Feeding yourself on a weekend can be a struggle. I personally find it hard to make anything more strenuous than peanut butter toast. With the mercury dropping, we say ditch the dishes this weekend and pull up stumps at your favourite dining establishment for a proper feed, zero effort required. We’re talking a traditional roast with all the trimmings.
There are a few ways to tackle Brisbane’s best roast. There’s fancy new gastro-pubs, classic old-school affairs, and slow-cooked lamb shoulders at hipster-ish cafes. It’s all down to preference (and stomach space). Unfortunately, some of the best roast joints in the city have closed in recent years (think Statler & Waldorf and La Rotisserie). But there’s still some cracking roast dishes, if you know where to look.
Here’s our round-up of Brisbane’s best winter roasts. Yorkshire puds come at us.
The Alliance Hotel
Spring Hill
A total icon (and total crowd-pleaser), The Alliance Hotel’s award-winning fare is tough to pass up. Raising the roast bar with ALL of the meats on offer (including duck), one bite of their infamous suckling pig will bring a tear to your eye. Keep an eye out for their special monthly roast lunch specials.
The Servery
Woolloongabba
If you want some special roast action, then The Servery at Pearl Cafe is your answer. Choosing between the whole roasted duck, free range pork shoulder or the dry aged beef sirloin will be one of those really big life decisions. The salt-roasted spuds go down all right, and the Roast Room is even available for private functions.
Hatch & Co
Newstead
Not your traditional Sunday pub, but you can’t knock the meat here. Hatch & Co has been smashing it in Newstead for a while, and their slow-cooked lamb shoulder with lemon and herbs has become a bit of an urban legend. If you’re not digging the red meat, they also rosemary and garlic chargrilled chicken with paprika yogurt. Just like Nan used to make, eh?
Pony Dining
Brisbane CBD
A meat-lovers mecca, Pony Dining never fails to bring on the meaty sweats with their choice cuts. Everything’s cooked over the giant open coal pit and wood-fired grill. Top picks for a proper roast are the Berkshire Porchetta and the oyster cut lamb shoulder—both share plates (read: huge). The lamb in particular is insane: slow roasted for eight hours, weighing in at 1.2kg, and served with Moroccan spices and chimichurri. Check these guys out on the Eagle Street Pier.
Il Locale
Rosalie
Four words: Sardinian suckling pig feast. Il Locale in Rosalie does some insane roasts, and this one takes the cake. It’s for groups of six or more, and you need to give them three days notice. That gives the chefs time to find a whole baby suckling pig, and whip up a 3-course pork banquet. It’s $100 per person, but probably the most extravagant roast experience in Brisbane.
Pig n’ Whistle
Riverside
An oldie, but a goodie, it’s the Pig n’ Whistle. There’s a few of these around town, and they usually do a cracking British-style roast on Sundays. Yorkie puds, meaty gravy, the works. It’ll only set you back $15, which is a dead-set winter steel. Don’t expect gastro fanciness from this place – it’s pretty old-school. But the roast is on-point. What else would you expect? They’re English.
Had enough of Brisbane’s best Sunday roasts? Check out the best sustainable restaurants in the city.
Image credit: Michelle Jarni