Eight Sunday Roasts to Warm Your Belly in Melbourne's Inner South This Winter

If you prefer your Sunday roast paired with a top-notch beer or two, consider The Local Taphouse your destination of choice. The long-standing craft beer bar might be best known for its impressive tap rotation, but its kitchen is also serving up a mean roast feast each weekend. Available for both lunch and dinner, the menu changes up each Sunday — expect combinations like stuffed roast pork belly with pumpkin and cavolo nero, and roasted free-range chicken with caramelised baby onions and tarragon jus. It comes in at $25 a pop, and you can even add that week’s dessert match for an extra $5.

Image: The Local Taphouse

When it comes to classic pub feeds, this long-running neighbourhood favourite knows what’s what. And on Saturdays and Sundays, that means a generous helping of roasted meat paired with seasonal veggies and a Yorkshire pudding. The Palace Hotel’s roast offering changes up weekly, though no matter what meat’s on the roster, you can be certain of two things. One: there’ll be plenty of gravy. And, two: it’ll cost you just $28. To match your feed, you’ll find footy on the big screens, a diverse bunch of beers on tap and probably a few friendly hounds awaiting pats out in the beer garden.

Image: The Palace Hotel

This landmark corner pub is serving up a more modern riff on the vintage front bars of yesteryear. But it’s also slinging a weekday roast to rival the best of the oldies. If you’re craving a classic Sunday roast midweek then The Prince Public Bar’s kitchen is answering the fiercest of comfort food cravings with a roast starring premium cuts and all the trimmings plus a glass of wine or beer. The headlining protein rotates each week, while sides include the likes of Yorkshire pudding, roasted veg, crispy spuds and gravy.

Image: Prince Public Bar

When that weekend comfort food craving hits, you’ll find yourself in very good hands at this much-loved South Melbourne pub. The Montague will warm your cockles — and save you from dreaded dishes duty — with its Sunday roast which changes up weekly yet always clocks in at at $28. You might be in for some tender roast pork with crackling and apple sauce, or perhaps a slow-roasted lamb shoulder on minted pea puree finished with a pot of lamb jus. This one’s well worth making a regular pit stop.

Image: The Montague

The Village Belle is winning over locals with a whole swag of great weekly specials, though come Sunday lunch, it’s all about that traditional Mum-style roast. It’ll set you back a mere $29, for the likes of Flinders Island salt grass lamb, or roasted Hazeldenes free-range chicken, with an assortment of matched sides crafted on produce sourced from the St Kilda Community Garden. It’s all best enjoyed against the cosy backdrop of the old-meets-new public bar, where there’s footy on the big screens and live tunes to round out the weekend.

Image: Village Belle

Come down and have a taste of the Emerald Isle at The Fifth Province Irish Pub, a gastropub in the heart of St Kilda. Step inside and you’d think you’ve stepped into a pub along Shop Street in Galway or O’Connell Street in Dublin. There are framed old-school Guinness posters on the walls touting the old tagline “My Goodness, My Guinness”, plus a carefully crafted wine list, a specialised Irish cocktail menu and an array of local craft beers on tap — there are 14 taps on rotation.

On the food menu, you’ll find the lesser-known Irish lunch staple the chicken fillet roll alongside a braised beef and Guinness pie and a McDonnell’s chicken curry (McDonnell’s is the preferred curry powder in the land of saints and scholars). The local favourite is arguably the Sunday roast lunch. Every Sunday from 11am there’s a choice of two roast lunch options with all the trimmings — we’re talking mash, beef fat roast potato, roast veggies, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. No better way to end a weekend.

Roaring fire? Check. An expansive drinks list? Check. A proper hearty roast with a touch of modern flair, served all weekend long? Check. Yep, Albert Park’s contemporary gastropub The Bleakhouse is a surefire crowd-pleaser. Pull up a seat in one of the cosy booths and enjoy a $30 rotating ‘Proper Roast’ lunch (or dinner, if it hasn’t sold out) with all the trimmings, all weekend long. It could be pork belly with buttery mash and spiced quince, slow-cooked lamb leg sided with a Spanish tomato stew, or even duck a l’orange with caramelised onions and heirloom carrots. Plus, each week staff offer a recommended vino match from one of Australia’s top wine regions to enjoy by the glass or bottle.

Image: The Bleakhouse

Prince Alfred Hotel is committed to doing simple things really well by mastering the fundamentals of what makes a good pub experience. It promises a wide wine list with vinos that are interesting but not intimidating, crisp cold beer and food that looks as good as it tastes. Like any good neighbourhood gastropub, they have a schedule of events to suit everyone. Sunday is roast lunch day from 12–9pm (or until sold out). For $27 you’ll get a beautifully cooked roast (the type of cut rotates weekly) served with seasonal sides and house-made gravy. Not to be outdone, there’s also live acoustic music every Sunday from 3.30–6.30pm, line up a roast dinner and you’ve got an ideal Sunday arvo in Port Melbourne.