Brace yourself for a blast of great cooking at The Rolleston, as Michelle tompkins reports

The Rolleston 73 Commercial Road, Swindon SN1 5NX Tel: 01793 534238 www.therolleston.co.uk Food served: Monday to Thursday, 12pm to 9pm; Friday and Saturday, 12pm to 7pm; Sunday, 12pm to 5pm

IF you don’t like listening to music while you eat, you’re probably best off avoiding The Rolleston, where the volume button is turned a few notches higher than most average pubs and restaurants.

But if you don’t like listening to certain genres of music while you eat... well, just sit tight for a few minutes, because something to your taste will be along soon.

The playlist on the Sunday lunchtime we visited was so brilliantly random it keep us amused for over an hour. From the mellow country of Linda Ronstadt to the head-banging metal of Iron Maiden – with some of Jay Z’s hip hop and the darkness of Nick Cave thrown in – it was like the weirdest iPod shuffle I’ve ever heard.

I defy anyone not to get drawn into a game of Name That Tune while they sit waiting for their meal. The music is far too loud for a decent conversation anyhow.

So, to the food – the reason were in the pub in the first place.

I remember a colleague telling me years ago how The Rolleston’s Sunday roast was the best in town, but I can’t say I had high hopes when we walked in to find just one other couple sat in the window and an assortment of Sunday lunchtime regulars propping up the bar.

The pub has a dated feel, with dark wooden chairs and slightly sticky tables, but the welcome from the barman was warm enough as he told us of the day’s choices (beef or pork) and pointed us towards our seats.

He might also have warned us that there would be quite a wait for our food – 50 minutes to be exact – but we passed the time easily with our little game, Shazamming those artists we couldn’t guess between us and even keeping score*.

I don’t want the long wait to sound like too much of a grumble, because what arrived on our table was – true to its hype – one of the best roast dinners I have ever eaten.

Several thick slices of pink roast beef, herby roast potatoes, a mound of fluffy mash and no fewer than six types of vegetables – roast parsnips, Chantenay carrots, creamed leeks, mange tout, red cabbage and roast onion – were heaped on the plate, with a towering Yorkshire pudding and a generous dousing of homemade gravy.

It was absolutely delicious. Every element was beautifully cooked and none of it had been anywhere near a microwave or deep fat fryer. It was clear the lengthy wait was because everything had been cooked to order, and no one can gripe about that.

It was a struggle to eat it all, but we made a valiant attempt – very valiant indeed, with just a few stray carrots and a parsnip or two left between us.

At £7.95 a head, it was exceptional value for money. You’d be hard pushed to buy a joint of beef and all the ingredients for under £16 to make it yourself.

There was no time for dessert so I can’t vouch for those, and there are homemade burgers, fajitas, pies and wraps on the everyday menu I’d still like to try – not the mention the pub sandwich  – but as a Sunday roast stop-off The Rolleston can’t be beaten. Just brush up on your music trivia before you go.

*4-1 to me (of course).

In case you were wondering.