Portsmouth's best Sunday roasts: where to go

Portsmouth is a good place to chase a Sunday roast, and the options run from proper old-school pubs to the sort of gastropubs that treat the roast as the main event. If you are after a family meal, there is plenty to choose from across Southsea and out towards Portsdown Hill.

At the top of the ratings sits Marmion House in Southsea, which carries a 4.8 Google rating and describes its roast as the jewel in the crown. It is family-style, so everyone gets the same trimmings: Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, gravy, glazed maple carrots, tenderstem broccoli and cauliflower cheese. The mains run from a roast loin of pork with crackling at £19.95 up to a roast lamb shank at £25.95, with a homemade nut roast for vegetarians at £18.95 and a kids portion at £9.95. It sources meat from Bransbury Park Butchers and is open 12pm to 5pm on Sundays, with a full desserts list to finish on. Not far off, the King Street Tavern is another Southsea favourite, multi-award winning with a 4.6 rating and a roast dinner at £19.

For something a bit more laid back, The Churchillian on Portsdown Hill is an honest pub that has recently come under independent ownership, and it pairs its roast with one of the best views in the South. The Sunday carvery is £17 for adults and £11 for kids, served 12pm to 5pm, with 14-hour slow-cooked meats, fresh Yorkshire pudding and a red wine sauce, plus a vegetarian roast on request. A pound from every dish goes to Friends Fighting Cancer, and the rest of the menu fills out with bar snacks, sandwiches and proper pub classics if you are not in the mood for a roast.

Beyond those, the city has a real spread of styles. The Courtyard Southsea, over at Southsea Castle, does a family roast sharing feast at £30 a head, with a trinity of meats on a sharing table and a seafront setting that you have to book in advance. The Eastney Tavern keeps things reasonably priced and gives vegetarians a proper choice between a nut roast and a beetroot and butternut squash wellington. The Florence Arms is the one to go to for the vegetables, with roasted carrot, honey parsnip, charred savoy cabbage and kale and leek with bacon, chorizo and apricot pork stuffing. The Shepherds Crook is known locally for its gammon option, served with red wine sauce, and the Fawcett Inn is the value pick, with a roast at £9.95 and a wide spread of vegetables.

If you want to step up the scale, Bear Bones BBQ at The Rex's Arms does a relaxed roast with beef striploin slow-roasted in a fire cage, oven-roasted chicken supreme and porchetta, and it is worth booking ahead. Croxtons is an independent local that leans into the sharing table, with a roast leg of lamb, a nut roast, large Yorkshire puddings and a popular sharing table with infinite gravy, all for £47. And if you are happy to head just outside the city, The Hog House in Drayton and The Titchfield Mill in Fareham both sit at 4.7 on Google, the former specialising in slow-roasted meats and the latter known for its roasts with parsnips, vegetables and cauliflower cheese. Between them, there is a roast for just about any budget or mood.