Beef up your Sundays | Roast dinners at CAU, 10-12 Royal Parade, Blackheath, London SE3 0TL
There are always blue skies in CAU
A Sunday roast is best eaten either at someone else’s house, a pub or a restaurant. For me, it’s far too much faff with too little reward when I cook one, plus the washing up takes the joy out of eating it. Luckily CAU restaurants have come to the rescue and introduced a Sunday lunch to their menu – a roast rump of beef, Yorkshire pudding, josper roast carrots, beef fat roast potatoes, red wine gravy and onion rings for £15 per person.
On the site of our local CAU in Blackheath once lived a no-frills Mexican restaurant that are hard to find in London (unless you go to Greenwich where there seems to be loads). The Cactus Pit was where we’d stuff our faces with sizzling mediocre fajitas for next to no money. It was always quiet with a dark and dingy downstairs area so it was only a matter of time before it went. We’re glad it was CAU who took the space, had it been a Nando’s it would be a different story.
We visited the Guildford outpost a couple of years ago, there are also branches in Tunbridge Wells and Cambridge, Henley, Kingston, Bristol, Wimbledon and randomly – Amsterdam. They all follow the bright white sleek design (read our Guildford review for more info). CAU always make me think of the Milk Bar in Clockwork Orange without all the naughty stuff.
The taste of holiday in a glass
…and on the seventh day CAU created the Sunday roast!
Our food arrived on a wooden board with a red moat of blood around the edges – a sign the meat has been cooked to our liking. There was plenty of it too, six hefty well-seasoned slices each drizzled in a finely chopped salsa giving it an edge to the norm. The Yorkshire puds were good, especially drenched in the rich red wine gravy. Shame about the onion rings, although they tasted great, the batter lacked crunch and looked pretty anaemic. The roasted carrots got the thumbs up from Ade which is not like him at all (he is NOT a fan of carrots).
Even after a good grilling, Pineapple wasn’t giving away any secrets. So Coconut Sorbet decided it was time to bring out the fork!
Waiter, there appears to be a cornflake in my dessert!
We couldn’t resist dessert, Ade went for an almost healthy Piña-Cau-La Da £5.25 – grilled pineapple with rum caramel, coconut sorbet and lime. A totally tropical taste that’s the perfectly light and refreshing end to a heavy roast dinner. I loved the perfectly proportioned CAU Corn Flake ice cream sundae £5.95 – Corn Flake flavoured ice cream, Corn Flakes, crumbled chocolate brownie and dulce de leche. I actually preferred this to the Hawksmoor‘s version, sorry Hawksmoor.
This is what lazy Sundays are all about, all the pleasure without any of the agro. Next time we’re going to try the good value brunch, for example it’s just £7 for spicy baked eggs baked with tomato and jalapeño sauce, black beans and toasted sourdough soldiers.
10-12 Royal Parade, Blackheath,
London SE3 0TL
Telephone: 020 8318 4200
Email: blackheath@caurestaurants.com
Opening hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–23:00
Sun 10:00–22:30
