The Best Sunday Roasts In North East England
Published 19 November 2024

As soon as you walk through the Ox Club's door, the smell of smoke preps you for the unplugged open-fire cooking that lies ahead. Mid-century furniture and houseplants soften the industrial feel of the brick and concrete room, while some clever landscaping partitions it out to give the whole place a cosy ambience.

Heading the kitchen is Tom Hunter, a former sous-chef at the sadly departed Reliance – an influence that can be seen in dishes such as blister-skinned grilled sardines with a refreshing tangle of fennel, black olive and blood orange. There’s a subtle char and smokiness to everything here: watermelon is grilled slowly until even the rind is tenderised, while beef tartare (served with gherkin ketchup and a veil of shoestring potatoes) also gets a whiff of smoke.

The steak offering is focused – a 400g sirloin or 1kg côte de boeuf sharer are mainstays – but regular ‘chop nights’ cater to more specific tastes, with specialist cuts from regular Yorkshire suppliers R&J Butchers. Rare-breed pork is grilled to give an almost impossible crackling and, like a hulked-up carnitas taco, is served with tajin, chipotle and pineapple ketchup, while a sour cherry-glazed kofta is made with lamb reared at local Harewood Food & Drink Project – headed up by former Ox Club sous-chef Will Campbell.

Sunday roasts are praised and the whole show is enhanced by laid-back but well-informed service. As for drinks, there's a fair selection of around 20 (mostly organic) wines from £28 a bottle, with plenty available by the glass from £8.

Overlooking the Gothic remains of medieval Byland Abbey, this dream-ticket pub ‘hits that sweet spot between effortless village local and divine destination dining’. Inside, it’s pure, cosy magic, complete with flickering fires, ancient stonework and genuine Yorkshire hospitality. Pull up a stool for a pint of hand-pumped ale or graduate to one of the three dining rooms for seriously appealing food with a punchy regional accent, underpinned by produce from owner Tommy Banks’ family farm. Classics such as beer-battered haddock or Saddleback pork pie sit alongside upmarket ideas ranging from confit chicken and nasturtium velouté to BBQ fallow deer haunch and braised shoulder with sour cherries. And you can now enjoy the pub’s ‘absolutely incredible’ smash burgers indoors during the colder months. For afters, it’s hard to see past the luscious soft-serve ice creams – ‘nostalgic bliss in a bowl’. Brilliant Sunday roasts are a winning ticket too, with everything from Yorkshire hogget to rare-breed Berkshire pork reared at the Banks’ family farm. Aside from real ales and botanical cocktails, there’s a decent selection of wines with plenty by the glass.

Sometimes, good places are hard to find; best ignore the SatNav, rely instead on your instincts, and take a turn into what looks like a tradesman’s yard. At the far end you’ll spot a dark grey exterior with The Brick Yard painted in huge white letters. If you’re still unsure, take heart, for inside is a chic gem of a place (you’ll instantly forget you’re just off a busy road in Brighouse). Once a former double-glazing saleroom, it’s a welcoming space with scrubbed brick walls, chunky wooden tables and sparkling orbs hanging from the high ceiling.

A menu arrives in quick order – it’s ‘small plates’ and despite being advised ‘three each’, we wanted to work through the lot. You’ll find the usual suspects (croquetas, ‘queenie’ scallops, kimchi chicken thighs) but seek out the likes of wood pigeon Kyiv (soft, gamey meat with perfect crunch on the crust and pickled blackberries as the ideal add-on) or the autumn-perfect tartiflette – artichoke, potato and raclette. But do leave room for afters, because you’ll regret not experiencing the aptly named ‘Crack Pie’, an idea stolen straight from a visit to the Milk Bar in Manhattan. The toffee-apple bread and butter pudding is pretty damn good, too.

Also come for boozy bottomless brunches and the much-talked-about Sunday roast (aka the family-style ‘Sunday lunch club’) with its offer of Hereford beef striploin and outdoor-reared pork belly; booking is essential, they’re sold out weeks ahead. Service is fast and friendly, the wine list is concise and there are loads of cocktails. It’s worth getting lost trying to find this place, because it's tremendous fun.

Tucked away in a remote valley in the southwest corner of the North York Moors National Park, Hawnby is an estate village of mellow sandstone, with a church, a pub and a village store. John Wesley visited here in 1757 calling it ‘one of the pleasantest parts of England’ – and we agree. Surrounded by forest and the heather-covered Hawnby Hill, it is a beautiful spot attracting walkers and shooting types who pay handsomely for a day on the estate’s grouse moor. The Owl (a former drover’s inn) sits at the top of the village and gives a commanding view over this stunning countryside.

Here Sam Varley, who previously ran Bantam in Helmsley, has created a welcoming retreat, a place to come for unfussy food and a comfortable bed for the night. Whether you eat in the stone-flagged bar in front of a warming stove, the dining room or the splendid terrace on sunny days, you'll find crowd-pleasing dishes such as chicken, leek and bacon pie or pork T-bone with roasted peach, green beans and pine-nut vinaigrette. Back in the day, cheap monkfish was often passed off as scampi; nowadays it’s a luxury fish and Varley’s monkfish scampi with curry mayo is fabulous.

Also expect devilled kidneys on toast, piles of hot, melting cheese gougères and cracking Sunday lunches – generously sliced aged sirloin of beef with horseradish cream, rolled shoulder of Yorkshire lamb or game birds in season (red-legged partridge or pot-roast grouse, perhaps). Puddings might be a refreshing grapefruit and Campari sorbet or a homely rhubarb sponge and custard. To drink, there are hand-pulled Yorkshire ales, while low-intervention wines figure prominently on a list that offers plenty by the glass.

You may think that an ear-splittingly noisy restaurant, painted black, run by a team of tattooed chefs and named after a US punk band of the 70s, is not for you. Think again. This place is a terrific find. Mark Hill heads the kitchen, sending out eclectic Asian-inspired street food ‘with a big slice of punk rock’. That means an ever-changing line-up of small plates or an unstuffy tasting menu of five or six adventurous dishes rich in spices and heady flavours.

We enjoyed a cracking ‘14-spice pigeon yakitori’: two generous pieces on a skewer finished with nam jim, peanuts and lime leaves. Elsewhere, jackfruit was cleverly transformed with the addition of Burmese curry paste and a ‘prik laab’ spice mix, all set on a parilla leaf and served with pickle, chilli jam, crunchy onions and crackers. Hull meets Bangkok on Sunday when they have their own distinctive take on the classic roast lunch. Expect slow-roast beef, pork with a soy glaze and prik laab-cured duck breast, while tamarind-glazed celeriac served with a spiced beignet stuffed with betel leaves should please the vegans. All the dishes come with confit carrots, charred cabbage, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and a fabulous gravy singing with spices.

As for dessert, try the delightful ‘distorted’ steamed ginger pudding – a mini suet pudding filled with stem ginger floating in a soothing chamomile and miso custard. A chilled glass of South African Gamay shone from the short, well-described wine list, but don't ignore the cool cocktails. ‘We play brash music, serve spicy food and strong drink, but most importantly, we are a place of respect, welcomeness and love,’ say the owners. You have been warned.