Sunday Roast in Nottingham: Best Pubs and Restaurants

What a Nottingham Sunday roast looks like: carvery, pub classic or refined plate

Three styles dominate. The refined restaurant roast is a plated main with serious starters and puds, the pub classic is a Yorkshire pudding, roasties, veg and gravy in a proper room, and the carvery puts the carving counter and the trimmings in your hands. Pick by the table rather than by reputation: a refined plate suits two people marking an occasion, a pub classic suits a mixed group, and a carvery survives fussy eaters and children without drama.

Expect the trimmings to separate the good from the average. Beef-dripping roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, a giant Yorkshire and a proper gravy appear repeatedly at the better Nottingham tables; the kitchens that list them by name tend to take the roast seriously rather than treating it as a Sunday add-on. If the plate matters more than the room, read the menu before the address.

City centre roasts you can walk to: Piccalilli and Malt Cross

Piccalilli, tucked into Cannon Court just off Long Row and Old Market Square, is the city-centre pick for a roast with ambition. The Sunday plate has run to roast and braised bavette and roast pork with crackling, with a faux roast lamb for vegetarians, and a weekly special that the kitchen says to ring about before you go. Trimmings can be topped up with red Leicester cauliflower cheese and cider-braised cabbage, and starters such as devilled eggs and Welsh rarebit croquettes set the tone.

Malt Cross on St James's Street is the walkable pub answer, and the building does half the work: a former Victorian music hall that gives the meal a sense of occasion without a restaurant bill. Roasts have included roast beef, chicken supreme, pork belly and a beetroot wellington, all with roasties, a giant Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese and stuffing, followed by puddings made in-house. It also pours a wide range of craft ales and ciders, which matters if the roast is only half the reason you're out.

Both sit within a short walk of the shops and the castle quarter, so this is the pair to choose if nobody wants to drive. The trade-off is that central tables are the first to go on a Sunday, and Piccalilli's weekly special means the menu you read on Friday may not be the one you eat. Book early and ask what the special is when you ring, and if you want to fold in a pint at one of the oldest pub in Nottingham options afterwards, that is a separate outing from the meal.

The special-occasion roast: Cleaver and Wake at The Island Quarter

Cleaver and Wake, at The Island Quarter, is the razzle-dazzle option: a refined restaurant that turns the roast into a full three-course occasion. The Sunday menu has featured roast chicken, overnight roast pork belly and dry-aged rump of beef with real gravy, plus a wild mushroom wellington with mushroom sauce for vegetarians. Starters and puds run to chalk stream trout pastrami, artisan cheeses and a chocolate orange pud, so budget for more than a main.

Choose it for an anniversary, a birthday or a table where the cooking is the point — not for a quick feed before a match. Prices sit in restaurant rather than pub territory, but the kitchen publishes its menus, so check the current Sunday offering rather than relying on a sample. The Island Quarter is a short walk from the city centre and pairs naturally with a stretch along the canal afterwards.

Carvery and family-friendly picks: The Rancliffe Arms and Riverside Farm

The Rancliffe Arms on Loughborough Road in Bunny runs a full carvery: turkey, pork, beef and ham carved to order, with rustic pastry tartlets and ratatouille with brie for vegetarians and a vegan falafel plate. Desserts such as sticky toffee pudding and Bakewell pudding are made fresh, and diners with dietary requirements can order from the table for dishes cooked to order. It is a village pub well outside the city, so treat it as a drive or a bus ride and plan the day around it.

Riverside Farm on Tottle Road is the straightforward family carvery: slow-cooked meats carved at the counter, roasties, seasonal veg, Yorkshire puddings and gravy, with a cheese and onion pie for vegetarians and carvery plate sizes to suit children and big appetites. The kitchen serves its roast every day rather than Sundays only, which helps if your weekend shifts. Puddings lean on cake and an ice cream parlour rather than a traditional pud menu. Their own page sets out the carvery and booking options.

Both are the right call when the group is large, mixed in age, or unwilling to sit through three courses. The trade-off is atmosphere: a carvery is a busy, functional feed rather than a lingered-over lunch, and the queue at the counter is part of the deal. Book a table online for the bigger parties and go early rather than late if you want the full choice of meat.

Suburban and village pubs worth the trip: The Air Hostess, Royal Oak and The Embankment

The Air Hostess on Stanstead Avenue in Tollerton is a community-owned pub with a dog-friendly welcome and a generous roast: leg of lamb, rump of beef or loin of pork with two kinds of potato, Yorkshires, veg, cauliflower in a cheese and beer sauce, parmesan and crispy onions. Vegetarians get the same trimmings with a cauliflower steak or pan-fried Quorn fillets. It sits outside the city near the Tollerton to Plumtree circular walk, so it works as a walk-then-lunch outing.

The Royal Oak on High Street in Edwinstowe is the Sherwood Forest pick, a cosy-but-modern pub whose Sunday menu changes weekly. Sample menus have listed roast beef, roast turkey and belly pork with beef-dripping roasties, cauliflower puree, Yorkshire pudding, confit carrot, greens and red wine gravy; the vegetarian route is a goat's cheese, spinach and truffle wellington with new potatoes or a butternut tagliatelle with blue cheese, both listed at £16 on that sample. There is no dedicated vegetarian roast dinner, so check the week's menu if that is the requirement.

The Embankment on Arkwright Street sits just outside the city centre, so it is the most central of these three. Edwinstowe is a proper day out rather than a quick lunch, best combined with a walk in the forest, while Bunny and Tollerton need a car or a bus and a bit of planning. If you want Sunday lunch as part of a wider pub crawl, the historic pubs guide is a better starting point than a village trip.

Veggie, vegan and gluten-free roasts: what each kitchen offers

Vegetarian roasts are strongest at Cleaver and Wake, where the wild mushroom wellington comes with mushroom sauce, and at Piccalilli, where the faux roast lamb arrives with the same trimmings and can be bolstered with the cauliflower cheese. Malt Cross covers the meat-free main with a beetroot wellington, and The Air Hostess serves vegetarian plates with the full set of accompaniments rather than a token substitute. The Rancliffe Arms goes furthest for plant-based eaters with a vegan falafel plate and ratatouille without the cheese.

Gluten-free roasts are quietly catered for at the better tables, but the details live on the venues' own allergen information rather than in any round-up. The Rancliffe Arms takes dietary requests at the table so dishes can be cooked to order, which is the most useful arrangement for a mixed group. Ask about gravy and Yorkshire puddings specifically, since those are where gluten usually hides on a roast.

Booking, timings and trade-offs: sittings, sell-outs, dogs and children

Sunday lunch is the busiest sitting of the week in Nottingham, and popular central tables are regularly booked out by people who plan further ahead than you. Ring or book online several days before for the city-centre restaurants and for any table of five or more, and hold a village pub as your fallback if the first choice is full. Riverside Farm takes bookings online and serves its carvery every day, which makes it the safest last-minute option in this guide.

Dogs are welcome at The Air Hostess, which is the clear pick if the walk comes first and the roast second. Children are best served by the carveries, where plate sizes flex and nobody minds a bit of noise, while the refined rooms at Cleaver and Wake and Piccalilli suit adults marking something. Menus and serving times shift with the season, so confirm the current Sunday offering directly with the venue before you travel.

Which roast suits your occasion

For a walkable city-centre lunch with a pint, take Malt Cross, or Piccalilli if the cooking should be the highlight. For a birthday or anniversary where three courses and a proper pud are the point, book Cleaver and Wake at The Island Quarter. For a big family table with children and mixed appetites, head to Riverside Farm on Tottle Road or The Rancliffe Arms in Bunny, and for a walk followed by lunch with the dog, The Air Hostess in Tollerton is the one.

For a forest day out, The Royal Oak in Edwinstowe fits a Sherwood Forest walk, and The Embankment on Arkwright Street is the suburban compromise when nobody wants to drive far. If the beer matters as much as the beef, check what the local breweries in Nottingham are pouring before you settle on a table. Whatever you choose, agree the area first — Nottingham's roasts are spread across the city and the county, and the wrong postcode spoils a good lunch.

City centre plate or village carvery?

Book Piccalilli or Malt Cross if you want to walk to lunch, and accept that you need to reserve early and ask about the weekly special when you do. Choose Cleaver and Wake if the meal is the event, and Riverside Farm or The Rancliffe Arms if the table is big, young or fussy. The Air Hostess and The Royal Oak reward anyone with a car and an afternoon to spare, while The Embankment is the handiest of the outlying picks without one — but only plan around any of them once you have confirmed the current menu and serving times.