Four restaurants in Greater Manchester have made it onto a top 10 list of the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
A city centre favourite managed to nab joint second place, while the suburbs were represented from Sale to Stalybridge.
Hawksmoor, Greens, Maray and Gladstone Bistro all managed to make it onto this year’s Rate Good Roasts list and have been crowned among the best Sunday roasts in the UK.
The Rate Good Roasts panel sampled more than 200 Sunday dinners across the country, assessing them on everything from meat to venue to value for money.
While the top spot was snagged by The Abbey Inn in North Yorkshire, Greater Manchester absolutely dominated the rest of the list.
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Hawksmoor snuck into joint second place, retaining its local title (awarded by us…) as the king of the Sunday roast.
The Deansgate steak restaurant is famed for its perfectly-cooked roast beef rump, served alongside beef-dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, roasted carrots, buttered greens, roasted garlic, and bone marrow gravy.
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Hawksmoor Manchester’s Sunday roast ranked joint second on the Rate Good Roasts list for 2024. Credit: The Manc GroupMaray’s Sunday roast was also named one of the best by Rate Good Roasts for Greater Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
In joint fifth was Stalybridge’s Gladstone Barber & Bistro, which is, as the name suggests, part barbershop and part restaurant.
They said they were ‘over the moon’ with placing fifth on the Rate Good Roasts list for this year.
They wrote: “You all know how much we love our roast, and how much this means to us as a team… A massive thank you to the guys at @rategoodroasts and to all of you for your continued support.”
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Then in sixth place was Simon Rimmer’s Greens restaurant in Sale, with the list being announced just hours before he announced the closure of its sister site in Didsbury.
The vegetarian restaurant wrote: “Well we are absolutely buzzing to be listed as number 6 by @rategoodroasts for our roasts in the UK!! Especially when we were against some great non-veggie roasts. Thanks guys!!”
And finally representing Greater Manchester’s Sunday roast scene was Maray in Manchester, ranking in 10th place.
The Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant on Lincoln Square serves twists on classics, like roast beef picanha; lemon, za’tar and saffron-roasted chicken; or a spiced chickpea nut roast, all served with crispy fenugreek potatoes, roast carrots, parsnips, butternut squash tershi, Yorkshire puds and thick delicious gravy.
Rate Good Roasts’ Chief Eating officer, Tom Casson commented: “There’s something romantic about a Sunday Roast. It’s an event.
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“Whether its an opportunity to see old friends or a family celebration of some kind. You don’t want to be let down. As an adult it almost feels like you are going out, out on a Sunday.
“You want a stand out dish on the specials board (a lamb or a porchetta and a creative main option for our veggie or vegans friends). Personally I want the Yorkshire Puddings big enough to act as a vessel for the gravy. Potatoes need to be in that sweet Venn diagram spot of fluffy and crispy.”
The cosy Peak District pub serving a pick’n’mix sausage and mash menu
Daisy Jackson
There’s a Peak District pub that’s turned one of Britain’s most beloved comfort foods into a full-on pick’n’mix.
Tucked away in the postcard-perfect village of Castleton, Ye Olde Nags Head is serving up a fully customisable menu of sausage and mash dishes.
We’re talking near-endless combinations of proper pub grub.
You start by choosing your sausages from a daily rotating selection (not a sentence you hear every day, but we’re into it).
Expect classics like Cumberland alongside more adventurous options like venison and mustard, or even wild boar and orange, plus a veggie sausage daily.
Then it’s onto the mash – you can go for flavours like cheese and onion, wholegrain mustard, or even black pudding mash.
Classic cumberland, mustard mash, and mushroom sauceVeggie sausage with cheese and onion mash and classic gravyTucking in
To finish? A choice of rich, hearty gravies and sauces to bring it all together, whether that’s a classic onion gravy, a peppercorn sauce, or a creamy wild mushroom sauce.
And if that wasn’t enough, you can even upgrade your bangers and mash pick’n’mix by having it all served inside a giant Yorkshire pudding.
Ye Olde Nags Head is a historic 17th-century pub, with a roaring fire in every room and cosy bedrooms upstairs.
Inside Ye Olde Nags Head pub in the Peak DistrictYe Olde Nags Head pub is near Mam Tor
It’s one of those flagstone-floored, beamed-ceilinged, mismatched-furniture type pubs that welcomes everyone in every state, whether you’re caked in mud from a hike or popping in on a coach tour.
Another of the pub’s specialties is the Derbyshire Breakfast, a hearty plate of sausage, smoked bacon, black pudding, free range egg, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread.
The pub also offers takeaway breakfast butties, so you can use it for both a pre-hike stop and a post-hike pint.
Given it’s just minutes from the ever-popular Mam Tor hike, this is one pub you’ll definitely want to add to your next Peak District day out itinerary.
The hillside farm in the Peak District making its own ice cream
Daisy Jackson
Did you know there’s a 300-year-old farm in the Peak District serving up some of the freshest ice cream you’ll ever taste? And yes, you can meet the cows that made it while you’re there.
Welcome to Hope Valley Ice Cream, a family-run gem where things are kept refreshingly simple: happy cows, proper farming, and seriously good ice cream.
Set in the heart of the Peak District countryside, this place is about as wholesome as it gets.
The ice cream is made on-site in the farmhouse, literally just metres from where the dairy herd are out grazing.
You can watch the animals, wander around the farm, and then tuck into a scoop or three perched on a milk pail stool, or a picnic bench (or even a decorative tractor).
Hope Valley Ice Cream has some amazing seasonal ice creams, like lemon curd, elderflower, and blackberry, alongside all the classics and a rather delicious tiramisu.
You can grab a cone, sit down with a coffee (again, made with milk from the nearby cows), or go all in with a freshly-made waffle if you’re feeling fancy.
Takeaway tubs from Hope Valley Ice CreamYou can get a mini pail of ice creamMeet the newborn calves at Hope Valley Ice CreamTuck into your ice cream on a milk pail stoolHope Valley Ice Cream
And if you’re the type who really loves ice cream? You can actually order a full pail of it, with four huge scoops plus whipped cream and sauce.
The farm itself is run by the Marsden family, who’ve been working this land for generations. It shows in everything – they’ve created a place that feels genuinely welcoming, not just another tourist stop.
Beyond the ice cream, you’ve got plenty of reasons to stick around. There are calves (including the newest tiny arrivals), plus donkeys and pigs to say hello to.
Whether you’re heading out on a hike or just fancy a drive into the Peaks, this is one pitstop that’s absolutely worth it – and honestly, it’s worth the trip on its own.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd January 2024 
