The best restaurants open for Christmas dinner in London
If the idea of hosting Christmas dinner makes you immediately break out in a cold sweat, we hear you. As wholesome as the image of the entire family crowding round the table may be, more often than not, it's a whole lot of effort just for one meal. Behold, your saviours: the London restaurants open for Christmas dinner. These places, glowing with a heavenly aura, save frantic parents and frazzled festive hosts from the chaos of cooking for the masses. Increasingly, some of our favourite restaurants in London are open on the big day, alongside London's best pubs and even glitzy hotel restaurants. If you're looking for a last-minute turkey dinner or something less traditional (see festive bao buns at Mei Ume), these are the ultimate restaurants to book for Christmas dinner in the capital.
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Whitcomb's at The Londoner, Leicester Square
It's no mean feat for a hotel in Leicester Square to remain a haven of calm amidst all the chaos outside, but The Londoner has rapidly become one of the city's sleekest stays. It's a whopping 16 storeys, with six restaurants, a cinema and even a ballroom. Book a table at the flagship, Whitcomb's, if you're not a fan of turkey and sprouts – this Mediterranean spot leans heavily on French, Italian and Greek recipes. The “beef eclair”, for example, is a slow-braised dish with sweet caper jam, pickled kohlrabi and oscietra caviar, while the confit butternut squash is served with a ginger and sesame gremolata and spicy Amarillo peppers. For dessert, there's a decadent Christmas pudding with brandy-infused custard, or a glazed chocolate mousse with a mulled wine centre.
Address: The Londoner, 38 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7DX
Price: £195 per head
Website: thelondoner.com
The Spaniards Inn, Hampstead
This cosy pub has won over each and every soul to cross its creaky threshold. It's been a favourite spot for Londoners since 1585 – even Charles Dickens referenced it in Pickwick Papers – and it is still as well-loved today as ever before. On Christmas Day, the menu is just as legendary as the pub itself. Think Black Angus beef wellington, pan-roasted lamb fillet and a classic turkey dinner, followed by deeply indulgent desserts of Belgian chocolate mousse, apple and spiced rhubarb crumble, or a seriously impressive selection of cheese.
Address: The Spaniards Inn, Spaniards Road, London NW3 7JJ
Price: From £120 per head
Website: thespaniardshampstead.co.uk
The Flask, Highgate
Highgate, with its countryside feel, manor houses and excellent pubs, will forever be one of our favourite London neighbourhoods – and The Flask is one of the reasons even south Londoners will make the long journey up north. Each festive season, this pub's crackling fires, cosy interiors and smiling service create the most alluring Christmassy vibe. Meals start with classic canapés – cheese croquettes and smoked salmon blinis – and starters delicious enough to be a main (the venison pate en croute with pickles, bitter leaves and a spiced plum and port chutney has our vote, although the baked brie cheesecake sounds divine). Then, naturally, a turkey dinner with all the trimmings is available, but there's also pan-roasted halibut with an English sparkling wine and caviar sauce (if not on Christmas, when?) and a beef fillet with mushroom ketchup and cavalo nero.
Address: The Flask, 77 Highgate W Hill, London N6 6BU
Price: £120 per head
Website: theflaskhampstead.co.uk
Riding House Café, Fitzrovia
For a more central Christmas Day option, this Fitzrovia joint is a reliable choice. Brasserie Riding House Café is the ultimate spot for a long, lazy festive afternoon. Starters of beef carpaccio with aioli and parmesan, beetroot-cured gravadlax with caviar, and burnt miso aubergine with a garlic labneh to share between the table set the tone. Then we're onto the main event, turkey classic with creamed corn, roasties and cranberry sauce, or less traditional Scottish lobster lasagna or an acorn squash and sage pithivier. Save room for dessert – the sticky toffee doughnut sundae is not one to miss. The Bloomsbury branch is also open on Christmas Day.
Address: Riding House Café, 43-51 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7PQ
Price: £95 per head
Website: riding.house
Duck & Waffle, The City
If you're in the market for an elevated festive affair, this is the place to book. Head for the heavens at Duck & Waffle, soaring above the city on the 40th floor of Heron Tower. A merry welcome drink of cherry-infused Hama rum with a citrus cordial and a dash of Absinthe is enough to make even the most miserly Scrooge merry. Nibbles spread across the table whet appetites, from four-cheese gougères to caviar and sourdough blinis. For starters and mains, choose between prawn and lobster cocktails, bone marrow beef tartare, salmon wellington and turkey with all the trimmings, and round off with desserts of cherry bakewell tarts, spiced baba au rhum and mince pies.
Address: Duck & Waffle, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
Price: £170 per person or £220 with wine pairings; £80 per child under 10
Website: duckandwaffle.com
The Cinnamon Club, The City
The traditional Christmas lunch doesn’t quite do it for everyone, so if you recoil at the sight of stuffing, you might do better with a booking at Indian fine-dining spot The Cinnamon Club. If its gorgeous setting in a former library doesn’t make you smile, then the food will: Keralan-style lobster soup flamed with Cognac, clove-smoked Anjou squab pigeon, and kokum-crusted halibut on the bone are just some of the standouts on the £150 menu, which makes for one of the most exciting of the season. We’ll have extra helpings of the garam masala Christmas pudding with nutmeg custard, please.
Address: The Cinnamon Club, The Old Westminster Library, Great Smith St, London SW1P 3BU
Price: £150 per person
Website: cinnamonclub.com
The Grill at The Dorchester, Mayfair
With a five-course menu from Martyn Nail and Jacob Keen-Downs, a Christmas lunch at The Grill at The Dorchester looks set to be one of the most lavish meals of the season, including a superior wine pairing for each course. Live music accompanies the feast, priced at the higher end at £350 for five courses. Proceedings start with canapés, including langoustine tartlets and quail egg truffle barquette, before starters such as smoked salmon and guinea fowl terrine, followed by an ‘intermediate course’, then the main event – think turkey, beef Wellington or halibut.
Address: The Grill at The Dorchester, 53 Park Lane, London W1K 1QA
Price: £350 per person
Website: dorchestercollection.com
The Windmill, Clapham
A country-style boutique hotel and pub on the edge of Clapham Common, The Windmill is a cosy spot that perfectly does traditional family Christmas Day lunch. Book early to get a spot by one of the fireplaces, then settle down for a filling five courses, with a crown of English turkey served with duck breast, maple-glazed gammon, pigs in blankets, goose-fat potatoes, double egg Yorkshire puds, crushed root veg and heaps of gravy to drown it all. The classic Christmas pudding comes with brandy-butter ice cream, and if you’re too full to make it home, there are 42 bedrooms upstairs to snuggle down in.
Address: The Windmill, Clapham Common South Side, London SW4 9DE
Price: £125 per adult
Website: windmillclapham.co.uk
Mei Ume, The City
Offering contemporary takes on traditional Chinese and Japanese classics, Mei Ume (which means ‘plum’ in both languages) is doing a nine-course menu, which is a great shout for a fresh twist on 25 December dining. Why not switch out trad turkey for a centrepiece of their signature lavish Peking duck platter with caviar, duck skin, duck breast and duck roll? Other courses include festive bao buns and wok-baked lobster with saffron. A true feast.
Address: Mei Ume, Four Seasons, 10 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4AJ
Price: From £198 per person, including a glass of champagne
Website: meiume.com
Bluebird, Chelsea
This King’s Road institution makes for a very civilised spot for lunch on the big day. The £165 set menu caters well for vegetarians as long as they like truffle – there's a truffle, parmesan and smoked mozzarella amuse bouche followed by fettuccini cacio e pepe for meat-free diners. The rest of the menu is just as decadent: turkey ballotine with all the trimmings, whole grilled Dover sole, roast sirloin steak with Yorkshire puddings, and bone marrow gravy. Finish with a Guinness and chocolate steamed pudding or the vanilla crème brulée, plus coffee and mince pies if there’s any space left.
Address: Bluebird Chelsea, 350 King's Road, London SW3 5UU
Price: £165 per person
Website: bluebird-restaurant.co.uk
Decimo, King’s Cross
A trip to The Standard’s atmospheric top-floor restaurant always feels like a special event, so expect their Christmas Day offering to be just as memorable. Take a trip to sunnier climes with their Spanish/Mexican-influenced set menu, which starts with para picar snacks before moving on to turbot or duck.
Address: Decimo at The Standard, London, 10 Argyle Street, London WC1H 8EG
Price: £150 per person
Sea Containers
For a festive waterside lunch, scenic Sea Containers serve a homely four-course Christmas feast with all the classics. This year, it starts with caviar, new potato, and crème fraiche amuse-bouche before starting with beetroot carpaccio, scallops, and chicken liver parfait. For the main event, go traditional with the roasted turkey with stuffing, pigs in blankets, and cranberry jus. Other options include a forest mushroom Wellington and Cornish Stonebass. They each come with duck fat potatoes, parsnips and sprouts (it’s not Christmas without them). There’s Christmas pudding with brandy cream or bread and butter pudding with ginger custard. You’ll need a postprandial stroll along the Southbank after this.
Address: Sea Containers, 20 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD
Price: £145 per person
Website: seacontainerslondon.com
Rick Stein, Barnes
This year, Rick Stein’s peaceful riverside restaurant is open on December 25 for anyone who wants to indulge in a comforting five-course supper. Naturally, there’s seafood on the menu, from a welcome snack of salmon and sour cream blinis to a starter of cured Loch Duart salmon. Keep it fishy with a Dover sole meunière main course, or go classic with roast turkey and all the trimmings before finishing with Christmas pudding and cheese.
Address: Rick Stein, Tideway Yard, 125 Mortlake High Street, London SW14 8SW
Price: £165 per person
Website: rickstein.com
The Ritz Restaurant
For one of the most lavish ways to spend Christmas Day in London, there is nowhere quite like The Ritz. Set in the Michelin-starred Ritz Restaurant, where the six-course festive menu is kept under wraps but will cover all the Christmas classics done to perfection. But this Christmas extravaganza is about much more than just the food: expect a live jazz band, a caricaturist making everyone cackle, and even St Nicholas himself appearing, giving out presents to all the younger diners. It’s one of the priciest places for Christmas dinner in London – but definitely one of the most memorable.
Address: The Ritz, 150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR
Price: From £460 per person
Website: theritzlondon.com
Ekstedt at The Yard
Michelin-starred chef Niklas Ekstedt and his team are whipping up quite the feast this Christmas, cooking dishes over an open fire using ancient Nordic cooking techniques and premium British ingredients. Highlights of the four-course meal include ember-baked scallops and the hotel's signature flambadou oyster.
Address: Ekstedt at The Yard, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, London SW1A 2HN
Price: £95 per person
Website: ekstedtattheyard.com