Let's be honest. Sunday roasts are almost always better at home.
The potatoes never have the crisp levels you're after. Not salty enough. The meat feels like an afterthought - grey slices of something that was once a chicken, drowned in gravy that's doing all the heavy lifting. You pay £22 for the privilege of being mildly disappointed in a pub that's somehow both too warm and too draughty.
And yet. There is nothing more British and cosy than going to the pub on a Sunday with your friends. Overeating to see off the weekend. That second pint you probably didn't need. The collective agreement that nobody's doing anything productive after this.
The problem isn't the tradition. The tradition is perfect. The problem is that most pubs treat the chicken like a supporting character in its own meal.
We found the places that don't.
The Rotisserie Picks
These aren't pub roasts. These are restaurants that have made rotisserie chicken their entire personality - and they're better for it.
FOWL
St James's, SW1
“Beak-to-feet chicken from the Fallow team. Chicken skin fries. Sutton Hoo birds. This is chicken taken seriously.”
From the team behind Fallow - the restaurant that made corn ribs a thing - FOWL is their love letter to chicken. The entire menu is poultry, beak to feet. Soy-free, pasture-raised Sutton Hoo birds, roasted twice as long as standard and raised on regenerative farms. The rotisserie chicken comes with crisp potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal veg, and rich gravy. But it's the sides that make this place: chicken salt fries, karaage, wings dusted with bonito flakes.
The schnitzel with Thai yellow curry, lime, and coconut is genuinely excellent if you want to go off-piste from the roast.
If you want something more elevated, Fallow itself does a whole rotisserie chicken for two at £65 - Sutton Hoo bird, Yorkshire pudding, glazed carrots, buttered swede, and proper gravy. Date-night roast territory.
Order this: Rotisserie Sutton Hoo chicken, chicken salt fries, and if you're sharing - the schnitzel
Best for: When you want a Sunday roast from people who actually care about the bird
Norbert's
East Dulwich, SE22
“Ex-Lyle's team. 16 seats. No bookings. Piña coladas while you wait. £18 half bird. This is the one.”
John Ogier (Lyle's, The Marksman) and Jack Coghlan (Lyle's, Planque) opened Norbert's with a simple pitch: "Super delicious chicken at a price point that works." Sixteen seats. Walk-ins only. A rotisserie wall. Half a chicken for £18.
The bird is glossy, juicy, and unshowy. Pepper butter sauce and gravy - both exceptional. Chicken-fat potatoes, golden and tender. A green salad that's actually properly dressed. That's it. No gimmicks.
The piña coladas while you queue are a genuine touch of genius. There's also a mini margarita with a chicken-salt rim that has no right being as good as it is. If the wait's long, nip to Drop wine bar next door.
Order this: Half chicken, pepper butter sauce, chicken-fat potatoes, mini margarita
Best for: A Sunday with no plan except eating very well for under £30
Hendl
Hackney, E8
“Rotisserie residency inside a brewery. Harissa, nduja hot honey, aji verde glazes. Pick your poison.”
From the team behind Peck Peck, Hendl is a rotisserie residency inside Hackney Church Brew Co. The chicken is brined for four hours, slow-roasted, and served with your choice of glaze: harissa (smoked red chilli, cumin, coriander), nduja hot honey, aji verde, or their award-winning Peck Peck buffalo sauce. They also do a proper gravy - roasted chicken jus, caramelised onion, thyme, white wine.
It's a brewery, so the beers are brewed on-site. Rotisserie chicken and craft beer in a converted church - this is peak Sunday.
They also do Sunday roasts and porchetta if you're going with a group who can't agree.
Order this: Whole bird with harissa glaze, proper gravy, a pint of whatever's fresh
Best for: The Sunday session that starts at lunch and ends at dinner
Harley's Butchery & Rotisserie
Hampstead, NW3
“From the team behind Brat. Galician corn-fed birds. Specialist rotisserie kit. Butchered on-site.”
Butcher Ollie Harley, from the team behind Ibai (and meat suppliers to Brat), opened this in Hampstead and it's exactly what it sounds like: a proper butcher's shop with a rotisserie spinning in the window. Galician corn-fed chicken, marinated in a secret recipe, basted in its own jus, and turned on specialist rotisserie kit. Whole bird £27.50, half for £13.75.
The coronation chicken sandwich (yoghurt dressing, Bombay mix, coriander, £12.95) is an absurdly good lunch. Rotisserie potatoes for £3.95. Chicken gravy £2.25. These are sane prices for this postcode.
The fact that they butcher on-site means the quality is a level above. You can see the birds, you can smell them turning. No surprises.
Order this: Half rotisserie chicken with rotisserie potatoes and gravy
Best for: Hampstead walks followed by the best takeaway chicken in NW London
Toum
Mayfair, W1
“Lebanese rotisserie in Mayfair. 12-hour brine. 24-hour air dry. The chicken jus is borderline addictive.”
Toum is the one everyone's talking about right now, and for good reason. Tarek and Monika Farah (of Aline) have brought Lebanese rotisserie to Maddox Street, and the process is meticulous: chickens are brined in herbs for 12 hours, air-dried for another 24, then roasted on a state-of-the-art Rotisol oven until the skin is golden and shattering.
The chicken jus is what separates Toum from everywhere else - get it on everything. You've also got chimichurri and Café de Paris butter as sauce options. Start with the musakhan rolls (flatbread, sumac onions, roast chicken), then go half bird with toum - the garlic sauce that gives the place its name.
The room is beautiful too: burgundy walls, soft yellow counters, Beirut-bistro energy. There's a cocktail bar called Encore in the basement if Sunday gets out of hand.
Order this: Half rotisserie chicken with toum and chicken jus, musakhan rolls to start
Best for: The Sunday that looks as good on Instagram as it tastes in person
Cocotte
Notting Hill, Shoreditch, S. Ken + more
“French rotisserie. £10 quarter chicken. Six locations. 24-hour marinade. The nduja sauce is a must.”
If the rest of this list is for special Sundays, Cocotte is for every Sunday. French-born Romain Bourrillon opened his first spot in 2016, and there are now six across London - Notting Hill, Shoreditch, South Kensington, Parsons Green, Queen's Park, and Richmond. The formula is tight: rotisserie chicken marinated for 24 hours, served with your choice of sides and sauces.
Quarter chicken for £10. The Cheeky Box (quarter chicken, two sides, two sauces) for £16. A whole bird for £27. These are prices that make rotisserie chicken a weekly habit, not a treat.
The nduja sauce is the move - spicy, rich, and it makes the chicken sing. Truffle fries if you're feeling indulgent. It's not going to change your life, but it's consistently good chicken at a fair price, and there's almost certainly one near you.
Order this: Cheeky Box with nduja sauce and truffle fries
Best for: The regular Sunday rotisserie - good, affordable, and five minutes from your flat
Bébé Bob
Soho, W1
“From the Bob Bob Ricard family. Vendée chicken. Chicken-fat roasties. Yorkshire pudding. And yes, there's a champagne button.”
The younger sibling of Bob Bob Ricard, and yes - there's still a "Press for Champagne" button. Bébé Bob centres its entire menu around two things: chicken and caviar. The Sunday roast is the main event: half a Vendée chicken from the Pays de la Loire, chicken-dripping Yorkshire pudding, chicken-fat roast potatoes, honey-roasted parsnips and carrots.
You can choose between Vendée or Landaise chicken from Gascony. Both are corn-fed, French, and leagues ahead of the standard pub bird.
This is the glossy, champagne-fuelled Sunday that Instagram was made for. Is it the best value on this list? No. Is it the most fun? Possibly.
Order this: The Vendée chicken Sunday roast, and press the button at least once
Best for: The celebratory Sunday - birthdays, promotions, or just because
The Pub Roasts
For when you want the full Sunday experience: a pub, a pint, and a roast. These are the ones that actually get the chicken right.
Temper
Soho, W1
“Wood-fired, brined, smoked. A six-metre fire pit in the basement. This is not your average pub chicken.”
Temper is technically a steakhouse, but their Sunday roast chicken is a genuine contender. The bird is brined to keep it moist, then smoked over wood for a subtle char. It arrives with crispy beef-fat potatoes, giant Yorkshire puddings, honey-glazed carrots, and a 16-hour gravy that's been reducing since Friday.
The setting matters too: a six-metre fire pit in the basement, open flames, and the smell of wood smoke. This is not a roast chicken that was reheated in a combi oven. At £28.50 with all the trimmings, it's fair value for Soho. There's also a bottomless wine option at £29pp for when Sunday gets ambitious.
Order this: Smoked Yorkshire chicken with chimichurri, all the trimmings, and the 16-hour gravy
Best for: The Soho Sunday roast that actually lives up to the price tag
The Tamil Crown
Islington, N1
“Indian Sunday roast. Masala chicken. Roti instead of Yorkshire pud. Curry gravy. This shouldn't work. It absolutely does.”
Here's where we go off-script. The Tamil Crown (from the Tamil Prince team) does an Indian Sunday roast that replaces everything you know with something better. Masala-roasted chicken. Roti instead of Yorkshire pudding. A gravy that's actually a curry sauce - warm, spiced, and significantly more interesting than anything from a Bisto packet.
The sides are where it gets really good: gobi 65 (deep-fried cauliflower in a spicy coating), coconut lentil cabbage, potato and green peas thokku, beetroot raita. Turmeric roast potatoes. At £28, it's a Sunday roast that makes you wonder why we've been doing it the same way for 200 years.
Fair warning: portions can run small for the price, and it's not going to scratch the traditional roast itch. But if you're bored of the same grey chicken and limp carrots every Sunday, this is the cure.
Order this: The masala roast chicken with ALL the sides. Get the gobi 65.
Best for: When you love the idea of Sunday roast but want something that actually surprises you
The Verdict
If you're going to leave the house on a Sunday - and that's a big if - these are the places worth getting dressed for. Toum is the hot ticket right now. Norbert's is the purist's choice. Cocotte is the one you'll actually go to every week. Hendl is Sunday in a brewery. Harley's is the Hampstead walk reward. Bébé Bob is the celebration. Temper is smoky and spectacular. And The Tamil Crown proves Sunday roast doesn't have to be British at all.
Our honest advice? Most Sundays, stay home. Roast your own bird. Get the potatoes properly crispy. Use more salt than you think you need.
But when you do go out? Go somewhere that treats the chicken like the star of the show.
All restaurants reviewed are in The Chicken Bible's database of 600+ chicken spots across London. Scores reflect our chicken-focused rating system. Find more on chickenbible.com →
Last updated: February 2026
