I guess they took the bad reviews to heart because I was not disappointed. My meal (beef wellington) and all the sides were delicious, perfectly cooked, artfully presented and the wait was not long (on a Sunday evening at 6pm). I'm American, so maybe my standards are low, but this will be in the top 10 most memorable meals of my life, and I have had some amazing meals. Granted, it was partly the location, service and obvious enthusiasm of the chefs and staff but the food was wonderful too. read more

The Roast served food that was lukewarm and the "roasties" (potatoes) were the consistency of hockey pucks! I could barely cut one with a serrated knife so I gave up on the rest. My daughter ordered a beverage that arrived almost simultaneously with our bill and only after she mentioned the lapse to our very inattentive server. Four of us dined tougher and we had the same underwhelming experience. Disappointing. General tip for Americans traveling to England: I don't enjoy eating spicy food but favorful food is a must! The entire time I was traveling in London I wished I'd brought Lawry's seasoning salt across the pond. Thank goodness for the black pepper and ketchup packets that I found in the bottom of my handbag! read more

Roast - The roasties - British Near Me - London, XGL

On our last day in London, my family and I were sad we hadn't gotten to have a proper Sunday Roast. We arrived on Sunday, but the place we had gone was sold out. Anyways, trying to find a decent roast mid-week is harder than we thought, but Google and Yelp pointed me toward Roast. My sister and I both ordered the Roast dinner, which came with roast beef (obviously), a Yorkshire pudding, and rosemary roasted potatoes. I asked for medium rare, and it was perfect - nice and pink! The Yorkshire pudding was not bad, but devoid of much flavour to be honest. The potatoes were the low point for me; they were way too crispy on the outside and it made them hard to bite into. They also didn't seem to have a rosemary flavour, and instead I got a pretty strong taste of lemon. I felt like for the price of the roast dinner (35£) and the total cost of the meal for three plus wine (about 250$ Canadian, I would've expected a bit better tastes. The service was fantastic though and I can't fault them for anything there as our server was great. read more

Ate there yesterday. Huge disappointment. Waiter brought wrong g&t to start. Then brought a second one that did not match the drinks menu. As to main course - I wanted the cheeseburger filet steak sandwich. The waiter told me they could only cook it medium well or well!!?? Couldn't cook it medium or medium rare!? Spoke with hostess and she was not helpful. Decided to order the pork belly BUT it was not a pork belly - it was a pork chop without the bone. Very little juicy fat attached. The wine by the glass menu doesn't even have a cabernet!!? Go elsewhere. These folks give no personal service. read more

It's a great location, right in the heart of London in the ancient Borough Market and a walking distance to a lot of London's famous landmarks. The restaurant itself is nothing to write home about, just a big open landscape with an ugly bar in the center and tables scattered around without any particular plan. The noise level is literally deafening and if you want to have a conversation with your dinner party you're gonna need a pretty powerful set of vocal chords and a brain that is able to process the messages sent to you and discern them from the mighty roar surrounding you. Apparently if you visit any of the neighboring pubs and consume manly quantities of alcohol before you come to Roast for your dinner, that might help. Or at least, that's what the locals obviously do, judging from their behavior and the level of their voices. I had a suckling pig as my main course and that was - to express myself kindly - terrible. Rather than meat what I got consisted of pork shavings and crumbs obviously reheated and hardened in the process. This was swimming in an ugly-looking and foul tasting gravy and covered by a big blanket of caramellized pork skin, basically black in color. After the highly disappointing dinner which left a strange aftertaste in my mouth and stunned by all the shouting around me (some of the shouters less than three feet away) I thought I would ask for something sweet to at least have some good experience. After all, how wrong can you be about a cake or a pie. I ordered a date pudding with ice-cream topping and my was I in for yet another disappointment! The dry brown mass had a taste that you just could not define (beside the fact that it was nowhere near the dates) and the ice-cream topping turned out to be a lump of plain butter (WTF !?). Wow! On top of it all came the price! A glass of mediocre Malbec goes for 15 pounds! The service is highly efficient, fast and no-nonsense. To be fast and efficient, they have also eliminated courtesy and any other service element beyond the minimum necessary to execute the basic transactions. So, if you want my advice, there's plenty of restaurants in the area, go somewhere else. read more

Roast - The suckling pig. - British Near Me - London, XGL

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Booked online to come here by recommendation of concierge. 1) the only available seating was 1530. 2) the place was (and remained for our entire meal) empty minus another table of 2 (harbinger perhaps?). 3) The waiter was inattentive (didn't ask if a refill was desired or how the meal was at any time). 4. All the food, including so-named "starters" came out at the exact same time. 5). The food was less than mediocre (the only tasty thing was the heritage tomato salad); the roast beef was ho hum; the "roasties" were bricks that even the steak knife struggled to cut (these tasted as if either old or had been roasted, re-roasted, and then reheated again); the chips were similar to the roasties. For all this, you will overpay significantly. Please do yourself a favor and dine elsewhere! read more

Roast - The roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. - British Near Me - London, XGL

I happened to have been lucky enough while visiting London to have been randomly strolling through Borough Market on a cold Saturday, and looked up --- I saw what looked like a wonderful restaurant where we could sit and get warm over a few glasses of wine and some modern English cuisine. So, we asked some security personnel and market employees for directions on how to get upstairs and then made our way up in the elevator into a beautiful space with unfortunately, a very rude hostess. The Roast hostess was clearly dismayed that we would dare enter such an establishment without a reservation and didn't even offer the suggestion to wait at the bar or to sit in the open seating in the lounge area. She said, "You can try coming back in 45 minutes." She then answered the phone and we weren't able to get her attention again to ask if what we suspected was lounge seating was in fact open. It turns out that it was - thanks to the assistance from another server we sat down. From then on the experience was wonderful. Servers worked collectively and the Sommelier appeared promptly upon request and made several recommendations on wine and encouraged and offered us tasting prior to choosing. The food ranged from pickled herring and beets, to grouse, and lambs livers. Since I'm American and wanted to try something "British" that I'd never had before I went with the herring and partridge. The meat was a tad overdone but the saucier at Roast knows his/her stuff. My BF had the lambs livers and his sauce was possibly the most exquisite sauce I've ever had. It was layered in flavor and rich beyond belief. My sauce was also perfectly balanced and enhanced both the partridge and the brussel sprouts served with the dish. Roast had a broad menu but I'd venture a guess that their true focus is in meat and game so if you're a veggie you should probably not bother and just get some curry downstairs. This place is for serious diners and foodies. I'd recommend this restaurant to any locals who are into nouveau British cuisine, or out of town guests who would appreciate the experience like we did. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. read more

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Roast is conveniently located above borough market with a fab view of the market! The food is delicious. They do a three course menu at lunch for 30£ (started, main course and dessert). I ordered the watermelon, mozzarella and tomato salad as the starter. It was good - refreshing and light. I went for the fish as the main course, which was delicately cooked and not over cooked! Hooray. Over cooked fish is the worst! Lastly, for dessert, I ordered the apple and raspberry crumble with vanilla custard. So yum! For an additional 5£, you can add a glass of prosecco. We did and it was worth it. Roast is also surprisingly kid friendly. They have change tables in the bathroom (women's only ) and high chairs. Kids eat free in school holidays! read more

I saw Andrew Zimmern go to ROAST on an episode of "Bizarre Food" once and made a mental note to go there the next time I was in London. I love British food, which is probably odd for a Thai person, but mark it up to nostalgia for my youth spent mostly in England. The opportunity came in August 2010 when I had to go to the UK for a friend's wedding. Booked a table ahead of time. I loved the concept of the changing menus and seasonal ingredients etc. It was definitely a high end restaurant and the people on the tables near us looked like they could have been some politicians or VIPs. We got a very nice table by the big windows that over looked a couple of pubs below so we got to do a lot of people watching as many of them were standing drinking outside on the streets .... it was warm in August and they were probably the smokers. The menu choice du jour was all mouth watering but we all had to make a decision in the end. (see photos) I loved everything that I got. The only complaint probably was how expensive it all was; even though I didn't pay for the meal myself! And a little bit on the pretentious / snooty side. I do love gourmet and haute cuisine from time to time but if I have to break the bank to have it then I can certainly live without it. I think it is certainly possible to make very fine food at a reasonable price. Final verdict: Although I was very happy with the meal overall, I thought it was overpriced and a bit pretentious. It was great to get to try it once but I probably won't bother going back. Unless someone with very deep pockets wants to take me .... anyone? Just kidding. read more

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It's well situated, but service is lacking and the food is about average for its class while the price is above average. Food: had the braised pork belly with whipped potatoes. The belly was unctuous and slightly herbaceous with a crunchy, chewy skin. The fish & chips were pretty standard. Service: we didn't have reservations for lunch so we waited at the bar while tables started opening up around us. When we saw they weren't being filled, and the hostess hadn't notified us that a table was available, we asked again and were seated a few minutes later and given menus. The menus were blank. So we asked for menus with actual menus which were quickly provided. Thereafter service was fine, nothing memorable or outstanding. Overall, the food and service value didn't match the price tag. read more

Roast - Braised pork belly, applesauce and whipped potatoes. - British Near Me - London, XGL

Apparently the British love beef, particularly for lunch on a Sunday. As I love beef, and brunch.. eating Sunday Roast in London was on our to do list during our visit. We wanted to try 'Roast' (what better place for Sunday Roast than a restaurant that's named "Roast) after seeing it featured on the Food Network. It is located above Borough Market, and you have to take an elevator up. The restaurant is contemporary and spacious - it felt upscale and polished. Our group made reservations for 11:30am a week in advance for a table of 3 and were seated promptly when we arrived. However, once the server came by, we were told, rather rudely, that lunch isn't served until noon and to just come back in 30 minutes. We weren't sure what to do, so we kind of just sat there for 30 minutes while no one checked up on us. It was rather difficult to get someone's attention, but once someone came by around noon to take our orders, all the three of us decided to go for their Saturday special Beef Wellington, a bottle of champagne, and Yorkshire pudding as a side. The Beef Wellington Special was a whole fillet of beef covered in pastry accompanied by three large roast potatoes. They never asked how we wanted the meat cooked, so the beef was tougher than what I would've liked. However, the roast potatoes were great, and the Yorkshire pudding was light, which I used to mop up the juices of the meat. At these prices (£25-30 per entrée) for Sunday Roast, I'd expect to be getting superior service and food. However, service was erratic and not friendly - the waiters had no interest in what they were serving or what we wanted. Food is only average - nothing to rave about. Unfortunately the bill automatically included a 12.5% Service charge. Will be looking for Sunday Roast elsewhere the next time I'm in town. read more

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Sitting above the Borough food market eating here tastes and feels very fresh. Expect delicate starters and healthy portions of meat. The roast menu includes very good fish, meat and bird - when the description warns of possible buck shot you can't help to think the pheasant is fresh! The menu reads like grandma's country estate but presentation is west side. All items come with sauce and sides so don't look here for plain dishes. With a sensitive palette you may be bothered by all the salt. However, we ate here after a week long holiday in Paris and welcomed simple meats prepared in a more comfortable style. Restaurant is also comfortable albeit with white table clothes, pressed linen and a sharp staff. Eat by the open kitchen and watch your food take shape, by the windows peering over a bustling market, or on the raised platform to be center of attention. read more

Roast - British Near Me - London, XGL

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Excellent cocktails and beer, terrific friendly service, upbeat atmosphere. Modern interpretation of British cooking using well-sourced ingredients. Great view from the bar of the Borough market. read more

In hindsight, I should've just taken care of all my lunch needs at the Borough Market downstairs instead of coming here. Wanted a traditional Sunday roast experience so made reservations here. I got their tasting menu but I was very, very disappointed. Not to mention their "best seating" was by a floor to ceiling glass window where the sun beat the brightest so I was basically sweating bullets throughout the entire thing. I couldn't even be mean about it because my server was so sweet. Their roast was not good. No flavor, just thrown together. The only saving grace was probably the Scotch egg which I tried for the first time but even that wasn't enough. Everything was just...so bad. The greens, the dessert, the entree...how is it possible to make everything from start to finish less than mediocre? Towards the end I was eating as quickly as I could to get it over with. I couldn't wait to get out of there. My server told me he hoped to see me again, but I hope I won't. I left a lot of food on my plate untouched. Don't fall for the "fancy schmancy" vibe they've got going on here. read more

We walked here from Tate Modern and entered this Borough Market warehouse like structure. Entering the dining room you feel like you're on a film set. It's industrial and open. The main dining floor is raised overlooking the kitchen area and sat there you see all the hustle and bustle. I didn't get pics of my slow-roasted free-range pork belly with mashed potatoes and Bramley apple sauce, but it was just how modern British homemade food should be. Nicely cooked meat, lashings of gravy and potatoes you want more of. It was washed down with some nice wine. I'm can't remember if there was time or room in the belly for dessert. I do know that we walked along the banks of the River Thames back to our hotel. A perfect night. There are daily specials: chicken, liver, lamb, ham, beef...and the Sunday 3-course meal! All look amazing on the website http://www.roast-restaurant.com/roast-menu read more

Located in the heart of Borough Market, Roast is perfect if you are looking for a restaurant that extra bit special. Most of the food is purchased from the stalls below which I think adds a nice community touch. However the place is always brimming with smart city suit types who can sometimes become quite distracting as the tables are positioned relatively close together. The quality of the food is flawless though and even my fruit salad breakfast was pretty special. With a variety of decadent British dishes including pan fried Cornish skate and Roast rump of beef, the prices (around £20 for a main) definitely reflect the quality. I would recommend going on a weekend as you then tend to avoid the hustle and bustle of the local workers. You are guaranteed a wonderful meal but be prepared to pay! read more

Roast - British Near Me - London, XGL

This place has great views. If you're lucky you may nab a table with views out across the passing trains and shimmering floodlit river Thames. Roast's location, on the first floor of Borough Market near London Bridge, is also supposed to reflect its menu choice of quality, fresh, British produce. As the name suggests, there is a focus on roasting as a culinary method. But this vague focus is stretched to fit a wide variety of meat, and fewer vegetable dishes. I tried the rack of Welsh lamb, and tasted the venison, which were both excellent. There were many more dishes on the menu I wanted to try. Prices are high, and the quality of the cooking reflects this, but the service wasn't too smart, unfortunately. The clientele on the night I visited seemed to be made up of either romancing couples, in the window seats, or large, raucous parties of office workers in the longer central tables. read more

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I think I'd give this place a solid 4 stars. It's upscale dining but not fine dining and the price does reflect that (meaning on the more expensive side but not atrocious). If you can, I'd suggest going when they have their £30 set menu (appetizer, main, and dessert) - check online to see what times that is available as it is not available for all of dinner time. If not, you'll pay £25+ for a main + £7+ for dessert with an additional vat/service charge. Portion sizes are larger than typical London style though so again, the price isn't unreasonable when you think about it. I'd highly recommend their sticky toffee pudding - absolutely delicious! Their beef roast wasn't as bad as most reviewers make it out to be and their roasted potatoes are quite good with a nice crunchy shell but soft inside (apparently fried in duck fat?). Their pork belly is also quite good but as with all pork belly cuts, can be a little fatty. The view is nice as well if you're by the windows or under the glass roof. All in all, I'd say this is a good place for a nice splurge dinner/date. read more

Great food, nice location, good staff, quite an extensive wine list. The Scotch Eggs were the best I've ever had, and the roast pork was excellent: the roast beef looked great, I'll have to have that next time. Perhaps a little expensive, but for the quality that you get highly recommended! read more

Roast - British Near Me - London, XGL

Have visited Roast twice now, once for breakfast and once for lunch. No booking for breakfast so we were lucky to get a table as it was heaving on Saturday morning. We took the risk and were lucky. Generally, I was underwhelmed by the menu and the food. It was standard breakfast food with nothing really exciting outside of the norm. We both ordered dishes with poached eggs. Both came out hard rather than with a runny yolk. Had to send them back. However, lunch was a different society and I think this is where I would recommend it. I went for the fish and chips which I think is a Friday lunch regular. Wow. The mushy peas were the best I have ever had. Both meals were not cheap, but their quality high. Oh, lastly, coffee was terrible, but we are both coffee snobs. Overall, go, enjoy breakfast but expect nothing out of the ordinary. Lunch, I think this is great mid-week if you are in the area or having a Friday off and tour the markets in the morning before a long lunch at Roast. read more

Roast - Some of the best fish and chips I have ever had - mushy peas were the highlight - British Near Me - London, XGL

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Nice view, great lighting, subtle live music. The pork belly exploded with flavor upon first bite. The mashed potato absorbed the juices well. The Bramley apple sauce was a sweet compliment to the salty nature of the course. I'll definitely be back! read more

Roast - Pork belly with mashed potato and Brantley apple sauce. - British Near Me - London, XGL

Booked a few days in advance for afternoon tea at Roast. On our tube ride there, less than 20 minutes before our reservation time, we received an email saying that our booking was cancelled. It is completely understandable to cancel due to unfortunate/unsafe circumstances, but receiving an email minutes before the reservation time is unprofessional and unacceptable. At the very least, a phone call would have been appreciated. read more

Sunday lunch at Roast was wonderful. The place is always busy and you should book in advance, this busy British brasserie. Good service, very nice venue a floor above Borough Market, with amazing food. Set menu for app, main and dessert for 37£ is a good deal and none of the dishes disappoint. The star was the slow cooked lamb shoulder roast which was so good in fact I forgot to take a picture! read more

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The big Daddy of all London breakies award has to go to Roast. It's an absolute Borough hotspot, along with many other fine food establishments in an area that's already top on every foodies eating list. If you're a big meat eater then this is the place to go. I haven't found better meat fry-ups anywhere else, theirs is truly the full monty. I usually go for the 'Smoked streaky bacon and fried egg sanwich' that is roughly an entire pack of bacon in doorstop thick white bread with crusts that could fell a few teeth, dolloped with an egg and lashings of brown sauce. It was actually one of these that led me to abandon my vegetarianism (hey if you're gonna fall off the wagon then do it properly!) But saintly Vegetarians need not worry as there are also some great options like the healthier fruit salad or the muesli with Earl Grey prunes. It is a more up market affair in here, with a stylish yet still comfortable interior and a foodie crowd so I wouldn't recommend piling in after a heavy night out looking rather green. Pop in on a Saturday for the best breakfast south of the River and watch the market below. Breakie finishes at 11am on weekdays and 11.30 Saturdays, so don't lie in too long. read more

The space here is immaculate--high ceilings, large windows, and plenty of breathing room to take you away from the hustle and bustle of Bourough Market below. (I was told the large window wall was actually part of the original Camden Market train depot structure.) The food is incredible. All the ingredients are fresh from the market and are traditional English favorites. The two standout dishes were the pigs in blankets (gourmet sausage encased in pastry and served with an amazing horseradish, ketchup and mustard dip) and the carrot cake... which was fabulously done and had an amazing little crispness in the crust that you can't miss. If you're visiting London, this is a great place to splurge! read more

I can't remember the last time I had a good Sunday roast. Sundays for me now consist of curries or Thai or hungover Dominos but you can't beat a nice big roast with all the trimmings. I was recently given a voucher so I could go & enjoy dinner at Roast in Borough Market. They very kindly agreed to let me swap my dinner reservation for a Sunday lunch time booking so I could make the most of their three courses for £37.50 deal. Roast serves great British food from their glass-windowed restaurant located in the middle of Borough Market. It's owned by Iqbal Wahhab, the founder of Cinnamon Club and it's a famed for its use of seasonal produce. We decided to kick our meal off with some fancy looking cocktails. Tom went for the Mango Tarragon Martini (£12) made with Roast gin infused with fresh tarragon, fresh mango puree and elderflower cordial. Lovely and fruity and very strong. I went for the SE1 spICED tea (£12) an even stronger blend of gin, bourbon, citrus infused vodka, rum, cointreau and sugar, topped with ginger ale. Despite containing half the contents of the bar, it's surprisingly refreshing and the perfect way to start out off meal. I started off our three courses with the pork and black pudding scotch egg served with piccalilli which was incredible. The egg was perfectly cooked so the yolk was still runny and ran into the crisp meaty casing. I felt the piccalilli was a little over-powering so I recommend using it sparingly. Tom went for the pressed wild rabbit and ham hock terrine which came with fig chutney and toasted sour-dough. Not quite to my taste but Tom really enjoyed it. The main courses were where Roast really lived up to its name. The roast pork belly came with the biggest piece of crackling I've ever seen. The meat was perfectly cooked and had that rich, melt-in-the-mouth quality - not too fatty but still packed with flavour. Lamb is Tom's favourite so he went for the rosemary and garlic studded leg of lamb with redcurrant jelly and mint sauce. Perfectly tender and served with an extra-large yorkshire pudding. Roast really know how to spoil you with the extras! All the roasts come with a selection of beef dripping roasties, seasonal green veg and carrots. If you're anything like me - order an extra round of gravy which the staff are more than happy to bring out. After all that food we had to activate our second 'dessert stomachs' so we could squeeze in room for pudding. Tom went for a piping hot Bramley apple crumble served with the creamiest vanilla custard while I predictably went for the sticky date pudding with toffee sauce and clotted cream. (They can call it sticky date pudding all they want, it will always be Sticky Toffee) The three-course Sunday lunch is brilliant value but the alcohol doesn't come cheap. The cheapest bottle of wine is around £40 and they increase steadily from there so the bill can rack up pretty quickly! Roast would make a really lovely spot if you're heading out for a celebration. It'a a little pricey so while it's probably not somewhere I would come every weekend, I would definitely recommend it for a birthday or an occasional treat. read more

Roast is a hidden gem hanging above Borough Market and completely out of place with rough good natured hustle and bustle of the market itself. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing as it's a great respite from it all. As far as decor and food, I've give Roast 4 stars. The glazing on the windows completely blocks out the sounds of the market although the noise of the chatter inside is heavy enough to drown out a soft spoken work. The high windows and ceilings give it a very airy feel and on a sunny day it's almost like sitting outside. The food. I started off with sauteed scallops which were cooked perfectly, enough to lose the chill of a rare scallop but not too much where they become chewy. The fresh chives didn't add much to the flavour but the dry savoury nut (can't remember which nut it was) mousse added a great contrast to the inherent sweetness of the scallop. My main of pork belly with mashed potatoes and applesauce was overall quite good. Excellent mash without too much butter and the tart applesauce provided a good contrast to the sweet glaze used on the pork. The crackling was also excellently made. The meat itself was a bit of a let down, tender yes, but not as much flavour as I would expect from such a dish. Dessert was an acceptable chocolate tart but nothing to really write about. The things that knocked it down to 3 stars for me were i) the rude service, ii) the noise (hard to hold a conversation) and iii) poor table position (in the middle and away from the gorgeous views). Also, there was no one at the coat check when we left and we ended up making it self-service. Return Factor (credit to P. A. from Vegas for this concept): 70% especially as I have to try a namesake roast one Sunday read more

My son ordered the breakfast sandwich with bacon and sausage and we added an egg. The separate items were ok but together maybe a bit dry. It wasn't very special or memorable. read more

Roast - British Near Me - London, XGL

Took me ages to find the place - if you have not been before it's worth doing your homework rather than relying on electronic devices on the way! Great British traditional food - some of dishes you have to order before you go, again worth checking into if its your first time. Not a casual attire place and you will share the restaurant with suits in the evening. Expensive but worth a visit. read more

Came for Sunday set menu. At 37£, it's too overpriced for the food and service they provide. The chestnut soup was bland and under salted. My boyfriend got the lamb meatball and it literally tasted like ground beef. The entrees were a little better. After the entrees were cleared, my boyfriend waited to order a beer, got it, finished it and proceeded to wait another 10 minutes for our desserts to finally appear. His order was wrong. We waited 40 minutes after our plates were clear for our dessert. Our food had settled by then and we barely ate the desserts. Service and water are an extra charge at this restaurant. Unless you're drinking and continuously racking up your bill. They completely ignore you and don't check up on you. If you want Sunday lunch, I'd suggest you go elsewhere. read more

Roast - British Near Me - London, XGL

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Update re Roast to Go. The pork belly sandwich is SO GOOD. They could maybe slightly improve the bread but basically it's a whole load of meat and fat for £6 and it tastes delicious. read more

Roast Restaurant overlooking Borough Market is an outstanding example of British food. Its focus, as the name suggest is the favorite (Sunday) roast, accompanied by fresh seasonal produce acquired from the market below. Its signature dish, a Pork Belly roast is a treat for the senses with its crispy crackling encompassing the melt in your mouth tenderness of the meat. Accompanied by Brambly apple sauce and fluffy mashed potatoes, it is a perfectly balanced dish. Puddings are decidedly English, the wine list is international and all of it makes for a superb dining experience. read more

Mr. Snarky happened to be working in London so I suggested we go for a nice dinner because let's be honest... when we're at home over the weekend, the last thing we think about is recreating my daily commute to go for a meal. I saw Roast as I was on a Harry Potter walking tour ( part of the job!) and thought we should give it a go. You can make reservations online, so that is handy when you are taking care of life admin during your lunch break! I had trouble finding the place as I forgot that it is upstairs! Fortunately I had seen Mr. Snarky standing outside. There is a lift, or you can take the stairs and at the top you'll be greeted by a host. The place is massive and it was much louder than I anticipated. In fact, the bar was really buzzing while there were a lot of empty tables. Our waiter was, as Mr. Snarky says, a 'misery guts'. He genuinely just didn't seem interested, which is a bit sad because one of the other waiters who delivered some of our food was really delightful. I decided to have an Earl Grey cocktail as well as the onion, leek, and garlic soup while Mr. Snarky went with the Scotch Egg. The starters were nice, but I guess there was nothing that special about them. To be honest, the starters reminded me of a nice country gastropub... which isn't a bad thing, but the prices led us to believe that these dishes should be really special. As we were sitting there discussing the food... Mr. Snarky made a comment about the music in the background... but actually I didn't even realise there was background music until there was a song where you could hear some bass line that cut through the chatter and conversations happening throughout the restaurant. We also noticed that there were a lot of children about... including a birthday celebration. We thought that it is a bit expensive to bring children, but it turns out that children eat free during school holidays. Now that is a good deal and a great way to get people through the doors. I talked Mr. Snarky into the Chateaubriand for two. I'd seen it on the menu at a couple of places we have been to and I told him that I really wanted to try it. Actually it wasn't that difficult because he was looking at the roast beef and it comes with the same trimmings, so why not. We also added a side of Winter Greens with Broccoli because other than the potatoes, it doesn't come with veg. You know when you are at a restaurant and you see a dish being delivered to a table and everyone is looking because they are wondering what it is so they can order it... that was us ;). In fact, we thought we had ordered too much food to begin with because the plates kept coming out. Hands down, the star of the show was the meat. It was delicious, it was tender, it was juicy. With a name like roast... the meat has to be spot on. The roast potatoes were nice, but could have been a bit crispier. The Yorkshires were crispier than the potatoes, but the horseradish sauce and the red wine gravy were really delicious... and I don't like horseradish. So we got our bowl of greens and I should have realised that the sides are all portions for one. We thought about ordering another bowl, especially as there was only one piece of broccoli in the bowl, but actually we felt fairly full... not overly full, but a satisfied full. We had a look at the dessert menu and actually there was only one item on the dessert menu that Mr. Snarky would have eaten as everything else had things that he didn't like... for example nuts... if you have a nut allergy you may struggle with the dessert menu. And he didn't seem that interested, so we gave dessert a miss. The meat was spectacular, but everything else was a bit average... and if they were charging the same price as the nice country gastropub, it would probably get a higher rating, but at over £100, we expected something a bit more special. read more

My parents and I wanted a cup of coffee and a place to sit in the hustle and bustle of Borough Market, and we mistakenly took Roast for a cafe. Luckily there was a table available even though the place was packed. We really just wanted coffee so we ordered a French press, but we felt too guilty to take up a table in this fancy place without having any food. My parents shared the fish and chips, which was probably the most expensive fish and chips that I've ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately the fish was a bit bland and could have used a bit more salt. But not dry at all and great batter. My charcuterie plate was lovely, absolutely no complaints. I also got the Orange Bombshell which consists of "Roast gin, Mandarin Napoleon liqueur, Kamm and Son's ginseng liqueur, Grand Marnier, lemon curd, and orange juice shaken and served on a frozen orange." It was a delicious drink, but the presentation seemed a little.. juvenile? The description does mention that it comes in a frozen orange, but a small plate or shallow cup would have been nice as the orange kept staining the table. As others have mentioned, it's expensive but the service was great and you get a nice view over the market. read more

We booked for the Xmas menu. Don't waste your time. The service was extremely slow and they were only half full. When we got the food it was mediocre and cold. The turkey was sliced from a roll as was the tasteless stuffing. Brussels sprouts and bacon were the most disappointing, did they boil the sprouts and throw bacon chips on from 10ft away. No seasoning on ANYTHING. The 2 stars are purely for the pre-dinner mojitos!!! Book the Ned, expensive but at least you get what you pay for in abundance!! read more

Awful. We were going to go to a Michelin star but decided on this place because it had a good wine selection. Totally should have gone with the Michelin because you pay the same price for what you get here. They do not state anywhere that they automatically include gratuity and water. I wouldn't mind paying for them if I knew beforehand, but doing it after the dinner is irksome. We got a different server for each part a food item was brought out. I totally don't mind that but please don't charge for this aforementioned "service". read more

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Though I had never even noticed this restaurant before on my various trips to the Borough Market, my mother was drawn like a fly to its white tablecloths and well-suited waiters. Thus, after browsing the stalls down below, we made a quick check of the menu and headed upstairs to Roast for a light lunch. I wanted to like it; the menu looked delicious and but unfortunately, they didn't seem to have anything on the menu. I ordered a salad with chicken, walnuts, and stilton. Mum ordered tomato and cheese. Sorry, miss, we're out of that salad. Alright then tomato and shallot. What about dessert? The crumble at the next table looked wonderful. I'll just have a scoop of ice cream. How about the caramel? We don't have that. But...it's on your menu. We don't have it. Ok then, the rhubarb. Alright. (Five minutes later) Sorry miss, we don't have rhubarb. Let's try the cheddar torte. Sorry miss, we're out. Elderflower ice cream then. Alright. (Ten minutes later) Here's your gooseberry ice cream. I realized later there were no walnuts on my salad. Out? read more

We went back to Roast to try the dinner menu. There was some confusion with the price: we had booked on OpenTable and thought we would be getting the set menu for a good price, however it turned out that this was only applicable at certain times. This was disappointing at the time because we felt some pressure to continue with a dinner more expensive than we were expecting. But from our last experience here for a Sunday roast, we knew that the food would be good, so we stuck with it. We got a huge t-bone steak for us both to share with some onion rings. We asked for medium, but it came out quite rare. We sent it back to be cooked a bit more and it came back just as we liked it. It was delicious. I like the idea of sharing a big steak and I will do this more often. Having been there a couple of times now, I agree that it is on the expensive side and is something of a treat. We will be more careful about checking the details of website "deals". read more

One of my favorite places to visit when I'm in London. Situated above Borough Market, it's a true farm-to-table experience, with many vendors from the market supplying meat and produce. Reservations are needed for the better tables with a view, but you can on occasion walk in and snag a table. On a recent visit we had the lobster with tandoori spices and hamburger. Both were to die for! My only regret is I didn't pick up a cookbook, and they aren't released on Amazon until September. read more

Good food, tightly packed dining room, seriously overpriced wine. I have been to Roast a few times over the past couple of years and I came to the conclusion that I probably won't be returning. It's extremely expensive, but I usually don't mind paying for quality. I just get the feeling that I am being 'had' on a few things! The dining room is very tightly packed, especially on the tables for two down the sides of the mezzanine floor. My friend and I went there last week and were literally sitting on the same table as an extremely amorous couple next to us. It just wasn't pleasant for either party! The food is good - I have never had anything that wasn't jolly nice there. I have tried the goat curry, the various daily specials, fish, chicken, steak... and all have been really nice. What really annoys me about this place is the wine list. I know wine, and I know that 50 quid for a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (not even Cloudy Bay) is pushing it rather a lot. Also, the service could be better. I have never had the rude experience that other reviewers have had, but you are somehow made to feel that you are an imposition and there's not a great deal of warmth or attention in the delivery. So, I have come to the stunning realisation that there are plenty of very good restaurants in London that will feed me decent food, let me sit down without having to introduce myself to my fellow diners and will serve me a wine with a generous mark up, but that doesn't leave me feeling fleeced. read more