Roast Sunday with Ben Spalding

Do you remember when I blogged about Burger Monday last month? Daniel Young of Young & Foodish has just launched a new series of events called Roast Sunday. I managed to book a ticket for the first sitting and I am here now to share my photos and impressions with you!

The chef of Roast Sunday is Ben Spalding, former head chef of Roganic.

Ben has been working on different menus for the three events (May 20th, May 27th & June 10th), so each Roast Sunday is unique and worth trying!

“We will be using the very best meat in the country for Roast Sunday, I am going to be spending a lot of time sourcing the ingredients near my home in Kent, spending some time on the farms to ensure they know the exact quality I need for these events.” [Ben Spalding for Hot Dinners]

The pop-up lunch is held at Bea’s Diner in Druid Street, Bermondsey. Located inside an arch underneath the railway, the diner is a bare space with white walls and long tables with wooden benches.

As I arrived at Bea’s, I was greeted by Daniel who directed me towards the back, through the arch, past the kitchen and into Maltby Street. The street is gated and only open on Saturdays during the market hours, so on Sunday the street becomes a private courtyard, looking nice with the Jubilee bunting and God Save The Queen banner!

Around 12:30 we were invited in and shown our seats. I knew Little Miss Random from a previous event so I was happy to sit next to her and her boyfriend Toby.

Then it arrived: a Prime Rib of Angus Beef with Fern Carrots glazed in maple syrup & sesame seeds, Roast Potatoes in beef dripping, Buttered Pearl Barley, Minted Peas in salted butter, Creamed Spring Cabbage and a giant Yorkshire Pudding. On the side, beef gravy and wild horseradish sauce.

The beef, sourced from O’Shea’s Butchers, was rigorously served pink, as stated on the menu. 39 kilos of prime rib (off the bone) were consumed on the day!

An impromptu gravy-chugging competition took place during lunch! I can see how they used up 88 litres of gravy throughout the three sittings! ;)

As our empty plates disappeared in front of our eyes, big pots of Bramley Apple & Rhubarb Crumble appeared on the tables with a thick Cinnamon Cream to pour over. I loved the idea of leaving the puddings on the table for people to share!

As I was finishing the dessert, more people started to arrive for the 2pm sitting, so I didn’t indulge too long in conversations and left the table for the staff to clear up. I didn’t mind as I was on a very tight schedule that day: a few hours later I was at Discover Abruzzo Supperclub!

Update: after writing this blog, I was invited to attend the 2nd Roast Sunday as photographer, you can see another post about that event here.