Kent is particularly well served when it comes to Sunday lunch. The county’s mix of village pubs, historic inns, modern gastropubs and coastal restaurants means there is everything from a straightforward plate of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to more refined Sunday menus built around local produce and carefully sourced meat.
The places below are worth travelling for rather than simply being the nearest pub that happens to serve a roast. Some lean heavily into the traditional country-pub experience, while others take a more polished, restaurant-led approach. Prices and menus change seasonally, so it is always worth checking the latest Sunday offering before booking, particularly if you have your heart set on a particular meat or vegetarian option.
The Best Sunday Roasts in Kent
The Radnor Arms, Folkestone
The Radnor Arms brings a distinctly modern gastropub feel to Sunday lunch in Folkestone’s West End. Its food is built around British and Kentish produce, but the cooking is more contemporary than you might expect from a traditional pub roast, making it a good choice when you want the comfort of Sunday lunch without everything feeling too conventional.
The current sample Sunday menu includes 28-day-aged beef sirloin at around £23.50, Orchard Farm porchetta and chicken supreme at around £22, with a vegan roast at around £18.75. Roasts come with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with cauliflower cheese available separately. There is also a Sunday set menu if you would rather turn lunch into two or three courses.
The atmosphere is relaxed but polished, and Sunday service runs into the afternoon. It is popular enough that booking ahead is sensible, particularly around the traditional lunchtime rush.
The Three Chimneys, Biddenden
Few pubs on this list can compete with The Three Chimneys for history. The Biddenden inn has been serving the surrounding community for around 600 years and still feels like a proper Kent country pub, albeit one with an increasingly food-focused reputation and a strong emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.
The current Sunday menu includes roast sirloin of beef with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and rich gravy, alongside roast leg of lamb and roast loin of pork with Biddenden cider gravy. The wider menu also offers non-roast dishes for anyone in the group who wants something different.
The pub’s online Sunday menu currently lists the dishes without prices, so it is worth confirming the latest cost when booking. Sunday roasts are served from midday into the evening, and the combination of low beams, countryside surroundings and traditional cooking makes this one of the strongest choices for a classic rural Sunday lunch.
The Dove, Dargate
The Dove at Dargate is a more refined proposition, sitting in the countryside between Faversham, Canterbury and Whitstable. It still feels like a village gastropub, but the Sunday menu takes food seriously enough to make it a strong choice for birthdays, anniversaries or simply a lunch where the meal itself is the main event.
Current roast choices include treacle sirloin of beef at around £25, Kentish rump of lamb at £26, turkey at £22 and porchetta at £23. All are served with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables and gravy. Vegetarians and vegans are not treated as an afterthought either, with a beetroot and butternut squash Wellington currently offered at around £22 with roast potatoes, vegetables and vegan gravy.
Sunday food is served from midday until 4pm, and advance booking is highly advisable. This is one of the better choices in Kent if you want traditional roast elements delivered with a more restaurant-led approach.
The Rose & Crown, Sevenoaks
The Rose & Crown at Dunton Green gives West Kent a dependable traditional pub option without requiring a long drive into the countryside. It has the familiar ingredients of a comfortable Sunday pub: rustic interiors, seasonal pub food, a garden for warmer months and the sort of relaxed atmosphere that works equally well for couples and family groups.
The Sunday menu includes traditional roast meats with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire pudding and red wine gravy. A vegetarian and vegan nut roast is currently around £17.95, while meat roasts sit higher depending on the cut available that week. Unlimited gravy is also part of the Sunday offering.
Roasts are available from midday, and the pub is particularly appealing through autumn and winter when the more traditional interior comes into its own. It is a useful choice if you want a familiar, unfussy Sunday lunch in the Sevenoaks area rather than a tasting-menu-style gastropub experience.
The Plough Inn, Stalisfield
The Plough Inn sits deep in the Kent countryside near Faversham and is exactly the sort of place that suits a Sunday drive or walk followed by lunch. The emphasis is on home-cooked British food and local ingredients, with a menu that changes seasonally rather than remaining fixed throughout the year.
Current Sunday roasts include dry-aged rump of beef at around £20.50, free-range chicken at £18.50 and Orchard Farm pork belly at £19.50. A butternut squash nut roast is available at around £17.50. The roasts are served with seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes, with Yorkshire pudding included where appropriate.
The atmosphere is comfortably rural rather than formal, which makes The Plough particularly good for families and walkers who want good food without feeling they need to dress for the occasion. Sunday lunch is popular, so booking ahead is sensible, especially for larger tables.
The Print House, Tenterden
The Print House feels more like a contemporary British inn than a conventional village pub, sitting in the heart of Tenterden with a dining room that gives Sunday lunch a slightly more polished edge. Local and seasonal produce plays a major role across the menu, with meat sourced from British and regional farms wherever possible.
The current sample Sunday menu lists roast half chicken at around £19.95 and striploin of beef at around £23.95, served with roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Vegetarian diners can choose from the wider Sunday menu, which currently includes dishes such as grilled mushroom with creamy polenta rather than relying solely on a traditional nut roast.
Sunday roasts are served from midday until around 4.30pm, after which the à la carte menu takes over. The location is another advantage: lunch can easily be combined with a walk through Tenterden, independent shopping or a longer visit to the surrounding wine country.
The Woolpack Inn, Warehorne
The Woolpack Inn is a 16th-century country inn on the edge of Romney Marsh, surrounded by the sort of landscape that makes a long Sunday lunch feel entirely appropriate. Inside, the pub retains plenty of historic character while the kitchen takes a more modern, seasonal approach to British pub food.
The current Sunday menu includes 32-day-aged grass-fed roast beef at around £23.50, Orchard Farm pork at around £22 and a vegetarian pie at around £20. Roasts are served with roast potatoes, carrots, greens, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with cauliflower cheese available as an additional side.
Sunday food is served from midday until late afternoon. The Woolpack is particularly appealing if you want to combine lunch with a walk across Romney Marsh or make the pub part of a weekend exploring this quieter part of Kent. Booking is recommended, especially during colder months when tables beside the fire become understandably popular.
The Hampton Inn, Herne Bay
The Hampton Inn brings something different to a list dominated by countryside pubs: sea views. Sitting on the western side of Herne Bay, it looks towards the coast and provides the sort of Sunday setting where you can follow lunch with a long walk along the seafront.
The pub has a strong reputation locally for generous traditional roasts, with recent Sunday diners highlighting beef and turkey accompanied by roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and a substantial selection of vegetables. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are also a regular part of the pub’s wider food offering.
The Hampton currently publishes its standard lunch menu rather than a dedicated priced Sunday roast menu online, so it is worth checking the day’s roast choices and price directly when booking. The pub itself recommends reservations, and Sunday lunch can become particularly busy. If location matters as much as the plate itself, this is one of the strongest coastal options in the guide.
The Bridge Arms, Bridge
The Bridge Arms near Canterbury sits firmly towards the more refined end of Kent’s Sunday-lunch spectrum. The historic village pub has a serious food-led reputation, with menus centred around seasonal British produce and cooking that moves comfortably beyond the conventions of standard pub food.
Sunday roasts vary with the season, but recent menus have included dry-aged sirloin with horseradish, slow-roasted pork belly and a vegetarian roasted celeriac option, accompanied by carefully prepared roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The wider restaurant is priced above the typical country pub, with its current overall dining price bracket sitting above £40 per person once multiple courses are taken into account.
Sunday food is served from midday until around 5pm. This is the place to choose when you want Sunday lunch to feel like a proper dining occasion rather than simply a large roast dinner. Booking well in advance is strongly recommended.
The Cow Shed at The Ship Inn, Ospringe
The Cow Shed at The Ship Inn near Faversham takes a much less formal approach. This is about hearty portions, a relaxed pub atmosphere and the sort of traditional Sunday lunch that works well for families, groups of friends and anyone who values generosity over delicate presentation.
The current roast selection includes sage-and-onion stuffed chicken at around £18, crispy pork belly at around £21 and slow-cooked beef brisket at approximately £26. A vegetarian roast is also offered at around £18. The roasts come with garlic and rosemary potatoes, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, leeks and Yorkshire pudding, with additional sides available.
The pub makes a point of catering for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free requirements and has a distinctly informal, family-friendly atmosphere. It is a useful choice if you want a substantial Sunday roast without the price or formality of one of Kent’s higher-end gastropubs.
Which Kent Sunday Roast Should You Choose?
There is no single style of Sunday roast across these pubs, so the best choice depends on whether you are looking for traditional atmosphere, a special meal or somewhere convenient for a family lunch.
- For a traditional country pub: The Three Chimneys or The Plough Inn.
- For a more refined Sunday lunch: The Bridge Arms or The Dove.
- For a modern gastropub: The Radnor Arms.
- For a coastal setting: The Hampton Inn.
- For a countryside lunch and walk: The Woolpack Inn or The Plough Inn.
- For a relaxed family roast: The Cow Shed at The Ship Inn.
- For West Kent: The Rose & Crown at Sevenoaks.
- For combining lunch with a town visit: The Print House in Tenterden.
- For vegetarian choice: The Dove, Radnor Arms and The Plough all currently offer dedicated meat-free roast options.
How Much Does a Sunday Roast Cost in Kent?
Across the pubs in this guide, a traditional Sunday roast generally sits somewhere from the high teens to the mid-£20s per person. Vegetarian roasts can start at around £17.50 to £19, while premium cuts such as aged beef or lamb at more food-focused pubs commonly reach around £23 to £26.
The final bill can rise quickly if Sunday lunch turns into a longer afternoon. Starters at the more refined gastropubs commonly sit around £9 to £14, desserts around a similar level, and sides such as cauliflower cheese, pigs in blankets or additional vegetables can add another £4 to £8. Drinks and discretionary service charges also make a substantial difference.
Higher-end restaurants such as The Bridge Arms should be approached as a broader dining experience rather than compared directly with a straightforward £18 pub roast. Equally, paying a little more at places such as The Dove or Radnor Arms often reflects the sourcing, preparation and wider restaurant experience as much as the quantity of food on the plate.
Should You Book a Sunday Roast in Kent in Advance?
For most of the pubs in this guide, yes. Sunday lunch remains one of the busiest services of the week, with the most popular period generally falling between midday and around 2.30pm. Country pubs with relatively small dining rooms can fill particularly quickly during autumn and winter.
Booking is even more important if you have a large group, need a dog-friendly table or have specific dietary requirements. Letting the pub know in advance gives the kitchen a much better chance of accommodating vegetarian, vegan or allergy-related requests properly.
It is also worth remembering that roast choices can sell out later in the day. If you are specifically travelling for roast beef, lamb or another particular option, an early booking gives you a better chance of getting the dish you want rather than choosing from whatever remains towards the end of service.
Menus, prices and serving times change regularly, particularly at pubs working closely with seasonal local produce. Check the current Sunday menu before travelling and book ahead where possible. Once that is done, all that remains is deciding whether you are going to order the cauliflower cheese as well.