Being unable to visit any restaurants during lockdown, we decided to have our own Virtual Sunday Roast Club over Zoom.

We made our own Sunday roasts with starter and ate it together over zoom; then collectively rated the experience as we would normally with marks out of ten for: Starter, Meat/Veg option, Vegetables, Gravy, Vibe, Drinks, Service and Value.

During these times of social distancing it was a great pleasure to welcome two new members to SRC Jay and Tasha. Both long term admirers of SRC, they had a stunning debut collecting “Best Starter” in our just for fun awards with a delicious looking Mac and Cheese.

Other than Sian and Nicky’s figs with goats’ cheese the rest of the staters consisted of back of the fridge, store-bought appetisers and poorly-styled plate art.

For the mains, everybody really excelled; they all looked amazing even mine! I kept it simple with roast beef, vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding which I really enjoyed. Beck and Stu took the just for fun award for best main with a lovely lemon chicken roast, I think Sian and Nicky would’ve given them a run for their money with their twice-cooked pork loin if they hadn’t posted a picture after the voting. Macca’s vegetarian roast, Jay and Tasha’s steak and ale pie and Aza’s paella all looked great too!

So far, the virtual aspect of the meal had disappointed with awkward stoppages in sound and empty screens whilst preparing and serving the food. That soon changed once our bellies were full and our glasses were empty conversation started to flow nicely and we displayed to each other’s pieces of art from around the house, punctured with a chorus of “Get Your Art Out For The Lads”, featuring Sian and Nicky’s incredibly lifelike caricatures of each other or feature-less in Sian‘s Case.

There were some awesome deserts and puddings which is a rarity for SRC as we don’t score them therefore are completely pointless but enjoyable nonetheless. 
My desert was a delicious cauliflower cheese that I’d forgotten to plate up for my main, and tins of Punk IPA which didn’t disappoint.

We tried to score our meal as fairly as possible and detach ourselves from the fact we made it. We marked service by timings of our food, with a prompt 4pm start and honestly as we could for value.

Whether we’ve just been starved of social contact or we really are that good the Lockdown Sunday Roast scored a very respectable 72.5% – excelling in value, veg and vibe placing it second in the SRC league table behind the 1000 trades Jazz Roast.

All though a little relived it didn’t win (It could’ve meant the end of SRC if we can do it better at home) I think 2nd was fair on reflection and if Lockdown continues for further months, I’m sure we’d all love to do it again!

Maybe with a bit of Jazz!