Hawksmoor Sunday Roast

Last Updated on April 12, 2026

There’s no beefing about this classic Sunday lunch

5.0 out of 5.0 stars

How can we have gone so long without reviewing the Hawksmoor Sunday roast? It feels less like an oversight and more like something that needed the right occasion. The special occasion turned out to be my birthday, or at least the first Sunday after it. A very suitable date for somewhere that I’ve known and loved since the first branch opened. Hawksmoor was founded by childhood friends Will Beckett and Huw Gott, with the first restaurant opening in Spitalfields, London, back in 2006. At the time, it felt genuinely groundbreaking: British steak cooked over charcoal, with a confidence and style so far removed from an Angus Steakhouse that you wondered whether it needed a new name altogether. Already a fan of Gaucho, I remember being genuinely excited by Hawksmoor’s offer of excellent British beef in a more relaxed setting.

We chose the Air Street branch of Hawksmoor for a couple of reasons. We could not get a table at the relatively new King’s Cross restaurant, but we were keen on somewhere with a light dining space, and many of the Hawksmoor branches tend to the ‘cosy’ end of the spectrum. Air Street sits on the first floor of a building on the corner of Regent Street. It is a beautiful Art Deco dining room, with a bar at the front, and yet it still manages to feel intimate thanks to the thoughtful layout of tables and service areas, along with the dark green leather banquettes and chairs set around polished wood tables. Soft light filters through the stained glass windows. You could walk in wearing jeans and trainers and feel just as at ease as someone dressed up for a celebration.

The restaurant was buzzing on this damp Sunday afternoon, yet everyone seemed to be served at the perfect time. We spent a little time checking the menu before deciding to skip starters, mostly because that offered the perfect excuse for dessert. And, the Hawksmoor puds are almost as famous as their steaks. If you do want a starter, there are plenty of options, from potted beef or roasted bone marrow to oysters, Devon crab on toast, salads, and smoked salmon.

I had high hopes for the wine list. Will’s mum is the well-known food and wine writer Fiona Beckett, and I’ve always loved her down-to-earth wine writing. I’m also particularly keen on Portuguese red wines, and I was delighted to find that Hawksmoor carries their own label Douro red wine, Vinho Tinto, ‘Hawksmoor La Rosa’, Quinta de la Rosa, 2023, Douro, Portugal, a beautifully soft, well-aged red wine that comes in at £52 for a bottle. It was the obvious choice and one that didn’t disappoint.

On Sundays, you can order from the à la carte menu if you want to. Or you can pick from three main Sunday roast options for between £28 and £35. Or you can mix and match meat from the sharing cuts (they recommend Prime Rib and Chateaubriand) with Sunday roast trimmings for the price of the meat (sold by weight) plus £9.50 per person for the trimming. At its heart, a steakhouse, the Sunday Roast options are aged rump, aged sirloin or a vegetarian wellington. We both opted for the sirloin, a classic Sunday Roast cut that works well because it is usually nicely marbled and suited to roasting. Two generous slices of perfectly cooked meat (you can have it pink or well done) nestled on the buttered greens. There was a half bulb of roasted garlic, roasted carrots, a perfectly sized Yorkshire pudding and plenty of properly crispy beef dripping roast potatoes with fluffy centres. And, unlimited bone marrow and onion gravy.

This is classic Sunday lunch nosh. It’s the kind of plateful that brings to mind my own childhood, growing up in rural Norfolk, where the vegetables came from our own garden, and the meat from a family butcher who knew the farmers who supplied him by first name. The kind of depth of flavour that rarely survives the supermarket chiller.

We loved the cauliflower cheese with a well-balanced, tangy cheese bechamel, a crispy, breadcrumbed topping, and cauliflower that had just the right amount of bite. And the Hawksmoor stuffing, a beefy concoction with a rich Madeira wine glaze. This lunch isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Skipping starters proved an excellent strategy. There was still too much food for me, but not to the point of excess and certainly not to the point that I felt the need to skip dessert, too. That said, I couldn’t quite bring myself to order the Hawksmoor Sticky Toffee Pudding, which, from experience, I know to be superlative. Instead, I ordered a pear bakewell tart because I love the flavour combination of pear and almonds. Served with a light brandy cream and custard, it was a delicious dish that hit the spot, especially paired with the recommended Vin Santo. If a girl can’t indulge herself on her birthday, when can she?

My companion feasted on the chocolate mille-feuille with salted caramel and rum ice cream. Desserts are all around the £10 mark – but, if you don’t have space, there’s a decadent little treat in the form of salted caramel Rolos to share (or not) in the restaurant or to take home.

Perfect for ‘les rosbifs’, the Hawksmoor Sunday Lunch earns a top rating from us. It’s a classic at Air Street, immaculately managed by manager Angelo Lupinetti and Head Waiter Faye. Just be warned, it’s really focused on excellent traditional British beef served with no frills and a focus on the food. A great place to meet up with friends or family and relax, knowing everything will be just so.

Hawksmoor
5A Air St,
London
W1J 0AD

020 7406 3980

Looking for more London Sunday Roast options? Check out our feature.