Supersized Sunday Lunch

You won't be left hungry at The Forester pub in W13

Having got through dark, miserable January to a brighter more hopeful February and then to be felled by this dreaded lurgy (which seems to have taken out half of my pals), I have been in no position to embark on any sort of home cooked Sunday lunch for quite a while.

So, kids still want feeding, needs must, where to go in Ealing?

Virtually every pub locally does a pretty good Sunday Roast these days, but as a non-meat eater, the question was where could I get a decent veggie option.

Well I have found it, and it's just up the road.

The Forester in W13 has a regular and loyal clientele who have probably deliberately kept this place quiet as I can see at times it gets very, very busy.

On first appearance it can appear somewhat chaotic: diners who won't vacate their table when the next hungry group arrives (supposed to have a 2 hour booking) caused us slight irritation and a less than smooth start to what should be a relaxed family lunch. However, this blip was dealt with admirably by the young staff, and a new table quickly found.

What I really love about The Forester is that veggies aren't deemed as second class. There are at least two options to choose from (sometimes 3) the food is cooked to order, you stay at your table and are told when it is ready and so don't have to join the sometimes very long queue of meat eaters!

I had the ubiquitous nut roast because it is usually a good test of veggie menus and hadn't had one for a while (Christmas I imagine!) and I wasn't disappointed. The nut roast was tasty, light and moist and complimented by the huge array of vegetables.

You can have as many of the vegetables you want (and this gigantic yorkshire pud), I also got my own special veggie gravy.

The plate was huge, the food hot and delicious. It was possibly too much for me, as I'm not used to eating such huge amounts, but I was pleased to be given the chance!

My meat eating family loved their carvery meats (adults get choice of three meats from, gammon, turkey, beef, pork and, on the smaller plates/kids can choose two meats). The food was piping hot, freshly cooked and exactly as a Sunday Roast should be, very,very satisfying.

None of us had room for deserts as we were so so full and am sorry to say I didn't even look to see what they were, but am sure they would have been just as lovely.

I think the prices are quite reasonable for such a substantial meal ... Sunday lunch for 5 set us back £47.25 for the food (ie £12.45 adult, £7.45 junior) with a bottle of wine £18.25 (Pinot) and a couple of soft drinks at (approx) £4.

All in all a great find. I think we will be back.. but reckon I should go for a 12 mile run first!

Annemarie Flanagan

February 24th 2016