Sunday lunch in Barnes: where to book and what it costs

Barnes does Sunday lunch the way it does most things: on foot. Every kitchen in this guide is within a walk of the pond or a short ride west along the river, and between them they cover the whole afternoon, from a pub that unlocks its doors at ten to one that is still serving roast potatoes at nine in the evening. The field is better than a village of this size has any right to expect.

Start with the Bull's Head on Lonsdale Road if the table is large and the budget is fixed: it is the only kitchen here that prints its Sunday prices, so you can settle the bill in your head before you leave the house. Everywhere else the price arrives with the menu, which is ordinary practice in London pubs and no reason to stay at home.

Checked 14 September 2026.

The Bull's Head, 373 Lonsdale Road, SW13 9PY

The one to book when there are eight of you and somebody is paying. Rump of beef is £22.50, chicken £19, pork belly £19.50, and the vegan Wellington £18, all published on the pub's own site. Food runs from noon to 9pm on Sundays, which makes a genuinely late lunch possible rather than theoretical — useful if the morning has gone on the towpath. Book through thebullsheadbarnes.com.

The White Hart, The Terrace, Riverside, SW13 0NR

For the afternoon rather than the meal. The kitchen serves from noon to 9pm and the bar stays open until 11, so the table is a starting point, not a deadline. The pub on The Terrace promises roasted meats, crisp potatoes, seasonal vegetables and gravy, and prices with the menu. On a bright Sunday the riverside terrace goes early; ring 020 8876 5177.

The Coach and Horses, 27 Barnes High Street, SW13 9LW

The High Street option, and the one you can reach without crossing anything. A Young's pub, with a Sunday roast described but not priced online. Book on 020 8876 2695 or by email to [email protected].

The Red Lion, 2 Castelnau, SW13 9RU

At the bridge end of Castelnau, and the natural choice for anyone walking down from Hammersmith. The Fuller's pub publishes a Sunday menu online, but it is labelled a sample, with the current menus posted separately. The number is 020 4559 0065, or [email protected].

The Sun Inn, 7 Church Road, SW13 9HE

The early opener: doors from 10am on Sundays, earlier than anyone else here, with a roast on the menu once the kitchen gets going. Worth knowing if your Sunday starts with a dog and a lap of the common rather than a lie-in. Phone 020 8876 5256.

Rick Stein Barnes, Tideway Yard, 125 Mortlake High Street, SW14 8SN

Not a roast, and included because Sunday lunch does not have to be one. The restaurant opened on 17 March 2017 in the riverside building that Barnes knew for years as The Depot, at Tideway Yard on Mortlake High Street — not, as the internet occasionally insists, near the station.

The Crossing Barnes, 73 White Hart Lane, SW13 0PW

White Hart Lane was Annie's territory for the best part of two decades, until Hammersmith Bridge shut to motor traffic in 2019 and custom fell away overnight; staff at the time called it the final nail in the coffin, and the business now lists only its Chiswick branch. The Crossing Barnes trades from number 73 today, with the kitchen open from noon to 6pm on Sundays — an earlier finish than the pubs, so this is lunch proper rather than a drifting afternoon. Phone 0208 251 1244.

How to choose

The Bull's Head for a family lunch you can cost in advance; the White Hart when the river and the afternoon are the point and the meal is incidental; the Coach and Horses when you want to walk five minutes; the Sun Inn when Sunday starts early; Rick Stein when nobody wants beef. And the Crossing, because a kitchen open again on White Hart Lane is the most cheerful thing on this list: that stretch lost its best-known restaurant to a bridge closure that has still not been undone.

Seven kitchens within a walk of one pond is a good hand for a village, and one of them will tell you what lunch costs before you sit down. The question for the rest, with the Christmas booking rush a few weeks off, is why the others still make you ring to find out.