The best places in Exeter to go for a Sunday roast

We all know the feeling, pre-Christmas, the weather is appalling, and the deadlines have hit you like a tiki-fire shot on a Wednesday night. All you want to do is go home and sit in a house with sufficient heating, have a bath and enjoy a home-cooked meal. If this doesn’t seem possible at the moment, I have the next best solution: A Sunday roast complete with all the trimmings.

Sunday’s in Exeter feel ghostly, the streets of Sidwell empty from the Saturday TP goers the night before, freshers tucked away on campus and the houses of Vic Street and Springfield rising late to spend a day in front of a TV (it is a day of rest, so how could you turn down The Office on a Sunday). If this sounds like you on a Sunday, it’s time for you to get yourselves out of bed and straight to the first place serving roast dinner. A roast is a healing meal, bringing much-needed home comforts to a very cold term at uni. So, tried and tested by yours truly, here is a definitive ranking of the best places to grab a Sunday roast in Exeter.

The Old Firehouse

Firehouse remains on top for every corner of Exeter fine dining. Whether you’re getting a pizza with your housemates in the summer, taking your parents here to show them a refined corner of Exeter’s mass drinking culture or if you’re coming here on a Sunday for a classic roast dinner. The Firehouse roast has a great array of sides, complete with year-round pigs in blankets (what more could you want!) If you accompany your roast with a Firehouse cider you’re guaranteed to have a blissful Sunday lunch experience which will definitely result in you and your mates all going home and collapsing on a sofa to sleep through some classic Sunday-night TV.

Double Locks

You can’t go wrong with a walk down to Double Locks. Enjoy a trip down memory lane as you picture yourself passed out by the quay on a ghastly walk back from Hijacked. However, this time round you get to be greeted by the comforting riverside pub that is Double Locks and the Sunday roast here is one of the best rewards for the long walk. The Double Locks roast is best for when the weather is clear, enjoy the long walk down by the quay and enjoy your reward of a beautifully piled up roast. Directly paralleling your night returning from Hijacked or Yonder, the walk back from this roast lunch won’t have you wondering if you need to stop off at Maccies or whether or not you’re going to need to split a cab from outside Move.

Mill on the Exe

A classic for when the parents are in town, you can’t go wrong with a Mill on the Exe Sunday lunch. A classic British pub lunch (and dogs are welcome!), Mill on the Exe is right next to the quay so in a perfect place for those of you in Birks. Follow up your meal at Mill on the Exe with a walk down to the quay to truly have the perfect Sunday.

The Prospect Inn

Another quay-based location, The Prospect Inn is a more secluded understated pub that does a fantastic selection of comforting meals week-round. If you don’t fancy one of their roasts on a Sunday then try visiting during the week for a fish finger sandwich which hit every spot during deadline season when all you needed to do was walk down to the quay to escape the stress of it all.

The Terrace

The Terrace proved to be a brilliant surprise for a roast. After a day of shopping in town; fighting left, right and centre to walk straight down the High Street, what more could you want? Pop into The Terrace for a drink, and accompany said drink with a fantastic roast. Not only was the roast incredible, but the pigs in blankets were the stuff of dreams. So, if you’re ever walking through town and see a group of people walking home from The Terrace with a takeaway box of pigs in blankets, bat no eyelids and leave them on their merry way, those people have had a fantastic Sunday and you’re simply jealous!

Dartmoor

Lastly, a slight cheat, if Exeter has truly become too much for you and you simply feel the desperation to run far far away. Look no further than the walks on Dartmoor. A quick drive away, Dartmoor is a haven for when your house has just become too much for you to deal with. Hop in the car, drive out to nature, walk around the reserve and then reward that hard earned exercise with a much-needed roast dinner. This particular roast was enjoyed at the Fingle Bridge Inn but take you pick of the multitude of local pubs specialising in a carvery on a Sunday. End the day with a much needed Sunday nap, and voila, a perfect Sunday for a student.

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