LONDON LIFE • February 2019

London’s best Sunday lunches with a side of culture

A day usually devoted to food and family, why not add a little art and history to your Sundays? In the capital of culture itself, The Club team round up the best Sunday lunches with London’s top museums and galleries just a stone’s throw away

The Carpenter’s Arms, Bethnal Green
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The Carpenter’s Arms, Bethnal Green for the V&A Museum of Childhood

Who: Hannah Ralph, The Club content editor
The corner block boozer with a swish side, Carpenter’s Arms marries Hackney’s burgeoning cool with a good keg’s worth of East End charm. Once the property of the notorious Kray twins, it’s now more gourmet than gangster, with beers sourced from an award-winning Warwickshire brewery, organic coffee from Shepherd & Monk, and Sunday lunch stuffed with local fare. You’ll have a choice between sirloin of beef or loin of pork, but the beef is the truly raved-over roast – dripping with gravy, blush-pink strips of meat and starring that all-important Yorkshire pudding. Served from 12pm until they run out (spoiler: they usually do). 
Culture component: Take a short-cut through nearby Weavers Fields park to the V&A Museum of Childhood. Free to enter, this is a place where kids can be as cultured as adults and adults can be as wonderstruck as kids. 
The don’t miss exhibit: Ending their runs on 17 March and 22 April respectively, be sure to check out Little Happenings: Photographs of Children by Dorothy Bohm and A Pirate’s Life for Me - featuring the first-ever costume designs for villainous Captain Hook.

Simpson’s in the Strand
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Simpson’s in the Strand for the London Film and Transport museums

Who? Ross Clarke, The Club contributing editor
Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle… the list of patrons at this Strand stalwart is a veritable who’s who of London through the ages. But what kept them coming back? The Simpson’s roast – as iconic as the carving trolley it’s wheeled in on, replete with Scottish beef, Welsh lamb and a further seasonal joint. Thick slices of beautifully seared lamb were carved and plated before me (you can take the boy out of Wales...) and kindly paired with a silky Merlot by the sommelier. Yes, it’s classic and a bit nostalgic, but then, that’s the very reason to visit.
Culture component: If the old-world grandeur of Simpson’s whets your appetite for history, then go and enjoy a double dose in the form of the London Film Museum, and the London Transport Museum.
Don’t miss exhibit: Marvel at the real-life Tube and buses miraculously located at the Transport Museum, and channel your inner 007 at the Film Museum’s Bond in Motion exhibition, featuring that infamous crocodile submarine (ends 31 March).

The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell
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The Camberwell Arms, Camberwell for the South London Gallery

Who: Matt Richardson, The Club picture editor
As a brunch-loving south Londoner, it’s no surprise The Camberwell Arms was top of my list. With airy interiors and refined, full-flavoured grub, this trendy gastropub isn’t serving your average Sunday lunch. After pawing over the mega selection, which always includes a pie, we delighted in carefully crafted Dauphinoise croquettes paired with a mushroom ketchup before tackling the juicy Hereford beef served with roast potatoes and watercress. After that? It's all about kicking back with an espresso martini in hand. 
Culture component: One award-winning, three-course roast later, and it’s time for a short stroll to South London Gallery - home to an intriguing local-meets-international collection and five free exhibitions a year. 
The don’t miss exhibit: Catch Bloomberg New Contemporaries – art with a thematic focus on borders, identity and technology – before it finishes on 24 February.

Berners Tavern, Fitzrovia
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Berners Tavern, Fitzrovia for the British Museum

Who: Kat Knight, The Club production manager
Stepping into Berners Tavern feels like stepping into a gallery: high ceilings, lavish custom-bronze chandeliers and walls decked with gilt-framed paintings. If you’re thinking, as I did, that the food couldn’t possibly compare to the surroundings, you’d be wrong. The Sunday menu embraces chef Jason Atherton’s Michelin-starred signature – Brit classics spiced up with inventive ingredients. The beef tartare with egg yolk and pickled beetroot made for a sensational start, followed by a succulent roast belly of Dingley Dell pork and a dreamy chocolate-and-mango millefeuille.
Culture component: Once you’ve finished admiring the paintings, take a 10-minute stroll to the British Museum, home to one of the greatest and oldest collections of historical artefacts in the world.
Don’t miss exhibit: Get clued up on the empire-building, king-slaying, lion-hunting King Ashurbanipal of Assyria at the I am Ashurbanipal exhibition, but you’ll have to act fast – it closes on 24 February. 

Brigadiers, The City
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Brigadiers, the City for Tate Modern

Who: Branca Lessa de Sa, The Club intern
If you fancy roast with a twist, the Brigadiers’ new Sunday menu is for you. Each week, this Art Deco powerhouse serves up delicious barbecued meats, alongside free-flowing prosecco, lager or Paloma cocktails for an extra £15 per person. Where roasties become aloo chaat and Yorkshire puddings are switched for crisp papadums, make sure to try the tender butter masala baby chicken, served with an aromatic pilau and creamy egg makhana. Brigadiers also pairs its robust roasts with a side of fun: brass music, live sports and a karaoke room.
Culture component: After polishing off your Indian-inspired dessert, cross Millennium Bridge and walk along the South Bank to the Tate Modern, where you will find a vast collection of contemporary art – and free entry.
The don’t miss exhibit: A deep dive into the work of legendary British war photographer Sir Don McCullin, which opens this month (2 February). McCullin’s images are impressive, poignant, and above all, painstakingly human.

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This article has been tagged Food + Drink, Destination