Where to Find the Best Sunday Roast in Brighton on a Hen Weekend
The tables to book for the final lunch of the weekend, from smoky seafront platters to snug neighbourhood locals
By Sunday the hen weekend has changed gear. Saturday night is already turning into a story, the bags are packed by the door, and one long lunch stands between the group and the train home. Fortunately this is a city that treats its roasts with the same seriousness it applies to its nights out. Some groups want slow-cooked beef within sight of the sea, some want a sharing platter buried in trimmings, others just want a snug pub corner and a local pint; wherever yours lands, here is where to sit everyone down together one last time.
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Salt Shed at The West Pier
The setting does half the work here. Salt Shed occupies the Kings Road Arches with the remains of the West Pier just outside, and floor-to-ceiling glass keeps the sea in view from every seat. Roasts are locally sourced and the Yorkshire puddings arrive tall and golden, though expect the bride to be photographing the horizon before the gravy has landed. On a bright Sunday this is among the best group tables in the city, so get a large one reserved early, particularly in summer. Should the arches be full, the North Laine flagship will look after you just as well.
Kindling Restaurant
By trade Kindling is a charcoal steakhouse on East Street in the Lanes, but its Sunday roast has quietly built a reputation to match the steaks. Everything passes over live fire, which gives the meat a smoky depth most kitchens simply cannot reach, and the sides pull their weight too: brisket and jalapeno croquettes, charred hispi cabbage and company. It feels like an occasion without anyone needing to dress up or behave themselves, which is just the note a hen weekend's final day wants. Book the group in and arrive hungry.
Pearly Cow
Few Brighton openings have found their feet as quickly as Pearly Cow on King's Road, and Sunday lunch is a big part of the story. The roast beef and the pork belly are both superb, and the potatoes pull off the crisp-shell, fluffy-middle trick everyone chases at home. Polished brass and soft lighting make the room as photogenic as the food, which the bride's camera roll will appreciate. Ask for a window seat when you book the group in and the sea view comes included.
Signalman
There is no showing off at the Signalman, halfway up Ditchling Rise; it simply gets the basics right. The portions are generous, the meat is cooked with care, and the Yorkshire puddings turn up roughly the size of a clenched fist. It is a genuine neighbourhood local with a great beer garden and an easy-going welcome that lets a hen group settle in for the duration. Reserve a table, then quietly abandon whatever else you had planned for the day.
Ladies Mile
Out in Patcham, the Ladies Mile has handed its Sundays to Circle Kitchen, and the food makes the case for the arrangement. Pork belly crackling that snaps clean, tender beef rump, tall Yorkshires and a from-scratch gravy holding the whole plate together. The garden is a proper sun-trap for a long group lunch, and hen parties spanning every generation get looked after well. It sits further out than anywhere else on this list, but one plate in, nobody is thinking about the taxi fare. Book before you go.
Lion and Lobster
Every city should have a pub like the Lion and Lobster; hardly any do. The Sillwood Street landmark stacks dining rooms above a lively bar, topped with a roof terrace plenty of regulars still have not found. Sunday lunch is what keeps drawing people back: hearty portions in a warm, noisy room where a long hen table feels completely at home. It fills up quickly and tables vanish, so book or come early. This is the roast for a group not quite ready to admit the weekend is over.
The Geese
From the street the Geese looks tiny; the Sunday menu it turns out is anything but. Choose from pork belly, beef rump, garlic and thyme chicken, a beetroot and sweet potato wellington or a vegan sausage, which means every appetite at the table is properly catered for rather than merely tolerated. Trimmings are piled on generously and nobody leaves short. The walk up Southover Street in Hanover is worth every step of the hill, and bigger hen groups should ring ahead.
Bottom's Rest
Run by the Brighton Gin family, Bottom's Rest on Lower Market Street in Hove was never going to get the drinks wrong. The roast is hearty, the beer list rewards exploring, and the room has that settled, easy feel that keeps a table occupied long after the plates are cleared. Open with a Brighton gin and tonic, move to whichever cask ale is on rotation, and see where the afternoon goes. A low-key, lovely way to close the hen weekend, and big tables are easy to arrange.
The Farm Tavern
When the table splits between meat-eaters and everyone else, the Farm Tavern on Farm Road in Hove keeps both camps happy. The sweet potato and walnut loaf and the smoked tofu pie are the equal of the pork, beef and chicken sourced from local farms, so nobody ends up with the consolation option. A signature Bloody Mary is the gentlest possible reintroduction to daylight after a big hen-party Saturday. An eastern-European tavern warmth gives the place a character of its own, and getting the group booked in early is sensible.
Embers
Embers took home the 2025 BRAVO award for Best Sunday Roast, and one plate makes the case for the judges. Everything at the Meeting House Lane restaurant is cooked over glowing embers, lending the pork loin with apple sauce and scratchings a smokiness that borders on addictive, while the skillet roast potatoes crackle and the cauliflower puree runs like silk. This is one of the highest-rated restaurants in Brighton, so Sunday tables are scarce; book as far out as you can manage. If the hens sit down to a single roast all weekend, we would point them here.
The Poet Ale Smokehouse
Smokehouse first, pub second: that is the running order at the Poet on Montgomery Street in Hove, and your Sunday plate is better for it. The meat is smoked slowly until it holds a depth a standard oven roast cannot touch, and the bar keeps pace with a well-chosen ale list and rotating guest beers. It is friendly, unpolished and completely without airs; a hen party will feel at home before the first round arrives. Ring ahead if you need a big table.
The Railway Inn
Portslade is a fair trek west, and the Railway Inn is the reason to make it. A community pub in the truest sense, it serves a roast that has won fans far beyond its own postcode: hefty portions, honest cooking and prices the group will be glad to split. Walk in as a stranger and you are treated like a regular by the second round, which counts for plenty with a hen party from out of town. Phone ahead so they can seat everyone together.
The Bell Tower
Kemptown's Bell Tower keeps the bones of a classic roast and upgrades every joint. Served from noon until five, the menu runs to smoked beef picanha, rolled pork belly and a stuffed filo parcel for the vegetarians, yet the sides threaten to steal the show: grilled carrots with pesto, roast beet puree and herb roasties with a proper crack to them. Jumbo pigs in blankets can be piled on top if the group is feeling indulgent, and after a big hen night it usually is. Serious craft worn lightly; book a table and hand it the afternoon.
Tapestry
Some groups want the roast to be the celebration itself rather than the wind-down, and Tapestry on Victoria Grove in Hove is set up for exactly that. Lunch arrives family-style: sharing platters of meat or veg, with unlimited seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes carried out until you surrender. Go Bottomless on a Sunday and ninety minutes of drinks run alongside the food, with extras like cauliflower cheese available to pile on. It turns lunch into an event, which makes it one of the simplest places on this list to build a hen Sunday around. Book well ahead and let them know it is a hen do.
The Cleveland Arms
The Cleveland Arms on Cleveland Road has picked up awards for its home-cooked roasts, and the plate explains the silverware. Meat arrives from Sussex farms, the vegetables track the seasons, and both the Yorkshire puddings and the roast potatoes behave exactly as they should. The vegetarian and vegan dishes get the same attention as the meat, so a mixed hen group is genuinely well served. A neighbourhood pub with obvious pride in its kitchen, and one of the most reliable Sundays in the city. Book ahead for a big table.
Petit Pois
A French-leaning bistro is not the obvious home of a great Sunday roast, yet Petit Pois on Ship Street cooks one of the best in the Lanes, in a deliberately limited run that sells through fast. The slow-cooked pork belly with crackling, the roast chicken in wild mushroom sauce and the beef all excel, while the duck-fat potatoes and honey-glazed carrots will still be on your mind somewhere past Haywards Heath. The dining room is small and full of charm, so hen groups need to book early to claim a Sunday table. Manage it, and this is one of the loveliest lunches in Brighton.
The Roundhill Pub
The Roundhill on Ditchling Road is entirely plant-based, and it has changed plenty of minds about what a pub roast can be. Vegan Sundays here are big on flavour and come with every classic trimming, done properly rather than approximated, so even committed carnivores tend to leave converted. The drinks carry the same ethos, from zero-waste wines to locally brewed craft beer and well-made cocktails. A snug room and a crowd of devoted regulars speak for themselves. It closes a hen weekend on a warm, generous note, and group tables are simple to arrange.
