Roast Restaurant Review: A Deliciously British Menu Above Borough Market, London

Ah, the classic Sunday roast. Us British can’t get enough of a mountain of roast potatoes and endless jugs of gravy and I for one am one of those people. I’ve been brought up eating them every Sunday and still to this day we mostly enjoy a roast every Sunday when we’re not out and about. We missed our fix recently however and so on the next best day, a Monday of course – we found ourselves heading into one of Borough’s most famous restaurants – Roast. A British restaurant which sits above Borough Market.

We started how every restaurant journey should – with a couple of the signature cocktails. A rather strong cherry and whisky concoction packed a bigger punch than we expected and really did get the senses ignited, but the star was ‘The Brit’. A mixture of Half Hitch gin, Kamm & Sons British aperitif, antica formula and carpano vermouth. Sweet, bitter and with a good bite.

While Roast Restaurant is supposed to be all about its meat, at least that’s what you get from the name – they’re just as capable of creating some other truly lovely dishes. From fishy starters to artfully crafted desserts. Two of my favourite dishes from the menu were some of the starters. Creamy Wiltshire burrata with ripe heritage tomatoes and peaches was an incredibly fresh plate of food and perfect for the Summer. While Dorset crab and avocado with cucumber, white radish and apple was offering even more freshness and a generous amount of it too.

But of course the meat offering here did steal the show and I’m so glad because it confirmed the kitchen is capable of doing what they set out to do really well. It’s a little on the pricey side yes, but you do get the quality and the precision of cooking. My medium-rare requested Hereford sirloin steak on the bone was packed to the brim with flavour and succulency. A lovely bit of smokiness injected into it and the fat was so well rendered down it melted in the mouth. The mammoth 400g chunk was served with a little watercress, very good chips and a punchy chimichuri sauce which gave a nice bit of acidity.

And then there was the Sunday roast, being eaten on a Monday. It felt a little odd I won’t lie, almost like someone was watching over my shoulder ready to tell me off – but then you look around and see more roast dinners in one room than you’re ever likely to see again. We stepped up the quality a little and went with the special of roast rib of Welsh black beef which came with an extra-large Yorkshire pudding, rich gravy and bowl of very crispy roasties. A truly great Sunday roast. We also ordered a side of creamed spinach with nutmeg, though I couldn’t taste much of the latter even if I could see it.

I didn’t expect desserts to be anywhere near as fancy as they were and actually Roast seem to have a very talented pastry chef (or army of them) in the kitchen. My Dorset blueberry cheesecake with stem ginger shortbread arrived deconstructed which was my first surprise, the second being that this was probably the most satisfying cheesecake I’ve had all year.

A real British dish was this baked Kent cherry pie with spiced yoghurt ice cream. The pastry was buttery and crumbly. The filling was sweet and sour, with a little lusciousness thrown in from the utter satisfaction and the spiced ice cream – well it tasted like a mouthful of Christmas. This was my kind of dessert and I loved every bite.

I really was pleasantly surprised by Roast Restaurant and thought they knew exactly what they were doing. True British food is at its core, along with proper service to go with it. The food is in a sense no frills, but the whole experience here seems to make a roast dinner somehow feel luxurious. Very satisfied and a little tipsy we agreed we’d definitely return and if you haven’t been yourself – you must make the detour.