Sunday roast
What it really means
A big traditional lunch served in pubs and homes on Sundays: roast meat (beef, chicken, lamb or pork), roast potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Popular pubs get fully booked, so reserve a table.
Context, tips & common mistakes
The Sunday roast is a weekly institution: meat, roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding (originally beef's partner, now served with everything, and nobody objects). Pubs serve it roughly midday to late afternoon on Sundays only — popular places book out days ahead, and kitchens genuinely do run out of the good stuff by mid-afternoon, so book, and go earlier rather than later.
Useful variants: a carvery is the budget self-service version where staff carve and you load the plate once; vegetarian and vegan roasts are standard menu items now, not special requests; and 'roast dinner' at Christmas is the same format upgraded with a turkey and trimmings. If invited to someone's home for Sunday roast, that is a warm gesture — bring wine or dessert and expect to be there most of the afternoon.