The 8 best Sunday roasts in and around Reading, ranked
A traditional Sunday roast with beef, Yorkshire pudding and gravy on a pub table
Eight Sunday roasts within 20 minutes of Reading, ranked on meat, potatoes, Yorkshires, gravy and whether you’d book again.
1. The Bull, Sonning
The Bull is a 16th-century timber-framed pub on the church lane at Sonning, and its Sunday roast is the best within an easy bus ride of Reading. Beef sirloin comes pink unless you specify, carved thick, with a Yorkshire the size of a saucer, roast potatoes with the crunch-to-fluff ratio right, and gravy poured at the table from a copper jug. £22 for beef, £19 for pork belly, £24 for the sharing rib on the bone (two people, book 24 hours ahead). Cauliflower cheese is included; extra Yorkshires are 50p and you should order one.
The catch: book at least a week ahead, especially in summer, and be prepared to be turned away if you rock up on spec. The main dining room is beamed and low-ceilinged and slightly hot in July; the garden overlooks the churchyard and is the seat to ask for. Bus 4 from Reading Broad Street stops 100 metres away, so you can drink properly. This is the Sunday roast to book for a birthday, an anniversary, or a first-time visitor you want to impress.
2. The Cunning Man, Burghfield Bridge
Canal-side Greene King pub on the Kennet towpath, 10 minutes west of the centre. The roast is £16-18 depending on meat and it is honestly one of the best-value Sundays in Berkshire. Beef sliced generously, three roast potatoes properly crisp, a decent Yorkshire, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots, and gravy that is not out of a packet. Kids' portions are £8 and enormous. Walk it off along the towpath afterwards — the point of the Cunning Man is that you can arrive on foot or by bike from town.
Not fancy. Not trying to be. Chain-pub-adjacent decor but the kitchen has been consistent for years and the beer garden runs down to the canal moorings. Book online for a table between 12 and 2 for the fullest selection — they do run out of beef by 3pm. Ranks second because the food is honest, the value is unbeatable, and nothing else within the town boundary competes on that combination.
3. The Bottle and Glass, Binfield Heath
Fifteen minutes' drive north-east of Reading, thatched, low-beamed, and one of the prettiest pub buildings in South Oxfordshire. Sunday roast £24, and the dry-aged sirloin is the best cut on this list — properly aged, properly rested, served with beef-dripping potatoes and a Yorkshire made with the same beef fat. Cauliflower cheese is a highlight rather than a filler. Vegetarian option is a mushroom Wellington that's actually worth ordering.
The catch: you need a car or a taxi (£20 each way from Reading), and the pub only does two sittings on Sunday (12 and 2:30). Book two weeks ahead in winter, four weeks in summer. Not a place for children under six — the beamed ceilings mean it's a tight fit for buggies and the tone is grown-up. Ranks third because the food is arguably better than the Bull, but the logistics knock it down a place.
4. The Baskerville, Shiplake
Between Reading and Henley on the road out of Shiplake, five minutes' walk from Shiplake station. The roast is £21 and comes with confidence — beef from a named Oxfordshire farm on the blackboard, three sides included (not the usual two), and a proper gravy boat you can refill. Pork belly is the sleeper order: crackling actually crackles, apple sauce is homemade, tastes like your grandmother meant it to.
Two dining rooms plus a big garden. The garden is the seat in summer; the front room is the seat in winter, close to the fire. Well set up for dogs — water bowls, dog treats at the bar, and half the tables have a labrador under them. Ranks fourth because the food is excellent but the room can feel a bit corporate on a busy Sunday and service can slow when they’re full.
5. Mya Lacarte, Caversham
The Caversham independent that does a proper restaurant Sunday lunch rather than a pub one. £26 for two courses, £32 for three. Beef, lamb or chicken, all locally sourced, all done with more finesse than any pub on this list — the Yorkshires are smaller and lighter, the potatoes are goose-fat, the gravy is red-wine-based rather than pan-drippings. Not a pub roast; a restaurant roast that happens to be on a Sunday.
Book. It's small — 40 covers — and the Caversham locals fill it every Sunday. Two sittings, 12:30 and 3. Not the place if you want to bring six people and a dog; is the place if you want proper wine, three courses and a two-hour lunch. Ten minutes' walk from Reading station across the bridge. Ranks fifth because it's genuinely excellent but it's a different proposition from the pub roasts above it, and the price is closer to a restaurant.
6. The Flowing Spring, Playhatch
Tiny two-room pub on the road between Reading and Sonning Common, run by the same family for over twenty years. The roast is £17, the beef is fine rather than remarkable, but the atmosphere is the reason to go — open fires, proper cask ale, a garden with a treehouse and a chicken coop, and a landlord who remembers your name on the second visit. Bring dogs, bring kids, bring your grandmother.
Ranks sixth because the food is honest-pub-standard rather than exceptional, but the total experience is worth the drive. Ten minutes from Reading by car, no bus, no train nearby, so a taxi or driver is required. The Sunday menu is short (three meats, that's it) and they do sometimes sell out of the roast by 2pm. Arrive early and stay for the walk down the lane afterwards.
7. The Greyhound, Rotherfield Peppard
Twenty minutes north of Reading, up into the Chilterns proper, and a pub that has been quietly good for years without ever going gastro. Sunday roast £19 with generous portions, roast beef and lamb both excellent, and a walk-off route across the common opposite that takes you through beech woods for an hour. This is the roast to book when you want the drive out to be part of the day.
Small dining area — 30 covers — so book. Not remotely fancy inside, wooden tables, log fire, dogs welcome, kids catered for without a separate menu. Ranks seventh because there's nothing wrong with it and plenty right, but the Baskerville does a similar thing 10 minutes closer to town with slightly better cooking. Worth the drive if you want the walk afterwards.
8. The Nag's Head, Reading
The Nag's Head does not serve food on Sundays. It ranks eighth on this list because it is the pub to go to after your roast, once you have eaten somewhere else, for the best pint of cask ale in Reading. Twelve handpumps changing weekly, no music, no screens, no children after 6pm, cash still welcome. Walk here from your roast at Mya Lacarte or the Cunning Man and finish the afternoon properly.
I’m including it because a good Sunday isn’t just about the meal — it's about what you do at 4pm when the plates are cleared and you don’t want to go home yet. Every other pub on this list has decent beer; the Nag's Head has the best beer, full stop, and is a two-minute walk from Reading station for the train home. It's the missing final course.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Caversham.
The Bull, Bottle and Glass, and Mya Lacarte need at least a week for summer Sundays, two to three weeks for winter (yes, winter — locals book) and four weeks for December. The Cunning Man, Baskerville and Greyhound will usually take you 48 hours ahead. The Flowing Spring rarely takes bookings — turn up by 12:30.
The Cunning Man (walkable from town or cycle the towpath) and the Bull at Sonning (bus 4 from Broad Street) are the two best car-free options. The Baskerville is a five-minute walk from Shiplake station on the Henley line. Mya Lacarte is a ten-minute walk from Reading station across Caversham Bridge.
The Cunning Man for practical kid-friendliness — big garden, half portions, no fuss. The Flowing Spring for atmospheric kid-friendliness — treehouse, chickens, room to run. Avoid the Bottle and Glass and Mya Lacarte with under-sixes; the rooms are small and the tone is quieter than a young child can manage for two hours.
Yes — the Bottle and Glass mushroom Wellington is genuinely good, and Mya Lacarte does a proper vegetarian main rather than a token nut roast. The Bull's vegetarian option is a stuffed squash that has been on the menu for years and is decent. Elsewhere the veggie roast is an afterthought; ask before you book if it matters.
