Carvery

See also: Hofbrau

A typical carvery meal, from a pub in South Africa.

A carvery is a restaurant where cooked meat is freshly sliced to order for customers, sometimes offering unlimited servings for a fixed price. The term is most commonly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, but is also found in the United States.

Description

See also: Sunday Roast

Carveries are often found in pubs and hotels, and are particularly commonly held at weekends, when they offer traditional Sunday Roasts to a potentially large number of people. The meat is usually accompanied by a choice of potatoes (generally at least boiled, mashed and roasted) and other vegetables (commonly including carrots, parsnips, peas and other traditional British vegetables), with gravy and a sauce considered a traditional accompaniment to the various meats (for example, mint sauce to accompany roast lamb, apple sauce to accompany roast pork and so on).

Examples

Sign of the Beefcarver restaurant, Dearborn, Michigan

They were first operated by pub chains such as Harvesters, Brewer's Fayre and Beefeater, while the Toby Carvery brand (owned by Mitchells & Butlers) has recently emerged as a market leader, taking over many former Beefeater sites.

The chain of Fuzzy's Grub in London is a noted carvery, being voted "Best Traditional British Restaurant in London" in Harden's 2007 guide.

Carveries are also commonly offered by many local pubs.

United States

Some restaurants in the US use the term or concept, and it is a staple at some buffets. Examples include:

• Lawry's may be described as a carvery (serving almost exclusively roast beef), and uses the term for one branch: Lawry's Carvery
• The Sign of the Beefcarver, a carvery chain in Michigan

External links

• Chowhound discussion of London carveries