Where to eat for lunch on Easter Sunday

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Easter affords us time to sit down with family and friends, to tuck into something good and for many among us to enjoy a long weekend.

The holiday presents to us a time not only to reflect, but to have a blowout roast dinner, possibly the last wintry, comforting-by-the-fire kind before the weather warms up and barbecues and picnics take precedent.

For those who wish to gorge on Easter Sunday but would prefer to do without the effort of cooking might instead prefer to book one of London ’s dining rooms.

Below are the places to do it.

Lamb?

Not technically in season, but go ahead.

Pork?

If you fancy it.

And plenty more besides.

Here are 15 of our favourites; Easter falls on Sunday April 5 this year but as ever, it’s best to book early.

This glorious south London pub treats lamb shoulders with grace, rolls pork bellies affectionately and serves quartered chicken that stay moist.

All this with grand Yorkshire puddings by the way.

As for the gravy, prepare for one that is silky, rich and deep, and know that extra is only a request away.

Vegans are welcome here too thanks to a meat-free haggis option; a kids’ roast is half the price but generous for it.

This is a warm, characterful pub, always busy and a little haphazard; it‘s full of charm, good staff and the beers are well poured.

It’s also perfect for families.

In short: it’s a lot of fun.

15 Nunhead Green, SE15 3QQ, theoldnunshead.co.uk
2-4 Boundary Street, E2 7DD, boundary.london
Fallow co-founders Jack Croft and Will Murray met on the veg station at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal , where they bonded and made plans for their own venture.

Today, Fallow is a social media sensation, a cool, chic, queued-for restaurant always busy with diners.

The Sunday lunch here is tremendously extravagent and ideal for celebratory meals.

Take the roast beef, or rump from retired dairy cows that are served with a vast Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, glazed carrots, red cabbage, greens and gravy; elsewhere there’s Middle White pork and smoked leeks with Bermondsey cheese for vegetarians.

It’s not just the roast dinners here, though.

Pay close attention to the fried pigs’ head, the potato waffles, market fish and much more besides.

2 St James’s Market, SW1Y 4RP, fallowrestaurant.com
22 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6LF, thetwentytwo.com
Chapeau to Origin, which opened unsteadily but now seems to have flourished into an excellent restaurant, and one often cruelly overlooked.

It is a comfortable room, elegantly done, and with extremely fine cooking.

The quality of ingredients is first rate, too: from the owners’ own farm comes Black Aberdeen Angus; Large Black and Tamworth outdoor-reared pigs; and Texel lamb, while seafood is sourced from their sister aquafarm, Loch Fyne Oysters.

You will struggle to find a better-supplied restaurant in London.

What’s offered is no waste, nose-to-tail dining, that’s kept strictly seasonal.

An Easter lunch here will be one of assured excellent and comfort, and it might appeal to family members of all ages.

12 W Smithfield, EC1A 9JR, origincity.co.uk
Credit where it’s due: Anthony Demetre has made things work in what is surely a difficult location.

Then again, Demetre’s food is worth seeking out.

Adjoining the upmarket Wild Honey St James’s is Bistro at Wild Honey, pictured above, the offering of which is as its name suggests.

It is a simple, straightforward place — decidedly understated, certainly underrated — mostly serving French classics but with a touch of Italian thrown in.

Demetre is rigorously dedicated to seasonal ingredients, and for Easter, is as good a way to enjoy the bistro as any.

6 Waterloo Place, SW1, wildhoneylondon.co.uk
150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR, theritzlondon.com
49 South Audley Street, W1K 2QD, nipotinaristorante.com
The Hare & Billet on Blackheath is out of the way for many, which might explain why its exceptional Sunday roasts go a little under the radar.

But every weekend the pub, with views of a duck pond and the towers of Canary Wharf, serves the likes of porchetta and vegan Wellington — one of the best meat-free lunches in town — with all the trimmings.

Prepare for enormous Yorkshire puddings, best enjoyed after a walk around the heath, which boasts beautiful views across the city.

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1a Hare and Billet Road, SE3 0RB, hareandbillet.com
It is sort of inexplicable that Easter is about lamb, given it really isn’t the season.

Better just to plump for a truly excellent roast instead.

To this end, the Devonshire, Soho’s perhaps unrivalled pub.

The Sunday roast here, usually a rib of beef with all the trimmings — including, happily, the magnificent Devonshire leeks — is a bargain at £29.50.

Not least because it comes with carrots, Yorkshire puddings, and peas with bacon too.

The wine list is no joke, either.

17 Denman Street, W1D 7HW, devonshiresoho.co.uk
The Swedish are big on Easter, so little surprise that the London restaurant operated by the nation’s most famous chef, Niklas Ekstedt, has laid on a festive feast.

Admittedly, it’s light on the smörgåsbords, but Sundays bring great lunches, all fairly classic but with lovely Swedish twists.

Go for lamb shank braised in ale and wild garlic, which true to Ekstedt’s signature style, is cooked over an open flame.

It comes with the usual Sunday trimmings and then some.

Great Scotland Yard Hotel, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, SW1A 2HN, ekstedtattheyard.com
The Italian export Eataly brought its upmarket grill restaurant Terra to London in 2021, and a host of special Easter dishes will be available over the celebratory weekend.

Start with white and green asparagus, poached eggs and parmesan fondue, before Welsh lamb with rainbow carrots and minted baby potatoes.

Those searching for an alternative treat to traditional chocolate would welcome peanut parfait egg filled with a banana and chocolate ganache cream.

135 Bishopsgate, EC2M 3YD, eataly.co.uk/restaurants
There aren’t so many roasts worth going out for ( though this list makes a good start ).

Too often the potatoes aren’t crispy, the meat overcooked or sparse or both, the vegetables covered in unnecessary honey.

Blacklock gets it all right: big, juicy slabs of meat are worth every penny, and Easter is the perfect opportunity to tuck in.

At Blacklock, Sunday lunch is lavish, with billowing Yorkshire puddings alongside seasonal veg and exceptionally rich gravy.