IT’S located in undoubtedly the trendiest part of Southampton surrounded by numerous fancy restaurants and stylish bars.

But while The London Hotel is widely known for its cabaret nights you may be surprised to know that the owners run a thriving restaurant too.

Perched on the corner of Oxford Street, the 19th century building offers a substantial lunch time menu as well as traditional Sunday roasts.

For the last seven years the popular pub has been run by David Riley, who does most of the cooking, and Ray Cole who looks after the bar side of the business.

So my girlfriend and I popped in to the watering hole one sunny, Sunday afternoon to see how good the roasts were.

There is a lot of blue and gold, flamboyant decorations inside which give it a theatrical, vibrant feel making it stand out from other traditional pubs.

It also has an attractive, goldfish bowl-style bar area towards the back of the pub along with a pool table, flat screen TV.

The dining section has seven, beautifully laid matching tables on a slightly raised floor by the cabaret stage.

The ambience was relaxed, with chill out music playing in the background and despite there being three or four other groups eating and a handful of drinkers at the bar, it was relatively quiet.

Taking our seats we ordered one roast lamb and one roast chicken and it was less than five minutes before our food arrived.

The portion sizes were generous with ample amounts of meat and plenty of herby cabbage, swede, broccoli, carrots, roast potatoes, stuffing and, of course, a large Yorkshire pudding.

Accompanying the roasts was a massive jug of gravy and bar staff were on hand to bring drinks to the table to save us going to the bar mid-meal.

The meat is sourced locally from Southampton butchers as well as other ingredients where possible.

In short the food was delicious. For £7.95 the roast comes with a choice of desserts so we opted for a lemon meringue and a banoffee roulette. Both were big portions and complemented what was a hugely satisfying start to a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Service was friendly and prompt and a large stack of Sunday newspapers in the corner were the icing on the cake.

If you fancy an impressive Sunday roast in a relaxed Southampton pub with quirky surroundings then I’d recommend you try The London.

The London Hotel.

Terminus Terrace Southampton SO14 3DT 023 8071 0652 www.the-london.co.uk2