering Yorkshire puddings. The Audley, the Mount Street pub from Artfarm, does a proper pub roast in a handsome upstairs room. Both lean traditional, where Blacklock and Hawksmoor take a more modern, single-cut approach.

Are W1 Sunday roasts expensive?

They span a wide range. Blacklock is famous for being relatively good value for the quantity, and The Grazing Goat and Ducksoup sit in the mid-range. The Audley, Hawksmoor and The Devonshire are a step up, while The Connaught Grill and The Twenty Two reach fine-dining prices. We give a price band for every pick rather than a fixed figure, since menus change.

What time is Sunday roast served in W1 restaurants?

Most W1 kitchens serve the roast from around midday through late afternoon on Sundays, with the early sittings the easiest to book and the kitchens often stopping once the day's joints are gone. Booking a lunchtime rather than a late-afternoon table is the safest way to be sure the roast is still on when you arrive.

Start with the full list

This is the curated layer: eight roasts we would book ourselves. When you want to compare every option across the postcode, the W1 restaurant directory lists the wider field, and the where to eat in W1 guide widens the search. For more Soho and Mayfair ideas, see our best restaurants in Soho and best restaurants in Mayfair roundups, or head back to the W1 London homepage for the rest of the postcode.