The Nan Test: Stapleford's Sunday Roasts, Ranked by Gravy and Goodwill
Sunday lunch in Stapleford is not really a competition. It is a ritual: the slow walk to the pub, the argument about whether to have pork or beef, the blessed quiet when the plate lands. But give a hungry team a scorecard and a reason to bicker, and suddenly it is the most important meal of the week. So we did the difficult work. Four Sundays. Five plates. One very serious question: would you bring your nan and your mates?
This is not a Michelin guide. We are not counting jus dots or asking whether the carrots were foraged. We are asking whether the Yorkshire pudding held its shape, whether the gravy justified a second jug, whether the welcome was warm enough to make you stay for pudding, and whether the bill made you wince. It is the Sunday Roast League, Stapleford edition, and yes, you are invited to argue with us.
How we scored it
Every venue was visited on a Sunday, unannounced, by two adults and one child who believes Yorkshire puddings are a food group. We scored six things out of ten: Yorkshire pudding, gravy, meat and veg, welcome, value, and the nan-and-mates factor. That last one is unscientific but crucial. Could you bring your nan without worrying about step-free access or a noisy corner? Could you bring your mates without feeling like you had crashed a wedding?
We are not naming staff or making anyone's grandma cry. This is a warm-hearted ranking, not a demolition derby. If your favourite lands low, remember that taste is personal, gravy is emotional, and the comment section is open.
The contenders
The Canal Bridge
The Canal Bridge has the advantage of being exactly where you want to be on a grey Sunday: near water, with a fire doing its best. The beef was pink enough to please the table and the Yorkshire was properly puffed, though one of our party described the gravy as 'polite'. Polite gravy is fine. Polite gravy is not a second-jug gravy. The welcome was excellent, the child was offered a smaller plate without being made to feel like a nuisance, and the bill was reasonable for what landed. Nan-friendly, mate-friendly, and likely to be heaving by 1pm. Book ahead.
Score: 7.5/10
The Old Forge
This was the surprise of the month. The Old Forge does not shout about its Sunday lunch, which is either modesty or a cunning trap. The pork came with proper crackling, the cauliflower cheese was not an afterthought, and the gravy had body. Actual body. The kind of gravy that makes you stop mid-sentence. The room was busy without being frantic, and the staff seemed genuinely pleased to see us, which sounds like a low bar until you have eaten in places where they are not. The Yorkshire was slightly pale on top but had a good, crisp base. We would return.
Score: 8/10
The Wheatsheaf
A proper pub roast. No foam, no micro-herbs, no nonsense. The Wheatsheaf gave us a plate that looked like Sunday should look: full, hot, and slightly too much. The lamb was tender, the red cabbage was a happy surprise, and the gravy was generous enough that we did not have to ask. The only wobble was the Yorkshire, which had clearly been sitting around and had developed the personality of a carpet tile. Everything else was so solid that we forgave it. Bring your mates, bring your dad, bring an appetite. Do not bring anyone who insists on a quiet room.
Score: 7/10
The Library Kitchen
The Library Kitchen sits in that useful category of café that does a Sunday plate without pretending to be a carvery. It is bright, calm and easy for anyone with a buggy or a walking stick. The roast chicken was lovely, the vegetables were properly cooked rather than steamed into submission, and the Yorkshire pudding was homemade. The gravy, however, was thin. Not bad. Just thin. We wanted it to cling to the potato and it sort of waved at it instead. Still, the welcome was warm, the price was fair, and the cake counter afterwards is a genuine hazard. A good shout if you want Sunday lunch without the pub roar.
Score: 6.5/10
The Red Lion
We wanted to love this one. The Red Lion has the sort of dark wood and worn carpet that makes you feel like Sunday lunch has been happening here since before you were born. The beef was excellent. The roast potatoes were excellent. The Yorkshire was excellent. And then the gravy arrived in a tiny jug, which was empty by the time we had dealt with one half of the plate. We asked for more. It came. It was also tiny. By the time we had finished, we were rationing. Service was friendly but stretched, and the room was loud enough that our nan would have needed a lip-reader. Great food, frustrating finish. We would go again, but we would ask for a jug the size of a pint glass.
Score: 6/10
The scorecard
| Venue | Yorkshire | Gravy | Meat and veg | Welcome | Value | Nan and mates | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Old Forge | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8/10 |
| The Canal Bridge | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7.5/10 |
| The Wheatsheaf | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7/10 |
| The Library Kitchen | 7 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6.5/10 |
| The Red Lion | 9 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6/10 |
What we learned
Stapleford's Sunday roasts are not short on effort. The difference between a good lunch and a great one came down to two things: gravy confidence and whether the room made you feel welcome. A pub can get away with a slightly tired Yorkshire if the welcome is warm and the gravy is plentiful. It cannot get away with a thimble of gravy and a two-hour wait for the bill.
The other lesson is that the nan-and-mates test is not a joke. The best venues were the ones that could hold two different kinds of Sunday at once: a quiet corner for a slow eater and a loud table for people who have not seen each other since August. That is harder than it looks. It is also what makes a local pub worth keeping.
Reader nominations
We know we have missed places. You have already told us. The messages have been coming in since we first asked: the club on the edge of town, the café that does a vegetarian roast worth queuing for, the pub where the landlord carves the meat himself and gives the children a free Yorkshire. Keep them coming. We will be doing another round before Christmas, and we are especially keen to hear about anywhere that gets the gravy-to-potato ratio right.
This is the part where you tell us we are wrong. Good. That is the point. Sunday lunch is local, personal and slightly ridiculous to rank. But if you are going to argue about it, do it properly: go, eat, and report back. Bring your nan. Bring your mates. Ask for the big jug.
The final word
For now, The Old Forge takes the bragging rights, with The Canal Bridge close behind and The Wheatsheaf doing the solid, dependable thing that proper pubs do. The Red Lion has the best individual parts and the most frustrating whole. The Library Kitchen is the calm, cake-adjacent option. None of them are bad. All of them are Stapleford. And that, frankly, is worth raising a glass of gravy to.
Next up: we are hunting for the best Sunday pudding. Nominations open now. Please include the words 'proper custard' in your message.
