With pubs and restaurants reopening this weekend, we'll be able to eat out for the first time in more than three months.
Many will have honed in their culinary skills during lockdown and ordered at least one takeaway, but nothing beats food prepared by the pros fresh from the kitchen.
Given the popularity of the classic dish, lots of people will no doubt be eager to enjoy their first proper roast dinner since mid-March.
As we all know, there are plenty of places in Bristol which do roasts exceptionally well. Below are 18 we can't wait to devour.
The Lansdown
With its gas lamps and open fire, this Georgian pub in Clifton has a timeless quality about it and it’s a convivial place to while away a Sunday afternoon.
The roasts here are the stuff of legend, whether it’s the cashew and walnut roast or the slow-roast silverside of beef glazed with mustard and rosemary served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, oven roasted carrots, Savoy cabbage, mashed swede, braised red cabbage and homemade horseradish sauce.
Popular with university students and locals alike, the pub also has a brilliant range of real ales and wines.
The Lansdown isn't reopening just yet, however. More information about its relaunch will be shared on its Facebook page.
The Bank Tavern
It would be fair to say The Bank Tavern had a decent 2019, with its legendary roast dinner being named the best in the UK by The Observer Food Monthly.
The award-winning food at the Georgian pub, located behind The Lanes, is brilliant value at under £20 for three courses or even less for two - although main dishes are also priced individually.
Main courses include rare-roast beef or roast pheasant breast served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, beetroot purée, creamy leeks and vegetables.
The Bank Tavern is reopening this weekend, and has explained how it will honour bookings made that fell in the lockdown period.
The Gallimaufry
Something of a hub for the cool Gloucester Road crowd, this award-winning bar, music venue and restaurant serves its full ‘small plates’ menu on Sundays alongside a trio of top-notch roasts.
Veggies are well catered for with the likes of carrot, caraway, lentil, hazelnut and walnut roast (£13), as are carnivores who pay an extra £2 for the roasted pork belly with apple sauce, roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
The Galli is not reopening this weekend, but its fans don't have to wait too long as it will be back open on July 15.
Bristol Old Vic - 1766 Bar and Kitchen
Nestled in the heart of Bristol against the backdrop of the theatre’s original façade, 1766 Bar and Kitchen offers a classy venue to enjoy a Sunday roast. The address is Bristol Old Vic, King Street.
Our food reviewer Mark Taylor even called it "the perfect Sunday roast" gave it five stars.
1766 Bar and Kitchen has not yet announced when it is reopening.
The Knowle
This imposing former hotel overlooking Knowle and Brislington has become a go-to place for Sunday lunch since it reopened under new owners (the same team behind The Grace on Gloucester Road and The Greenbank in Easton).
Served from 12pm until 6pm, the Sunday roast choice includes 30-day aged roast topside of beef; roast loin of pork; slow-roast leg of lamb or red pepper and sweet potato strudel served with all the usual trimmings. Prices range from £11 to £13, and there’s a good size garden for the warmer months.
The Knowle will be reopening this weekend.
Tubby's Corner (pop-up at The Love Inn)
The Tubby's Corner pop-up at The Love Inn has grown to be a firm favourite among lovers of the dish.
It offers an a delicious, if not slightly unorthodox, Sunday roast. Guests are seated on the dance-floor and can choose from either spiced beef, turbo island chicken or vegetarian haggis.
One reviewer said: "All the food was excellent and a little different, a lot of rich spicy flavours and clearly a lot of thought put in."
The Cauldron
Unique in that the kitchen doesn’t use gas but relies of wood-fired ovens and a Victorian cast iron range, The Cauldron in St Werburgh's is fast becoming one of the coolest places in Bristol for Sunday lunch. Local produce, including vegetables grown down the road, is the driving force of the menu, which might include cherry wood-roasted sirloin of Hereford Cross beef or free-range pork griskin and ‘real deal’ crackling.
Non meat-eaters can enjoy innovative mains such as apricot, cranberry and walnut polenta cake. Either way, leave room for the baked bread and butter pudding with rhubarb compote.
Sadly the Cauldron will not be reopening just yet, however.
The Kensington Arms
This Victorian corner pub in Redland attracts discerning local drinkers and diners. The elegant dining room is packed with mismatched antique furniture, Victorian prints and views into the open kitchen.
The fine gastro-pub offers classics such as pie, steak and burgers alongside its roast dinner menu, which includes dry aged rump of beef, curried cod burger or steak starting from £12.
The Kenny, as it's affectionately called by its regulars, reopens on July 9.
Victoria Park
The Victoria Park, a popular gastropub close to Victoria Park itself, demonstrates the ever-thriving nature of the area's culinary scene.
The Sunday lunches include overnight roast beef, braised ox cheek and horseradish; 18-hour cider braised Middlewhite pork belly with apple sauce, and a vegetarian-friendly lentil, nut and vegetable cake with wild garlic pesto. Mains cost from £11 to £15.
In September 2019 its roast was named as the best in the UK by Big 7 Travel.
Volunteer Tavern
The Volunteer Tavern, occupying a 340-year-old building only a stone's throw away from Cabot Circus, makes its way onto our list for the great value of their Sunday roasts. They offer two to three meat options each week, along with a vegetarian and vegan roast.
Trimmings include homemade Yorkshire puds and a whole host of veg - and the best bit? All their roast dinners are capped at £10.
The Volunteer Tavern will not be reopening this weekend, however, as staff do not want to disturb a blackbird which has made its nest in the pub garden.
The Spotted Cow
Bedminster's very own, The Spotted Cow, offers up the traditional Sunday lunch and trimmings at reasonable prices, with a standard main costing between £10.95 for the walnut, cashew and sweet potato nut roast and £14.50 for the Hereford Cross beef sirloin with Yorkshire pudding, horseradish sauce, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and rich gravy.
The Spotted Cow is reopening this weekend and resuming its top notch Sunday roasts.
The Lazy Dog
The Lazy Dog in Ashley Down is a pub that understands the importance of the tradition of the hearty British Sunday lunch.
Using fresh and locally sourced produce to deliver quality lunchtime meals all week long, the Lazy Dog's Sunday roast is the hearty meal you need to round off your week, especially as winter begins to rear its head. The Sunday options are great value, whether it’s the £10.95 butternut, spinach and mushroom Wellington or the £14 roast dry-aged rib-eye of beef.
The Lazy Dog is reopening this weekend and resuming Sunday roasts.
Birch
Southville neighbourhood restaurant Birch serves one of the best roast dinners south of the river.
Sourced from Meat Hook, formerly Bristol Meat Trader, generous helpings of meat are served on a plate with a supporting cast of roast potatoes, which were crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle, just as they should be, and a huge Yorkshire pudding and a bowl of seasonal veg.
Birch is not reopening just yet and it has not yet announced when it will do so.
Cloak and Dagger
With its quirky interior, colourful walls and patterned bunting, the Cloak and Dagger offers an alternative pub lunch experience. If you're not convinced by the décor, its glowing reviews will definitely win you over.
One reviewer on TripAdvisor said: “The Lamb was delicious, roast potatoes where amazing and the Yorkshire's where perfect. Everything else was excellent also. Loved the cauliflower cheese as well, would love the recipe. Well done to the really attentive team that couldn't do enough to help.”
They welcome walk-ins as well as reservations – available slots are listed and updated on the pub's Facebook page.
Cloak and Dagger is reopening this weekend.
The Shakespeare (Totterdown)
Neighbourhood boozer The Shakespeare in Totterdown serves a range of reasonably priced grub, including a banging Sunday roast.
One TripAdvisor reviewer labelled it the "best Sunday roast in Bristol.
They said: "We've lived in Bristol for over 20 years and haven't had as good a roast lunch in a pub/restaurant as we had today in The Shakespeare.
"No longer a grubby dive, it's a light and airy lovely place to be now and the food is top notch."
The Shakespeare and its roasts are returning this weekend.
The Pony and Trap
Tucked away in the Chew Valley, Michelin-starred gastropub The Pony and Trap is a place to enjoy high quality, locally grown produce grown by the Community Farm.
These local sourced ingredients are transformed into a variety of dishes not forgetting the traditional three-course Sunday roast. Owner-chef Josh Eggleton offers Sunday lunch classics, including fish and vegetarian options in addition to a starter, dessert and cheese plate for £30 (two courses) or £35 for three courses.
The Grace
One of Gloucester Road's finest, The Grace offers a wide selection of local ales and ciders, as well as a menu comprising locally sourced ingredients. The roasts include Hereford rump and duck fat roast potatoes, and a vegetable pithivier with roast potatoes, all for reasonable prices, rarely exceeding £15 for a main dish.
Wash it down with a pint of craft beer or the pub’s legendary Bloody Mary.
The Grace is reopening this weekend.
Cowshed
With its own butchers shop next door, The Cowshed on Whiteladies Road offers an à la carte Sunday lunch menu much to the delight of meat lovers everywhere. Roast chicken, beef, lamb and pork from local farms are on offer as well as the cuts of steak that Cowshed is best known for.
Try the roasted Textel lamb saddle with crispy potatoes roasted in dripping, Savoy cabbage, carrots, leeks and cauliflower cheese with lashing of homemade gravy.
Leave room for the seasonal fruit crumble and proper English custard.
Meals cost £16.95 for one course, £21.50 for two courses, £27.50 for three courses.
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