Sunday Roast in Liverpool: Where to Book and What to Expect

What a Liverpool Sunday roast looks like

The core of the plate is roast beef, beef dripping roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with carrots and greens alongside. Hawksmoor's version adds roasted garlic and a gravy built on bone marrow and onion, which pushes it firmly into steakhouse territory.

A traditional Liverpool pub roast tends to be looser and more generous with trimmings rather than precise about cuts. Ma Boyle's frames its offering as traditional Sunday roasts with all the trimmings, served from noon, which suits anyone who wants the format without a steak-led menu.

Scouse is the other local consideration. Ma Boyle's runs a dedicated Scouse menu alongside its roasts, so a group split between beef and something unmistakably Liverpudlian can order from the same table, which is rarely an option at a steakhouse.

Hawksmoor, Liverpool city centre: dry-aged beef with the trimmings

Hawksmoor's Sunday menu centres on dry-aged rump at 29, served with beef dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, roasted carrots, buttered greens and roasted garlic, all under bone marrow and onion gravy. Dry-aged sirloin at 32 follows the same formula, so the choice is really about cut weight and fat rather than trimmings.

There is also a Winslade Wellington at 28 for a vegetarian at the table, and a Sunday feasting option that adds 9.00 per person to a blackboard sharing cut for two or more. Hawksmoor names prime rib and chateaubriand as the cuts best suited to that style of lunch.

The catch is timing. Hawksmoor states plainly that roasts may not be available after 5pm and that the menus shown are samples subject to change with market availability. An early afternoon booking is the safer bet if the Yorkshire pudding is the point of the outing.

Hawksmoor is a polished dining room rather than a pub, so it suits a birthday, a family lunch or an occasion where you want a set table and a proper wine list. If the aim is a pint and a plate in a more relaxed setting, the pub option below is the better fit, and our guide to pub food Liverpool covers the wider choice.

Ma Boyle's Alehouse & Eatery, Tower Building: traditional roasts from noon

Ma Boyle's occupies the Tower Building at 7 Tower Gardens, a short walk from the Albert Dock and Pier Head, which makes it easy to fold into a Sunday in the city centre. Its roasts come with all the trimmings and start at noon, with the Sunday menu running 12-9pm.

The venue describes itself as dating to 1860, when it opened under original landlady Kay Boyle as a coffee shop, later becoming an oyster bar before its present alehouse and eatery form. It has been in the Tower Building since 1974, according to the pub's own account of its history, and it sits among the older streets covered in our guide to the oldest pub in Liverpool and its neighbours.

Kitchen hours matter for a late lunch: food runs until 9pm Sunday to Thursday and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday, while the pub itself opens 10am-11pm at weekends and 11.30am-11pm Monday to Friday. A 3pm roast is comfortable; a 8.45pm one is cutting it fine.

Steakhouse roast versus traditional pub roast: how to choose

Choose Hawksmoor if the beef is the reason for the meal and you want a defined cut, a measured plate and a dining-room setting. Choose Ma Boyle's if you want a pub room, a longer Sunday window, Scouse on the same menu and a location that works with a walk along the waterfront.

There is no honest way to declare one the best Sunday roast in Liverpool from menus alone, because they are solving different problems. The steakhouse sells precision and a named breed of cut; the pub sells a familiar format, flexibility on timing and a broader menu for mixed groups.

If your Sunday is really about beer rather than beef, treat the roast as the anchor and plan the rest of the day separately. The city has a strong set of pubs covered in our guide to the best pubs in Liverpool, and the historic pubs worth a pint sit in the older streets near the commercial district.

Booking and timing: sittings, Sunday hours and roasts running out

At Ma Boyle's, tables of one to nine book through the booking widget on the pub's site, while groups of ten or more need to email the bookings address. A 10% service charge applies to food reservations for groups of six or more, which is worth factoring into a big family lunch.

Hawksmoor is a popular booking for Sunday lunch, so reserve a table once you have settled on a time rather than leaving it to the day. If you want a cut from the blackboard for feasting, say so when booking so the kitchen knows the size of the table.

The biggest timing risk is a late arrival. Hawksmoor warns roasts may run out after 5pm, and any pub serving a single Sunday menu can sell through its beef by late afternoon. A booking between noon and 3pm removes most of that uncertainty.

What to order and what to skip

At Hawksmoor, the sides are the decision point. Hawksmoor stuffing at 7.00 is a bone marrow, onion and sausage mix that replaces the traditional sage and onion, and cauliflower cheese at 7.50 is the other addition worth considering for a table of three or four.

Skip the extra sides if you have ordered the feasting cut with trimmings, because the plate already carries potatoes, Yorkshire, carrots, greens and gravy. Adding stuffing and cauliflower cheese on top of that is a lot of food for two people.

At Ma Boyle's, the practical move for a mixed group is to order one Scouse and one roast and share across the table, so nobody commits blind. Ask what the trimmings include when you sit down, since pub Sunday menus change week to week more readily than steakhouse ones.

Practical notes: groups, service charges and checking before you travel

Group bookings are the main logistical trap. Ma Boyle's applies its 10% service charge from six people upward on food reservations, and larger parties go through email rather than the widget. If you are organising for a dozen, confirm the table and the charge in writing before the weekend.

Both venues publish sample menus rather than fixed ones, and Hawksmoor explicitly flags market availability as a reason items change. Check the current Sunday menu on each venue's own site in the week you plan to go, especially if someone in the party is vegetarian or has an allergy.

Location is straightforward for both: Ma Boyle's sits in the Tower Building near the waterfront, and the city centre is compact enough to walk between the main dining areas. Our Liverpool pubs and food landmarks page has a short guide to each named place we cover.

Which Sunday roast should you book?

Book Hawksmoor if you want a named cut, dry-aged beef and a steakhouse room, and book an early sitting to avoid the after-5pm risk on roasts. Book Ma Boyle's if you want a pub plate from noon, a menu that includes Scouse, and easier handling of a big group in the Tower Building.

Whichever you choose, settle the booking first and check the current menu closer to the day. That order of operations solves most Sunday lunch problems in Liverpool before they start.