Hawksmoor Air Street

Hawksmoor made its name on native-breed, dry-aged beef, and its Sunday roast is essentially that reputation on a plate. The dry-aged sirloin is served pink with beef-dripping roast potatoes, a towering Yorkshire pudding, roasted carrots, buttered greens, roasted garlic and a bone-marrow and onion gravy. Vegetarians get the Winslade Wellington, a well-regarded pastry of roasted celeriac, mushroom and soft Winslade cheese, and there is a larger sharing feast for groups. The Air Street dining room just off Regent Street is done out in dark wood and Art Deco lines. It sits at number two because at around £35 it costs more than Blacklock and centres on beef alone rather than three meats; but for a beef-first roast it edges the similarly priced Guinea Grill below on the strength of that native-breed, dry-aged sirloin.