The best Sunday roasts in Manchester

Not only a brilliant bar with brilliant cocktails and a brilliant happy hour, it also does a brilliant Sunday roast too. A dry-aged sirloin, a rolled porchetta, roast chicken, mushroom wellington, all with great roasties, Yorkshires, braised red cabbage and buttery greens. Desserts change, but if they’ve got the chocolate cremeux and pistachio tart, beat their door down. They also support Eat Well MCR’s Meals for Manchester campaign, so you can give something back too.

The Sunday Roast with a Germanic twist. Try the sauerbraten beef, the schweinshaxe (classic pork knuckle with caraway), a beef sirloin, a half roast chicken or the no-nut roast, with a two or three course option in play. If there’s a few of you, crack on with the Bavarian feast for between two and four diners, and gorge on schweinshaxe, schnitzels, bratwurst, kaiserwurst, chilliwurst and pork belly, with a whole heap of sides including rainbow sauerkraut and pickles.

A well-trodden favourite in the Northern Quarter – an institution, we could go as far as saying – you can always be assured of a top quality roast in the Bay Horse, a place with solid foundations built on rotisserie meats, crisp roasts and gallons of thick gravy. Choose from slabs of beef topside from Deep Clough Farm, roast chicken, rolled pork belly, or a butternut, sage and walnut roast, with all the usual business, including their famous pigs in blankets and the superlative cauliflower cheese, made with Black Bomber cheddar, parmesan and smoked applewood.

Available every Sunday from 12pm until it runs out, The Black Friar’s roast dinner is every bit as sumptuous and impressive as you’d imagine coming from the kitchen of Chef Ben Chaplin. You can go for two courses for £30 or three for £37 and their Sunday feast offering is extensive, to say the least, encompassing classic roast beef, chicken and vegan roasts, alongside crispy porchetta, a monkfish osso bucco, butternut squash gnocchi and even their pie of the day. But always start as you mean to go on, with a slice of Boddington’s rarebit.

Almost everything at Cafe Continental is roasted by fire, and their Sunday dinners are no exception. The roast dinner offerings at Stalybrige’s stand-out food spot include pink rump cap, slightly charred chicken, crispy porchetta or a mushroom wellington. All the extras hit the sweet spot between traditional and elevated, but the baked cauliflower – which comes in a bubbling-over ramekin – is especially unmissable.

Stretching the concept of Manchester to its very limits, this arresting 18th-century country inn located opposite the 12th-century St. Wilfrid’s Church in the leafy village of Mobberley is well worth the trip out of town. Made using local ingredients, and supporting local farmers, suppliers and even brewers – the roast menu at this ancient pub features 28-day aged roast sirloin of beef, roast Middlewhite pork and, in an old school touch, a ‘supreme of chicken’ (the whole breast, with the wing left on). Take a wander around the village after to walk it all off – not forgetting a little visit to the nearby Mobberley Brewhouse.

Once called the Greyhound but refurbished and renamed Coal & Cotton in 2019, this place has become a big favourite amongst locals in Boothstown, with many flocking there on a Sunday to tuck into the amazing roasts. There’s the choice of roast chicken, roast leg of lamb and roast beef sirloin, all served with big fat yorkies and duck fat potatoes. Vegans and veggies are well served too. Also of note is their massive roast platter, a combo of three roasts and all the veggies, potatoes and gravy.

From the creators of Ramona and the Firehouse, Diecast’s roast is a winner, served up in post-industrial surroundings, but with all the traditional touch points you’d want for your Sunday centrepiece. The chicken comes ‘supreme’ style with the wing on, the beef is as pink as could be, and pork is slow-roasted belly. For the veggies, there are great pies, and if there’s another place you get can get your Sunday roast served up with a frozen rainbow daiquiri, then we’ll eat our hats.

Ducie Street Warehouse’s ‘Sunday with Sides’ features (as far as we know) the world’s first and only dedicated cauliflower cheese menu which features eight different variations of the much-loved side. The cauli menu sits alongside a selection of mains including dry-aged shorthorn beef sirloin, roast supreme of corn-fed chicken, rosemary roasted leg of lamb, free-range gammon and a weekly changing vegan roast.

One of the best boozers in the whole of Greater Manchester and a jewel in the crown of Ramsbottom, The Eagle & Child is one of those pubs that anytime you’re in the town, it warrants a visit, and you’ll probably end up staying for hours. It’s won countless accolades over the years, and the sheer excellence of their roasts is a testament to their achievements. Even better is their outside terrace, complete with massive tipi, the perfect spot to enjoy a Sunday lunch along with a few jars.

There are Sunday roasts, and then there’s the Edinburgh Castle Sunday roast, overseen by some of the most serious cheffing talent in the country. Kick off with doughnuts made with Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese, an oyster or two, or mussels with ham and cider, then shift through the gears to Tamworth pork belly, roast beef from Robert Phillips’ farm, kohlrabi or changing specials like a pork saddle chop for two. Choose two or three courses, and settle in for a cosy afternoon.

Famed throughout the land (of Manchester), Elnecot’s Sunday roasts are elevated to near art form. Far from your average roast beef, this is dry-aged wagyu from Ifor Humphries Farm in Wales. The cattle are given daily massages and are fed beer from local award-winning brewery Monty’s – all to ensure that this meat is of the very highest quality and tastes phenomenal. The free range chickens are from Goosnargh, the crispy pork belly is raised in Yorkshire, as is the slow-cooked lamb shoulder, and the veggie and vegan nut roasts are cracking too. Undoubtedly one of the highest standards of roast in the city, and if you head in on a Monday, you can have some of the leftovers on a sandwich with a bowl of soup.

Not merely a powerhouse of brunch, Evelyn’s also nails a mean roast too, with some pleasing twists on the Sunday standard. The lamb is slathered in a Moroccan-style marinade, and the chicken is heavy with harissa and buttermilk, making it a melt-in-the-mouth experience. The sirloin is rubbed with mustard, and for the veggies, there’s a hearty puy lentil wellington. Meanwhile, the cauli cheese is made with gruyere, cheddar and mozzarella, in an deliberately indulgent move.

If you, like the vast majority of the dating app population, enjoy your roast dinner accompanied by a country walk, you could do much worse than getting yourself out to The Farrars Arms in Saddleworth. This is the epitome of a country pub done well, serving up the very best iterations of British grub throughout the week. Sundays are where it really comes into its own though. Choose from traditional cuts of meat and all the trimmings, or mix things up a bit by selecting one of their outstanding homemade pies as the centrepiece of your roast. Once you’ve tried their steak, stilton and ale pie, this madcap option will seem like a no-brainer.

The Firehouse is home to an incredible Sunday roast that sits pretty amongst a packed programme of DJs, live music and entertainment – all coming together to create a must-visit destination spot every single weekend. Their ‘slow fire’ cooking is perfect for roast dinners, where you can choose from either lemon, garlic and thyme roast chicken, roast rump of Cheshire beef or the oyster mushroom wellington. Each plate comes with the usual accoutrements, including massive yorkies, roast potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, parsnips and lashings of gravy.

The neighbourhood bar we all wish was on our doorsteps, the understatedly stylish Folk does a blinding roast, simple, unfussy but absolutely bang on. There’s your classic roast beef and chicken, a mushroom, pistachio and cranberry wellington, or a roasted cod, with all the usual roast potatoes, a cauliflower cheese with Tunworth cheese, proper gravy and a Yorkshire pudding. The still do the small plates on a weekend too, so – unconventional – but throw in a little side of Korean chicken and thank us later.

‘Seconds’ at Freight Island is for the true roast enthusiast, sitting somewhere between the classic carvery vibe and the all-you-can-eat. You get a half-hour slot with the carvery chef, and then you simply fill your boots from a choice of Highland topside, the oft-neglected glazed gammon, turkey or a roast squash and wild mushroom wellington. Return as many times as you like for garlic and rosemary roasties, Yorkshire puddings, honey mustard pigs in blankets, stuffing, and even a molten cheese sauce fondue situation, because what isn’t improved by melted cheese?

Of course Hawksmoor does a fantastic Sunday roast. Obviously it does, and it’s served up with only the very best meats that money can buy. There’s slow-roasted rump served with beef dripping potatoes, yorkies and and an outstandingly rich bone marrow and onion gravy. If you’re feeling particularly extravagant (and hungry), they also do a massive sharer of slow-roasted prime rib for between two and three people. Don’t forget the sides either, of which Hawksmoor can boast some of the very best in the city. Their cheesy Tunworth cheese mash is the stuff of legend. They run out, though, so you’re advised to arrive before 5pm.

Didsbury Village’s faultless bistro Hispi does a faultless Sunday roast, as you’d expect. A sirloin of beef to share, rolled pork belly, roasted cauliflower with sumac, confit duck leg (a nice touch), with a homely carrot and swede mash, roast potatoes, braised and mulled red cabbage for the cosy vibes and a deep, meaningful red wine gravy. There are fabulous starters too, like a silken chicken liver parfait and a gin-cured sea trout. Consistently brilliant, and mirrored at sister restaurant Kala in town, which is also very much worth your hard-earned.

The Jane Eyre – both the Ancoats and Chorlton outposts – put on a weekly roast that people in know come from far and wide to try. Their Sunday menu kicks in from 12pm and involves roast sirloin of beef, a confit pork belly, supreme of chicken and, for the vegans out there, a vegan nut roast.

Maray’s Paris-meets-the-Middle-East menu stretches into its Sunday offering too, and it’s superbly good, among the absolute best in the city. The blushing roast beef is a picanha cut with a nice fat cap on it, and the chicken is luxuriously adorned with lemon, saffron and za’atar, while the nut roast is made from spiced chickpeas, in a nod to the glorious falafel. The roasties are spiked with fenugreek, but other than that, the additionals – roasted carrots and parsnips, buttered greens – are pleasingly trad. Ignore the date bread and butter pudding at your peril. It is absolute fire.

One of the very best pubs in Manchester has a roast worthy of its storied premises. The beef is first marinated in Marble’s own Manchester Bitter, before being slow roasted, and they take their time with the pork belly too, turning it out with a cider gravy. For the vegetarians, a considered spinach and pine nut strudel is served up with ratatouille. The usual gubbins comes with buttered greens, roasted roots, and a boozy gravy.

While The Mews specialises in top notch charcuterie and small plates, its Sunday roast is a winner. Roast beef from Cumbria, chicken supreme and a vegan joint all come with roast heritage carrots, tenderstem, parsnip puree, sprouts (not just for Christmas), vegetable crisps, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, the lot. Mind you, this is the spot that went viral with its Yorkshire pudding fondue, so they’ve got form.

OSMA’s Sunday roast is every bit as classy as everything else it does. You can kick off with some charcuterie and sourdough with whipped brown butter, and then changing starters, often with cured Nordic twist, before the main event. There’s lamb rump, salt-aged beef fillet from Cumbria or grass-fed rump, herb-fed chicken or roast cauliflower, served with some excellent trimmings. Leave room for pudding, of course, and you can grab all three courses for under 30 quid.

Sale’s Michelin-listed Perfect Match has a fanatical following, and it’s easy to see why. Its Sunday roast is perfectly executed – dry-aged rump, crispy rolled pork belly, or crispy tofu, with roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings, the works. Best of all, you can get two roasts and a bottle of wine from their excellent selection for £45.

Pot Kettle Black’s first spot in Barton Arcade is all about the art of brunch, while their second, bigger site at Angel Meadow is all about that other weekend essential: the roast. PKB keep it simple with a choice of rump of beef or roast chicken breast. Non-meat eaters can opt for a veggie or vegan nut roast, and accompaniments are simple but well done like sticky red cabbage, buttered greens and gargantuan Yorkshire puddings. Who said Sunday dinner has to be in a pub?

A rare example of a carvery in the city centre, Raft might not be your immediate go-to for roasted meats et al, given that they are an upscale eatery paying homage to all things Dubai, but overlook them at your peril. Their Sunday carvery is a decadent affair, where you can fill up on sushi (what else?) before the main event, which consists of crisp roast chicken, slow-cooked lamb, roast beef and pigs in blankets, as well as vegan specials like sweet potato wellington. Continue saturday night’s party vibes with bottomless drinks and live music too.

The Refuge’s roast is easily one of the best roasts in the city. The sharing platter is the way to go – it comes in at a sturdy £44 but for that you get a mountainous pile of grass-fed rump of Lancashire beef, half a roast Cumbrian chicken and Yorkshire porchetta or a vegan wellington, accompanied with all the usual mod-cons, including perfectly crunchy-fluffy roasties, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshires, 48-hour beef gravy, and even a bowl of roasties for the special hound in your life.

Chef Tom Lowe knows his meat, so obviously his roast is going to be a step beyond the average. The dry-aged roast beef is served just pink, along with beef fat roast potatoes, buttered seasonal greens, honey and mustard glazed heritage carrots and parsnips, a towering Yorkie and proper gravy. It all kicks off from 12pm every Sunday until they run out, so no sleeping in.

When a place is as enthusiastic about eating beasts as Mr Thomas’s, you’d expect their Sunday roast to be ‘a thing’. And it is. Their Sunday service celebrates the sirloin, champions the chicken and makes much of its mushroom wellington. Though if you’re not in the market for the usual, there’s always their famous 10-day corned beef hash.

A roast dinner that’s won more awards than Marlon Brando and one that will have feeling as girthy as him by the end of it. It was named runner-up for the ‘Best Sunday Lunch’ in the Observer Food Monthly Awards in 2018 and 2019, and if you’re struggling to decide what you’re having – go for the Gloucester old spot pork belly – it’s amazing.

A very solid roast right in the beating heart of the NQ. Each week, it welcomes the hungry, often hungover Northern Quarter punters with a selection of meats or veggie options in which to smother in thick gravy and enjoy. There’s always a great atmosphere, and the tunes are always top drawer too.

Located right in the sticks in the poshest part of Oldham, the White Hart Inn at Lydgate is renowned for its phenomenal food and rustic countryside setting. Sitting in here on a Sunday afternoon, the Pennines stretching away into the distance through the window having ordered a roast is probably one of life’s greatest pleasures – made even better with the prospect of a dessert and a few crisp ales to wash it all down with. Well worth the trip.

Zouk does the Eastern take on the Sunday roast exceptionally well, from a ‘mini lamb roast’ to a whole roast raan chicken, roast platters or a whole roast leg of lamb to share. And if a whole leg isn’t sufficient, give them 48 hours’ notice and they’ll do you an entire stuffed lamb. On Sundays, they also offer a couple of special lobster dishes, including a classic lobster thermidor and a lobster gwadri khas – a masala lobster from the Baluchistan province of Pakistan.