I thought I would start a discussion on where is the best place to get a Sunday roast around here. I was prompted to do this by my experience today in the Old Dairy. Haven't been in there to eat for a while and decided to try it today with my girlfriend. I ordered the lamb and she had the stuffed peppers. Both came with veg and yorkshire puddings. I was asked how I would like the meat, whether I would like it medium or well done. As it is supposed to be roast meat wondered how they could offer such a choice but I said I would prefer it medium but when it came it was as overcooked and grey as is possible and the vegetables where so bland it made you wonder how they had managed to achieve such a level of tastelessness. It all reminded me of bad school dinners but as I am British I ate it all up and said it was good when they asked. Best thing on the plate was the frozen yorkshire pudding. And it cost £13!
Can anyone recommend a better place to get a roast on a Sunday? I have tried the Noble and it is OK, certainly better than the Dairy, but it is not brilliant. I want somewhere with proper home-cooked roast with taste. I don't mind paying. Please advise
Comments
I often wonder how difficult it is to cook a Sunday roast in a bar/pub. I imagine it is quite labour intensive. I briefly worked as a cook in a cafe-bar but we didn't do Sunday roast but pasta, soup, stews-food that could be prepared earlier and easily re-heated when needed-or cold food like salads. I presume the greater effort to make a roast is why the dishes can be nearly twice as expensive as dishes like pasta.
And does anyone know a local bar/pub that does a good veggie roast?
I will refer to the thread mentioned by Misscara in my search for a decent Sunday roast in the area
Firstly I feel it is important to say that I would not class the Dairy as the best roast in London or the cheapest but we generally serve a consistently good one.
When it comes to Sunday roast, everyone has their own opinion and taste as to what is important in the roast, and lets face no one ever makes one as good as your Mum does ! To see how people differ so much check out the comments on time outs link ! : http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/features/169/London-s_best_Sunday_lunches.html
London offers many good roasts but in my opinion, you have to pay to get the best. There are not many places that do cheap value for money roasts, if they do they are usually cheaper ingredients or are operators who use pre-made microwave meals which are batch made at a central unit and redistributed to the individual pubs where they are reheated and served hence why you can get a meal for a fiver !
Chuckles i can only offer my apologies to you for what sounds like an awful roast dinner. Perhaps you would be kind enough to return to us so that I can either refund you or offer you a replacement meal.
Misscara always great to hear from another professional who has experienced the fun of a professional kitchen. I myself have worked in several kitchens and have been in the catering industry for 25 years. I completely disagree with your comments on the batch cooking of roasts. Cooking and slicing meat the day before, drys out the meat and loses most of the flavour.
The key to getting a roast dinner right is to use the best & freshest ingredients. Rare breed and free range meats are generally the best quality but are also usually more expensive. Yorkshire puddings have to be made as your going along as they tend to dry out.
Personally in this area I love the Nobles roasts !
Surely the meat is the hard, not to mention expensive, part to get right so disappointing and unnecessary that the potatoes and veggies let the whole thing down.