Sunday Roast: A Taste of British Tradition

Typically, Sundays on As Told Over Brunch are for brunch reviews, but this week we have something special for y'all. In the brief two days I spent in London, we tried to fit in as much as we possibly could. I wanted to experience as much culture as we could, which included seeing the Harry Potter bridge (better known as the Millennium Bridge), Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Gherkin, Westminster, an indoor market and the London Eye. We then had tea and decided upon Sunday Roast.

Sunday Roast is either a weekly tradition or a tradition for special occasions, depending on who you are and what your family tradition is. Either way, we were in London, which seemed like a special enough reason for a roast. A roast consists of roasted meat (you can pick lamb, beef, chicken or a vegetarian option), potatoes, mixed vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and some sauce for the roast of your choice.

I am a through-and-through lamb lover, so my decision was a non-choice. I got the lamb, which came with a mint sauce on the side. As I waited patiently for my meal, my stomach was growling intensely. We snacked on some french fries, or chips as we call them in London.

Considering we were a table of eight or so, we got served our roast quickly. It was a jaw-dropping amount of food. There is a stereotype (albeit a correct one) that Americans enjoy large amounts of food and portion sizes are out of control. This Sunday Roast plate was totally out of control.

I think I had no less than six thick slices of lamb, about three whole potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding the size of my hand and a generous portion of vegetables. I'm used to ordering lamb and being shortchanged because lamb is expensive, but not in London. They give you a whole damn lamb when your order. However, the lamb was cooked significantly more than I am used to. It was a little tough, and really needed the gravy and mint sauce to make it tasty.

The potatoes and vegetables were dense and delicious with the sauce on it. The Yorkshire pudding -- well, I didn't quite understand it. I was expecting pudding, you know, like American dessert pudding. Yorkshire pudding is like a fluffy pastry with a limited flavor profile. I would say it was like a donut, but it wasn't sweet. It wasn't as buttery as a biscuit. It didn't quite have a lot of flavor, but when dipped in the gravy, it was really good.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with how much food you get in a roast. I really liked the mint sauce, but I would prefer my lamb undercooked. And if I really wanted to make it American, I'd trade out the Yorkshire pudding for a biscuit. You can take the American out of the States, but can't take the States out of the American.