The 5 Best Sunday Pub Lunches in London

There’s nothing quite like a cosy pub lunch on a Sunday afternoon, with friends, family and good food. London is, of course, choc-full of pubs, with many of them serving up classic, hearty pub grub, from immense roasts to fish and chips. We’ve rounded up the top five pubs and gastropubs, serving what we consider to be the ultimate Sunday lunches. So, if you consider yourself to be anything of a pub-lunch connoisseur, make sure to check these places off your bucket-list.

1. The Harwood Arms, Fulham

The Harwood Arm’s Michelin star speaks for itself; this place is simply incredible. Located in Fulham, The Harwood Arms serves up classic gastropub dishes with a focus on British produce; many of the vegetables are grown on its very own rooftop garden in the summer. The Sunday menu is bold yet classic; it changes regularly, but expect elegant starters, hearty roasts with an emphasis on game, and excellent puddings. For a seriously good Sunday lunch, make sure to visit the Harwood Arms.

2. The Red Lion and Sun, Highgate

Appearing on many a best-of list, The Red Lion and Sun has been the site of a public house since the 16th Century, so they definitely know what they are doing here. The seasonal menu changes daily, but usually features an extensive selection of British classics like fish and chips, as well as bold and adventurous veggie options. The atmosphere here is relaxed and low-key; think comfort food in a comfortable setting. A must-try spot.

3. The Hero of Maida Vale, Maida Vale

A gastropub with an elegant dining room and an epic Sunday roast. Their roasts frequently include Shorthorn sirloin of beef, Tamworth pork belly, mushroom wellington and Cornish Cod, all served with roast potatoes, buttered greens, turnip & carrot mash, leek gratin, Yorkshire pudding & gravy; the humble roast, done very well. Be sure to try one of their puddings too, like their delicious sticky toffee pudding, for the full Sunday lunch experience.

4. The Anchor and Hope, Waterloo/ Southwark

Another gastropub with an acclaimed Sunday Lunch menu. Their offerings go beyond the classic roast beef and Yorkshire puds – like their superb grilled south coast plaice fillets, with guacamole and San Marzano tomatoes, or their three cheese and hazelnut souffle. For a Sunday lunch with a bold and adventurous menu, be sure to stop by.

5. The Coach, Clerkenwell

This location (established in 1790) serves up a Sunday Lunch that is simply incredible. As with any good Sunday Lunch, the menu changes regularly, but again, expect the classics: cote de boeuf, duck magret, braised lamb shoulder. The menu ventures beyond just roasts, too, with offerings that can include seafood and pie – all done incredibly well. The dining room is light and airy, and the menu unpretentious yet elegant; this is Sunday Lunch at its finest.

A good slice of pizza is nothing new in London’s food scene. Best crust, best toppings, perfect ratio of sauce to cheese – everyone reckons that their favourite pizza spot is the best. So, we tried all the ‘best’ slices in the city so that we can rank who comes out victorious in the fierce competition of ‘ultimate pizza slice’. We’ve broken it down by criteria, from toppings to price, so that you can try them for yourselves. If you consider yourself anything of a pizza connoisseur, then make sure you’ve checked these spots off your bucket list.

Starting off in a backyard and now with locations ranging from Balham to Walthamstow, Yard Sale’s pizzas are incredible – think huge pies, with no space wasted when it comes to toppings.

Our favourites include the simple yet deliciously moreish ‘TSB’ featuring tender stem broccoli, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic & olive oil, or their ‘Holy Pepperoni’ featuring Cobble Lane pepperoni, regular pepperoni and spicy Nduja sausage for the meat-lovers out there.

A special mention goes to their vegan pies, such as the ‘Texas VBQ’ which are equally delicious.

Hicce is found @ Unit 102, Stable Street, N1C 4DQ   –  www.hicce.co.uk

Starting as a small pizza joint in Brixton Market and now with over 50 locations nationwide, you might be sceptical that Franco Manca could stay true to its roots with such rapid expansion.

But Franco Manca’s sourdough slices are just as good as ever. What makes these pies so good is undoubtedly the sourdough base, cooked in a wood-fired oven; crispy, doughy and slightly tangy, their crusts are arguably the best in the city.

Their slices are reasonably priced too, with a tomato and mozzarella pizza at just £6.80 a relative steal for London prices.

Click here for our favourite takeaways across London

Lots of the pizza you’ll find in London is relatively thin and crispy; classically Italian. Japes’ deep-crust pizza flies in the face of that, in the best way possible.

Japes’ pizza is thick and doughy, made in the Chicago style with a layer of homemade tomato sauce over a thick layer of mozzarella cheese, all held up inside an incredible deep dish crust.

With a painstaking tasting process just to choose the pepperoni featured on their epic Chicago Deep Dish, a lot of care is put into every pie here, and you can taste it.

At just £3.95 for a 12-inch Margherita pizza, and about a fiver for other flavours, you might not expect the quality to be as high as it truly is at Pizza Union.

Their slices are thin, crispy and delicious, with the low price (by London’s standards) an added extra. They’ve got all the classics – Funghi, Pepperoni, Formaggi – but our absolute favourite is the simple yet spectacular Aglio, a white pizza with mozzarella, parmesan, garlic and rosemary – and at just £3.50 it’s an absolute steal.

An absolute hidden treasure. Tucked away next to a busy tube station in a former public toilet, you could easily miss Joe Public among the bustle of an evening commute.

But it happens to be, in our opinion, one of the city’s best pizza spots. The slices here are mammoth, and at about 4 pounds each, very affordable. Flavours include a classy mushroom, crispy shallot, truffle oil and parmesan option atop a cream chive base, as well as an indulgent ‘meat lover’ feast sporting beef, sausage, bacon, pepperoni and caramelised onion. We seriously recommend grabbing a slice or two and heading over to the nearby common for a picnic.

Air-dried Wagu beef is not something you might expect to see atop a humble slice of pizza, but Homeslice has ventured there, keeping it company with truffle crème fraiche, cipollini onions and salsa verde.

We told you this place was fancy. Other pizzas on their menu feature spiced lamb, savoy cabbage, sumac yogurt and pickled Spanish chillies, or the ‘You Goat’a Be Kidding Me?’ which sports goat salami by Cobble Lane Cured, Goats Curd, BBQ Burnt onions with soy and chilli, fresh mint and pesto.

But while their toppings are daring and bold, Homeslice is far from pretentious; you can order a slice of their top three pizzas for just £4 or £5, with other flavours going at around £22-30 for the whole pie, which could easily serve 2 or 3 people.

Pizza at its core is a simple concept – dough, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese combining to make a glorious invention that has lasted centuries.

So why dress it up in a fancy restaurant with knives and forks? Sud Italia serves pizza as good as any restaurant’s out of its several mobile food vans, complete with wood-burning ovens, and it does not disappoint.

With six staple slices on the menu, you can’t go wrong – but we recommend the ‘Ndjuja pizza topped with spicy pork sausages and onions. All ingredients are imported directly from Italy for a fresh, authentic taste.

Not many pizza joints offer four different types of dough – but Zia Lucia does. Choose from Vegetable Charcoal, Wholemeal, Without Gluten or Traditional, depending on your preference; this is what sets Zia Lucia apart from other pizzerias.

And it doesn’t stop there. With over fifteen different options to choose from, like the incredible Andrea Pirlo featuring mozzarella, gorgonzola, apple, truffle oil and oilve pathe, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to toppings as well as dough here.