Why this Manchester restaurant is the undisputed king of the Sunday roast

  1. Home
  2. City Centre

When it comes to Sunday roasts, everyone likes theirs done in a particular way – normally however their mum cooks it.

Sometimes this leads to weird and wonderful combos. Sweetcorn, baby corn, mashed potatoes AND roasties (served together) all count as crimes against the roast in our book, as does adding ketchup and mayo.

Thankfully, there’s none of that to be found at Manchester restaurant Hawksmoor – one of the only London brands to launch in Manchester during the 2010s and successfully stay the test of time.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats

Housed in the former Victorian Courthouse on Deansgate, the steakhouse manages to be chic, glamorous and entirely unpretentious all at once, which is – we assume – how it’s become such a hit with Mancs where other London openings have, sometimes brutally, failed.

Whilst it’s pretty hard to beat the way your mum does it, I think it’s fair to say that Hawksmoor’s roast is a pretty strong contender for the best in the city. Even better, they won’t ask you to help with the washing up.

Designed to share, roasts here can be split between two or three people – with starters, mains, sides and puddings all included and priced from just £50.

Mains choices include perfectly-pink cuts of bone-in prime rib, chateaubriand and sirloin, as well as Dartmouth lobster with garlic butter, whilst sides span the likes of creamed spinach, macaroni cheese, grilled bone marrow, carrots, roasties, cabbage and – or course — giant Yorkshire puddings.

Image: The Manc Eats
Image: The Manc Eats
The cauliflower cheese. / Image: The Manc Eats

Read more: Inside Blinker, the new Manchester bar with a dedicated martini menu

We’re talking Yorkshire puddings bigger than your face, crispy beef fat roasties, unlimited jugs of bone marrow gravy, and an oozing skillet of cauliflower cheese made with a four-cheese blend of Ogleshield, mozzarella, Stichelton and ‘good Cheddar’.

When we visit, we’re also treated to half a dozen Vietnamese oysters to start – topped with soy sauce, micro coriander and a crispy onion that just adds the perfect amount of crunch to the otherwise firm-yet-slippery molluscs.

Vietnamese oysters with crispy onion and micro coriander. / Image The Manc Eats
An Amaro Correcto and a Silver Bullet cocktail. / Image: The Manc Eats
The passionfruit pavlova and the Ambassador’s Reception. / Image: The Manc Eats

And for pudding? A tart passionfruit pavlova, featuring the most perfectly round meringue I’ve ever seen, and the famous ‘Ambassador’s Reception’, which nods to a nostalgic childhood favourite that Hawksmoor isn’t, for legal reasons, allowed to name.

Of course, being a steak house, the wine list here is excellent too – helped along by the fact that one of the co-founder’s mothers just happens to be a wine critic for The Guardian.

Read more: First look: inside Pollen’s new garden side cafe at Kampus

Frankly, you really can’t go wrong here. From the food, to the friendly service, to the bar offering, it’s not hard to see why this Manchester restaurant is the undisputed king of the Sunday roast – and then some.

Feature image – The Manc Eats