New Years Roastings at The Vittoria

New Year New Roast I say. The first Sunday in January we had a table booked at the Vittoria on Whiteladies road to try one of Chris & Jo's roasts. There have been murmurings about how good their food is and so wrapping ourselves up warm we went to meet friends for lunch. For anyone who hasn't been to the Vittoria it is a tiny pub, so booking is always advisable for Sundays. We were given a friendly and warm welcome as we ordered some drinks and browsed the menu.

The most refreshing thing to note is the roasts are all under £10 which these days is almost unheard of. Roasts have got very expensive in the last few years, many places charging £15 and up which I find difficult to swallow at times. The meat is the pricey part, sure, but potatoes and veg as we know are relatively cheap commodities, is it the labour then? What makes a £15 roast better than a £10? Are there any hard and fast rules? We don't really go out for a roast more than a couple of times a year because of this, plus if I make a roast I can eat approximately a billion roast potatoes as opposed to the allocated 3-4 given to me if I go out for one.

Back to the Vittoria. On the menu was chicken, beef, pork and a veggie/vegan option. Each roast has it's own appropriate sauce accompaniment, chicken for example has bread sauce, Chris & Jo are very happy to discuss gluten free options and ingredients as one of our table can attest. I decided to go for the pork belly, definitely a soft spot roast wise, Rich went for chicken. Beth and I decided to share a home made scotch egg to curb our hunger whilst we waited for a roast, at £2.50, it would have been rude not to.

A huge plate piled with an array of roast items arrived in front of us. This was a proper roast plating such as you get at home. There was stuffing, mashed swede, cauliflower cheese, green beans, red cabbage, parsnips plus roasties, a yorkshire and a big slab of pork belly. We tucked into the feast with gusto. There is no doubt that Chris & Jo know how to do a roast. It was tasty and I mean really tasty. All comfort food piled up on a plate. No super fancy presentation, the way most roasts seem to be going, just home cooking that completely hit the spot. Very much recommended, one of the best roasts I've had out in ages. Booking is definitely required but get yourself down there, I wasn't able to eat for the rest of the day which is what I want from my roast.

The secret is already out as Chris & Jo's roasts are already proving pretty popular, I can't wait for my next visit it is the perfect thing to warm you up in the sub zero temperatures we are currently experiencing. To keep up to date with all things Chris & Jo, check out their Twitter feed.