Gravy, Giant Yorkshires and the Great Trimmings Debate: Our Sunday Roast Manifesto

Let's be honest with each other for a moment: the Sunday roast is where a pub shows its true colours.

Anyone can serve a decent pint. Plenty of places can knock out a burger and chips. But a Sunday carvery? That's where the pretenders get found out. A bad roast is one of the great disappointments of British life — lukewarm meat carved hours ago, veg boiled into surrender, gravy from a granule. We've all had one. We've all quietly vowed never to return.

So what makes a proper one? Here's our manifesto, honed over a fair few Sundays.

Rule One: The Yorkshire Pudding Is Sacred

We'll die on this hill, and we'll be buried under it if necessary. A proper Yorkshire pudding should be tall, crisp and golden — a thing of beauty that stands proud on the plate, not a flat biscuit apologising for itself at the edge of the meal.

And no, it should not be rationed. One is never enough. At The Royal Oak, our Yorkshires are bottomless, because we believe a roast should be a proper blowout — the meal you think about on the drive home.

Rule Two: The Meat Must Be Carved in Front of You

A carvery without a carvery counter is just a reheated plate, and we won't hear otherwise. There's something reassuring about watching your meat being carved fresh — seeing the steam rise, hearing the knife go through properly roasted beef with a proper crust.

We rotate our roasts through the weeks: succulent topside of beef with all the trimmings, slow-roasted pork with crackling that actually crackles, turkey that hasn't seen the inside of a freezer bag, and a nut roast that even the committed carnivores on our team have been caught eyeing up.

Rule Three: Gravy Is Not a Condiment, It's a Commitment

Real gravy, made from the meat juices, poured generously. If you can see the plate between spoonfuls, someone hasn't done their job. We keep ours piping hot and always have a vegetarian option bubbling alongside — because everyone deserves a proper soaking.

Rule Four: The Veg Deserves Respect

Honey-roasted parsnips with actual caramelisation. Carrots that retain a hint of bite. Cauliflower cheese baked until it's golden on top. Creamy mash and crispy roasties — both, because choosing between them is a cruelty no Sunday should inflict.

And peas? We'll allow them. But we know they're not what you came for.

The Great Trimmings Debate

Now, here's where we want to hear from you. Every village has its divisions, and we suspect the Sunday roast reveals most of them:

• Mint sauce or horseradish with the beef? There is a correct answer.
• Stuffing with every roast, or only with chicken? We say every roast. Fight us in the comments.
• Gravy on everything, or a moat around the meat? Some of our regulars are surprisingly militant about this.
• Pigs in blankets — year-round indulgence or a Christmas-only treat?

Our kitchen team has been known to take these debates personally, in the best possible way. Last month, a gentle dispute over cauliflower cheese versus cauliflower in cheese sauce nearly caused a small constitutional crisis among the Sunday regulars. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Join Us This Sunday

Our Sunday carvery runs from 12pm, with sittings through the afternoon. Booking is genuinely wise — the village has caught on, and we'd hate for you to miss out on the crackling.

Come hungry. Come with opinions. Leave with a doggy bag if you've done it properly.

And when you're in — tell us your must-have trimmings. Drop a comment below or argue your case at the bar. The best suggestions might just end up on the counter next Sunday.

See you at the carvery.