Best Sunday Roast in Sunderland

Sunday dinner is a fixture in Sunderland, whether that means a full plate with all the trimmings after a walk along the seafront or a quick roast in town before the match. Plenty of pubs and clubs across the city put on a Sunday lunch, but menus change and not every kitchen publishes what it serves, so this guide sticks to places that set out their Sunday offer on their own websites in 2026. It covers a city centre pub with a dedicated Sunday menu, a carvery at Roker with a sea view and a bar and grill beside Park Lane, along with a few tips for planning your Sunday.

Keel Tavern, Keel Square

Keel Tavern is a pub and kitchen on the ground floor of the Holiday Inn building on Keel Square, where the city centre meets the river. It opened in 2023 and is best known for its range of cask, keg and bottled beers from North East breweries, but the kitchen is a big part of the offer, and Sunday roasts have their own menu, which changes with the seasons.

On Sundays the kitchen serves from midday until 6pm, which gives you a longer window than many places. There is a children's menu, and children are welcome until 7pm. Tables can be booked through the pub's website, which is worth doing for larger groups and on weekends when there is a show at the Empire or an event in the city centre. Afterwards, the riverside walk along the Wear is on the doorstep.

Best for: A city centre roast with a good choice of local beer.

Poetic License, Roker

Poetic License is the bar attached to The Roker Hotel on Roker Terrace, open to everyone rather than only hotel guests, with a large beer garden and patio looking towards Roker beach and the pier. On Sundays it serves the Roker Carvery from noon until 4.30pm.

The carvery comes in small and large plates, with a separate portion for under-15s, so families can order to suit different appetites. If you do not want a full plate, the Sunday menu also lists a roast sandwich of the day with roast potatoes and gravy, and a Sunday fries dish topped with your choice of meat, gravy, stuffing and a Yorkshire pudding. Desserts are on the same menu, and there is a cake counter. Tables can be booked online, which is worth doing on match days and summer weekends.

Best for: A carvery with a sea view after a walk along Roker beach.

Port of Call, Park Lane

Port of Call is a bar and grill over two floors at 1-3 Park Lane, beside the Park Lane Interchange. Its Sunday club offer is straightforward: Sunday dinners are served until they sell out, with a reduced menu running until 8pm for later arrivals.

Because it is next to the bus and Metro interchange, it is one of the easiest places in the city to reach without a car, and it shows live sport, so it suits a roast with the football on. The flip side of serving until sell-out is that late arrivals can miss out, so aim to get there in good time if a roast is what you are after.

Best for: An easy-to-reach Sunday dinner with the match on.

The Seaburn Inn, Seaburn

The Seaburn Inn on Whitburn Road is the Inn Collection Group's pub with rooms on the seafront, and it runs a Sunday carvery rather than a plated roast. The group's own dining page lists the carvery from noon until 5pm, with a choice of roast meats carved to order, seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, and the option to go large for a small supplement. The menu changes with the seasons, so the exact joints and prices vary; the current version is published as a PDF on the Inn Collection Group website.

It is the natural choice after a walk along the promenade from Roker, and the pub takes bookings for Sunday tables, which is worth doing in summer and on bank holiday weekends when the seafront is busy. Children have their own menu, and dogs are welcome in the bar areas.

Best for: A seafront carvery with a family-friendly, walk-in feel.

Worth knowing: the Grand Hotel at Seaburn

The Grand Hotel on Queens Parade at Seaburn, home to the Kawali restaurant, serves a Sunday lunch once a month rather than every week. The hotel's website asks diners to call for details, so check the date before you plan a visit around it.

Planning your Sunday

Booking ahead is the safest approach for any Sunday lunch, particularly for groups of more than four, during the school holidays and in the weeks before Christmas, when many pubs run festive menus alongside or instead of their usual Sunday offer. Home match days at the Stadium of Light make the city centre and Roker busier, so it is worth checking the fixture list if you are travelling across the city.

If you have dietary requirements, tell the pub when you book. Menus mark some dishes as vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free available, but the choice for a roast can be narrower than the main menu, and kitchens can usually tell you what they can adapt. Carvery and roast menus also change with the seasons, so check the latest version on each venue's website.

A Sunday walk pairs well with a roast. Roker and Seaburn have long promenades and the piers, covered in our Roker and Seaburn seafront guide, while the city centre is close to Mowbray Park, the Winter Gardens and the river. For more ideas, see the best pubs in Sunderland, the best restaurants in Sunderland and the eat and drink hub.

Know a Sunderland Sunday roast we should add? Get in touch.