Where to find the best Sunday roast dinner in Lincoln

The Pyewipe Inn

The Pyewipe Inn is our favourite place for a Sunday roast in Lincoln when the sun is shining. Think beer garden by the riverside with good company, a hearty plate of food and a refreshing pint of ale.

You can take a lovely walk along the Fossdyke Canal to the Pyewipe, which takes about 40 minutes from the Brayford waterfront. If you’d rather drive, it’s very easy to reach just off the A46 Lincoln bypass on the west of the city, and there’s plenty of parking space.

Dogs are welcome inside and out. We especially like bringing our boy Regan to the beer garden here as he’s quite gangly, and there is a lot of space for him to spread out.

The choice of Sunday dinners at The Pyewipe is typically beef or nut roast. It’s often the case that when a restaurant does only one or two options, the quality is higher, and that’s definitely the case here – the roast beef at The Pyewipe is the best we’ve tried anywhere in Lincoln.

You can have it cooked to your liking if you ask, but the default is juicy and pink in the middle, which is just perfect for us! It’s served with roasties, a big yorkie, plus mash and vegetables.

Horse & Groom

The Horse & Groom is one of three pubs in Lincoln that are part of the Ever So Sensible chain, with the others being the Royal William IV and the Duke William. The Ferry Boat in Washingborough (a nearby village) is also part of the chain.

The menus at each of these pubs are similar, but not identical. They’re also kept updated regularly and there are always different specials on the board. It’s nice to have a fresh choice on each visit.

We brought our friends to the Horse & Groom for a Sunday roast in Lincoln when they visited over a weekend. The place has a nice, warm vibe for socialising, and it’s also dog friendly inside, so it fit the bill perfectly for what we needed.

I didn’t hesitate to order the slow-roasted lamb. I often go for lamb when I see it on a menu, as we rarely cook it at home. The plate that arrived wasn’t the most photogenic, but that didn’t matter, as the meat was superb. The lamb was presented in a compressed ball, which came apart with the most delicate touch of a fork, and it was deliciously tender to taste.

Lisa had the garlic and thyme roast chicken, while one of our friends had the pork belly and crackling, which were both cooked just right as well. It’s a bonus that the roasts at the Horse & Groom come with braised red cabbage, which you don’t always see, and the roast potatoes are lovely and flavoursome too.

The Swan Holme

The Swan Holme has the feel of a country pub by the lakeside, while still being very close to Lincoln, about 3 miles outside the city centre. It is nestled next to the Swanholme Lakes, a nature reserve connected to Hartsholme Country Park. So, if you’re looking somewhere for a Sunday roast followed by a scenic walk in Lincoln, this is your place.

Ambience-wise, the Swan Holme is somewhere between homely village pub and gastropub. There are some lovely gardens outside where you can sit in the sunshine. The bar area is dog friendly, and they have dog treats and water bowls as you enter, so it’s somewhere we like to come with Regan.

We have eaten at the Swan Holme several times, and from our experience, their roasts are the best thing they do. It’s always around the top of our list if we want to go to a destination pub on a good-weather weekend.

A couple of years ago we came for a Christmas dinner here with Lisa’s parents, which was fabulous. More recently, when Lisa had a weekend away in London, I came back here with her parents for a Sunday roast.

There are the classic cuts of meat to choose from, or you can order a trio of beef sirloin, pork belly and turkey breast. Rump of lamb is another tantalising option on the menu, and the vegetarian option is a root vegetable wellington.

I am very partial to pork belly, so I ordered that, while Lisa’s parents opted for the turkey, safe in the knowledge that it was perfectly cooked here when we came at Christmas. The pork belly had just the right balance of tenderness and crispiness, finished off with a mouth-watering strip of crackling. We all had the same trimmings, including tasty roast potatoes and parsnips, a large Yorkshire, and plenty of veg.

The Swan Holme is always very popular, so try and book well in advance if you can.

Woodcocks

Woodcocks is another pub-restaurant and hotel by the waters of the Fossdyke Canal just outside Lincoln. Situated within the Burton Waters marina village, it’s a little set back from the canal, so you don’t have the same waterside views as The Pyewipe – but it’s still a lovely setting. Outside there are spacious gardens, dining areas among a maze of flowerbeds, and a large children’s play area.

Woodcocks is part of the Marston’s chain that has hundreds of pubs and inns across the UK. You know what you are getting at a Marton’s; lots of choice on the menu, decent food and reasonable prices. The quality isn’t going to be the very best in town, but it’s a nice go-to for a cheap and cheerful meal out.

So, the Sunday roast at Woodcocks is one of the cheapest you’ll find in Lincoln, certainly the cheapest we’ve featured in this guide.

The Sunday roast menu has a simple choice of beef, turkey or half roast chicken. You can upgrade to large for a couple of quid, which gives you an additional slice of meat and extra trimmings. There are also vegan and vegetarian options, including spinach tart, meat-free sausages and cauliflower cheese tart.

You can add extra sides as well – we got a big plate of extra pigs in blankets to share with our table. If you want, you can walk if off afterwards with a stroll on the canal.

CASK Kitchen

What happens when coffee specialists create a dining experience? At CASK Kitchen in Lincoln, the answer is great food that is made with just as much passion as their reputable coffee.

This restaurant and bar is run by local coffee aficionados Seven Districts, and its location is one of our favourite uphill spots in the city. When the sun is shining, you can head up to the rooftop terrace to enjoy premium views of both Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle.

In September 2024, CASK Kitchen launched a new food menu and introduced a Sunday roast offering. We went along to try it out thanks to a gifted meal from the Seven Districts team.

There are four roasts to choose from at CASK: topside of beef, herb-stuffed porcetta, lemon and rosemary chicken, and vegan garlic and thyme nut roast. We tried out the beef and porcetta.

Roast beef can be very hit and miss at pubs and restaurants; not many places do it well. But CASK Kitchen’s beef topside is pink, tender and succulent, without any hint of chewiness. This was a real highlight for us, and the porcetta didn’t disappoint either.

You won’t leave CASK Kitchen hungry, as the roast portions are very generous. If you do have room for dessert, the pistachio frangipane and eton mess are both outstanding.

CASK Kitchen is also featured in our guide to the best breakfasts in Lincoln.

Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill

Hilton’s DoubleTree hotel overlooking the Brayford waterfront is the setting for Marco Pierre White Steakhouse. The restaurant is up on the 5th floor, with long windows across one side giving a lovely view over the water. Definitely ask for a window table when you book!

This steakhouse, bar and grill is the kind of place you might come for a special occasion. The first time I ever went out for dinner with Lisa’s family was more than a decade ago at Marco Pierre White for her parents’ wedding anniversary. More recently, we came here for a Mothers Day Sunday roast as well.

On the same floor as the steakhouse there’s also a cocktail bar called The Electric Bar. We tend to arrive early for our lunch reservations, which is convenient in this case as you can warm up with a pre-dinner cocktail in the bar.

The Sunday roast menu has a choice of beef sirloin, pork loin or chicken breast. Best of all, you can just order “Marco’s mixed roast” and have all three! Which makes it almost like a posh carvery. You can also order your roast dinner as part of a set menu with two or three courses.

The quality of meat served at Marco Pierre White is a cut above most places, and worth paying that little extra for if you’re looking for a treat. Little touches often make the difference, and I love that you get pigs in blankets with a roast here. Other trimmings include roasties, Yorkshire puddings, sage and onion stuffing, braised red cabbage, peas, and Madeira roasting juices.

The Railway Inn, Thorpe on the Hill

The small countryside villages around Lincoln are often where you will find the most welcoming pubs that serve the very best Sunday dinners. The Railway Inn at Thorpe on the Hill is just such a place.

There is no nonsense or pretentiousness about the Railway Inn. It doesn’t try to be a gastropub or put on a boutique facade. It’s simply a warm and homely village pub where friendliness is the main currency.

We tried the carvery at the Railway Inn and booked a table with our friends in its outdoor marquee. The service was personable all the way, right down to the kitchen staff bringing me an extra bowlful of horseradish sauce when I’d run out.

The carvery is reasonably priced, with options for small, regular or large. I went for the large of course, and when I couldn’t quite finish it, the staff wrapped up my leftover meat to take home. You can pay a fiver extra for dessert but we were way too full for that!

We were impressed with the tenderness and flavour of the meat, and the veg portions were super generous. I liked that cheesy leeks were served with the veggies, as it’s nice to have something a little different.

The Railway Inn is about a 15-minute drive from Lincoln, a journey that we’re more than happy to make for our fill of carvery and cordiality.

The Stags Head

If you walk up Bailgate in uphill Lincoln, under Newport Arch and keep going straight for a few minutes into the leafy suburbs, you’ll reach The Stags Head on your right. You can’t miss the huge building, which has been a pub for more than half a century.

The vibe at The Stags Head is somewhere between down-to-earth village pub and gastropub. The place has become renowned for its good food, with a refined menu of locally sourced dishes that come neatly presented, but on Sundays it’s all about the carvery.

You might describe this as a “proper” carvery, with generous slices of meat and a self-serve buffet of all the trimmings. See how much you can pile on one plate!

The format is familiar; small, medium or large, which equates to one, two or three meats. However, when I ordered the large and handed my ticket over to the chef, he asked if I’d like a bit of all four – beef, turkey, pork, gammon. Of course I did!

This is a quality carvery and you certainly won’t be left hungry. It does get busy on Sundays so make sure you book ahead, or at the very least arrive early. I went for lunch with Lisa’s parents at midday, and it wasn’t long until the whole place was packed out – a lively and enjoyable vibe, with the local football team in for their post-match meal.

Dogs are allowed in the bar area, but not in the restaurant, so make sure you specify when booking at The Stags Head if you’re bringing a dog. There’s also a pool table in the pub area, which you don’t see so often these days!