Roast made its name as one of London's most vocal champions of British cooking, and the buzz around its Shoreditch move gives east Londoners a new reason to skip the trek to Borough Market. The restaurant built its reputation on a simple idea: treat classic British produce — proper roasts, game, quality pork pies, seasonal puddings — with the same seriousness usually reserved for fine-dining French or Italian food.
For travellers, this matters because Shoreditch has quietly become one of the most useful areas in London to base yourself. It sits on the northern edge of the City, well connected via Shoreditch High Street, Old Street and Liverpool Street stations, and it's packed with the kind of places visitors actually want: street food at Boxpark and Brick Lane, craft breweries, vintage shopping, and a nightlife scene that keeps going well past pub hours. A destination restaurant with proper sit-down service slots neatly into a neighbourhood that has historically skewed casual.
Roast's appeal has always been the full British treatment — think Sunday roast done properly, seafood sourced from around the UK coast, and desserts like sticky toffee pudding and Eton mess rather than the usual panna cotta. If you're visiting London and want a meal that feels distinctly local without being a gimmick, this is the lane it sits in.
Practically speaking, pair it with a day in the East End. Shoreditch works well combined with Spitalfields Market, Columbia Road's Sunday flower market, and a wander along Brick Lane. Book ahead for weekend meals — this part of town fills up fast on Saturdays and Sundays, and destination restaurants in the area tend to be booked out by midweek.
For anyone planning a London trip around food, the move is a good excuse to give the East End an evening it might not otherwise have had. And if you still want the original Roast experience, Borough Market remains an easy Tube ride from most central hotels — you could, in theory, do both in one weekend and hold your own taste test.
Story via Secret London.
