Bristol's best Christmas set menus: 13 restaurants serving up festive cheer

If you’ve landed here, chances are Bristol is already starting to sparkle with festive spirit. And if you’re looking for the perfect spot to enjoy a Christmas meal with friends or family, you’re in the right place - we’re rounding up the best Christmas set menus in Bristol.

It’s worth getting a head start on your search for a great Christmas party venue or festive dinner location. Anyone who’s tried to book in November knows the struggle of being late to the party, quite literally. 

In recent years, Bristol’s restaurants have started to embrace a trend that we love: set menus. We all love a bargain, and for those of us willing to trade autonomy and choice for quality, set menus are brilliant - you can rock up, enjoy the occasion and wait for food to arrive, without faffing about with a menu or worrying about going over a budget.

Most of these festive set menus offer two or three courses at very friendly prices, which makes it much easier to plan group festivities without compromising. Bristol is an exciting, diverse city for food, and this list reflects that. You’ll find restaurants that stick to classics like roast turkey with all the trimmings, and Christmas pudding with brandy sauce, but equally, Bristol has great celebratory options ranging from Turkish feasts and live-fire cooking to Spanish tapas bars, indulgent Italian spreads and cosy steakhouses.

Set menus also make group dining simpler: pre-ordering means less hassle on the day, and fixed pricing helps with budgeting - especially when you're planning for a crowd. So, if you're planning a Christmas party in Bristol this year, don’t wait too long. The city’s festive menus fill up fast, and with options starting from around £35 per person, there’s never been a better time to book.

COR

What: This sweet corner spot on North Street is one of Bedminster’s best-loved neighbourhood restaurants, and its festive feast sharing menu is a proper treat. Things kick off with a savoury canele with goat's cheese, beetroot and thyme, followed by bread with whipped black garlic butter and burrata from Puglia with grape must and pistachio. Next up is a hand-dived Devon scallop with blood orange, beurre noisette and capers, plus cannellini beans with lemon beurre blanc and smoked caviar, before the main event: Hereford beef onglet cooked over fire with sweet onion, radicchio and red wine jus, served with Cornish potatoes and cafe de Paris butter. Baron Bigod with membrillo and a tiramisu with orange and nutmeg round things off.
How much: Sharing menu for £50 per person
Where: 81 North Street, Bedminster, BS3 1ES
Book now: COR

Browns Bristol

What: Housed in the former Bristol museum on the edge of Clifton Village, Browns Bristol is a grand setting for a festive feast, and the three-course festive set menu doesn’t hold back. Starters include prawn cocktail with Bloody Mary cocktail sauce, duck liver parfait with fig and honey chutney, and grilled goat’s cheese with caramelised pear and clementine dressing. Mains bring the signature Browns festive turkey with cranberry and sage stuffing and Cumberland pigs in blankets, alongside braised blade of beef, cranberry-glazed pork belly and pan-seared trout with Champagne veloute. Finish with Christmas pudding and brandy custard, or salted caramel profiteroles. Every guest booked between 10 and 30 November also gets a complimentary glass of sparkling wine, and Browns runs Christmas Day and Boxing Day menus too.
How much: Three courses for £46.50 per person (or £40 on Mondays and Tuesdays until 8 December)
Where: 38 Queens Road, Clifton, BS8 1RE
Book now: Browns Bristol
Want to make it exclusive? Discover private hire options at Browns Bristol

Mowgli Street Food

What: Frankly, £40 is an absolute steal for the cooking at Mowgli. Set inside a grand, towering old building on Corn Street, the interiors have a lovely mystical quality, with fairy lights draped across birdcage lamps and twisting trees. The Christmas feasting menu kicks off with a glass of fizz (or a soft drink) as a welcome, before you load up on signature yoghurt chat bombs, fenugreek fries, zingy gunpowder chicken bites and Himalayan cheese toast, followed by two-tier tiffin boxes loaded with curries and ice cream to finish. Mowgli caters for all sorts of dietaries too, so when it comes to Christmas celebrations, you really can’t go wrong.
How much: Three courses for £40 per person
Where: 35 Corn Street, BS1 1HT
Book now: Mowgli Street Food Bristol
Want to make it exclusive? Discover private hire options at Mowgli Street Food Bristol

Cappadocia

What: If you fancy swapping the turkey for something Turkish and family-run, Cappadocia is a brilliant shout. The Christmas set menu at the Baldwin Street original comes with a glass of house wine, beer, Prosecco or mulled wine, and three courses of charcoal-grilled favourites. Start with the likes of golden cheese borek with feta and spinach, grilled halloumi, kisir or calamari, before moving on to chicken or lamb shish, slow-cooked lamb shank with mash and baby vegetables, or pan-fried sea bass with bisque sauce. Desserts include baklava with pistachios, Turkish rice pudding and a vegan Christmas pudding. Feeling merry? The bottomless version keeps the drinks flowing, and Cappadocia's semi-private dining areas seat 10-25, making it a great pick for big groups. Over in Clifton, sister restaurant Table Five by Cappadocia - headed up by MasterChef Türkiye 2024 champion Onur Üresin - is running its own festive menu at the same price points throughout November and December, so you’re in good hands wherever you decide to go.
How much: £55 per person including a drink, or £68 with bottomless drinks
Where: 30-34 Baldwin Street, BS1 1NR; 50 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, BS8 2NH
Book now: Cappadocia Bristol; Table Five by Cappadocia

BANK

What: Sitting on the corner of Wells Road in a former Lloyds Bank building, BANK is perhaps an unlikely location for a buzzy live-fire restaurant, but it’s well worth the short walk from Temple Meads. Executive chef and co-owner Jack Briggs-Horan treats fire more like a seasoning than a cooking method, and that shines through on the three-course winter menu. Kick things off with native oysters with green apple mignonette or smoked garlic focaccia with caramelised onion butter, before starters like venison tartare with confit yolk and smoked beetroot, deep-fried duck rillettes with spiced plum, or wood-roasted scallops with Jerusalem artichoke and hazelnut. Mains are properly wintry, from roast venison with spiced prune and a port and juniper jus, to roast monkfish with lobster velouté and a pumpkin and cep pithivier with chestnut cream. Save room for the pumpkin, ginger and date sticky toffee pudding, or a rum and raisin tiramisu.
How much: Three courses for £49 per person
Where: 107 Wells Road, Totterdown, BS4 2BS
Book now: BANK Bristol

Prego Italian Bar & Kitchen

What: Family-run Prego is the darling of Westbury Park, a cosy neighbourhood Italian just off the Downs that’s known for its homemade pasta and seasonal specials. Last year’s Christmas menu brought festive dishes like hand-dived scallops with Delica pumpkin and sage butter, wild mushroom cavatelli with black truffle butter, and mulled wine poached pear. It’s not a festive menu as such, but Prego’s regular set menu is a cracking deal for a low-key catch-up during the busy season: think fig, truffle honey and goat curd bruschetta or fritto misto with aioli, followed by ox cheek and short rib ragu with pappardelle or seafood linguine, and a dark chocolate mousse with honeycomb to finish.
How much: Two courses for £21, three for £24 (standard set menu)
Where: 7 North View, Westbury Park, BS6 7PT
Book now: Prego Italian Bar & Kitchen

The Albion

What: This 17th century pub in Clifton is one of the smarter gastropubs in this well-to-do part of town, and a recent revamp has left it looking very shabby-chic inside with sanded wood floors and distressed brown leather armchairs. The Albion has a rep for well-executed pub grub that makes it especially popular at Christmas, and this year’s menu keeps things comfortingly classic. Start with oak smoked whisky-cured trout with dill crème fraîche, or braised pork belly with a honey and soy glaze, before a roast stuffed turkey crown with all the trimmings (pig in blanket included), a vegan beetroot Wellington with mulled wine gravy, or market fish with Champagne sauce and mussels. Steak fans can upgrade to an 8oz sirloin, and puddings run from Christmas pudding with brandy crème to a chocolate orange tart with whisky and marmalade ice cream. The menu runs from 19 November to 23 December.
How much: £26 for one course, £31 for two courses, £35 for three courses
Where: Boyces Avenue, Clifton Village, BS8 4AA
Book now: The Albion

Cotto

What: Cotto is a buzzy wine bar in Bristol Old City, run by the team behind other excellent local restaurants like Bianchi’s and Pasta Loco. The bar marries a neat Italian wine list and some classy pasta dishes, and its Christmas group menu kicks off with sharing antipasti - marinated olives, Bianchi’s focaccia and sourdough, plus cured meats, cheese and pickles. Pre-ordered starters include cremini mushroom and Gorgonzola arancini with black garlic aioli, or beetroot carpaccio with goats curd and blood orange, followed by pastas like rigatoni with black truffle cacio e pepe, bucatini with baby squid and chickpea acqua pazza, and cavatelli with fennel salsiccia ragu. Finish with a dark chocolate and orange tiramisu or Irish cream panna cotta. This is a stellar choice for a big group.
How much: £42 for three courses, £47 for four
Where: 29 - 31 St. Stephens Street, BS1 1JX
Book now: Cotto

MUSE Brasserie

What: Muse Brasserie attracts a crowd with its striking pink and blue colour palette, and cascading foliage, but this Queen Square brasserie isn’t just looks, there’s also some solid cooking on the festive group set menu. After sourdough and butter, starters include duck liver mousse with confit kumquat and brioche toast, or salmon tartare with beetroot, orange and pear. Muse’s roast turkey crown comes with apricot and cranberry stuffing, pigs in blankets and roasties, but there are good alternatives elsewhere, including beef cheek bourguignon, a pumpkin and chestnut Wellington, and prawns, mussels and fish of the day in moilee sauce. Save room for the Mont Blanc with chestnut cream, or a chocolate délice with honeycomb ice cream.
How much: £48 per person
Where: Crown House, 37-41 Prince Street, BS1 4PS
Book now: MUSE Brasserie

The Ox

What: The Ox is proudly meat-focused - a city centre steakhouse that lays on a proper feast come Christmas. Tucked away in a hidden basement in the Old City, the cosy, cosseting interiors are filled with the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks. This year’s menu opens with a welcome glass of fizz, followed by starters like duck liver parfait with Madeira jelly, Cornish crab toast with grapefruit chilli gel, or seared scallops with pumpkin and chicken crisp. Mains include a 9oz dry-aged sirloin with house-cut chips and bourguignon sauce, roasted duck breast with confit duck ballotine and pomme dauphine, and charcoal-roasted Loch Duart salmon, all served with garlic-dressed leeks and greens. Sticky ginger pudding with banana ice cream or a warm craquelin choux bun round things off.
How much: Three courses for £50 at lunch, £60 at dinner
Where: 43 Corn Street, BS1 1HT
Book now: The Ox

Bar 44

What: Bar 44 is always a good time. This Iberian small plates spot is extra popular over the Christmas period thanks to really affordable group tapas menus, as well as fabulous festive drinks that range from sangria jugs to spicy cocktails and plenty of fizz. Last year, dishes on the group menu included nibbly bits like padron peppers and olives, before moving onto chicken with roast garlic in sticky sherry glaze, jamon croquetas, patatas bravas and more. 
How much: £32 per person (2025 pricing)
Where: 18-20 Regent Street, Clifton Village, BS8 4HG
Book now: Bar 44

BOX-E

What: Brilliant BOX-E is one of many fantastic restaurants in Bristol’s buzzing Wapping Wharf cargo district. This is where former L’Ortolan head chef Elliott Lidstone and wife Tess cook gorgeous seasonal plates at quite extraordinary prices for the quality. The menu is a la carte but there is also a seven course unwritten tasting menu available too (with an optional wine flight) that’s perfect for festive celebrations. You need to ask when you book, though.
How much: £59 per person (2025 pricing)
Where: Unit 10, Cargo 1, Wapping Wharf, BS1 6WP
Book now: BOX-E

Poco Tapas Bar

What: We’re big fans of Poco Tapas’ seasonal sharing menu, which last year clocked in at just £40 per person for multiple courses of delightful Spanish cookery. Poco also does really brilliant gluten-free and pescatarian versions of the same menu, as well as a slightly cheaper ‘Root to Fruit’ menu for vegans and vegetarians, making this an ideal choice for groups that have some dietary needs to consider.
How much: £40 per person (2025 pricing)
Where: 45 Jamaica Street, Stokes Croft, BS2 8JP
Book now: Poco Tapas Bar

If you're planning something a little smaller, there are loads of brilliant restaurants all over the city that take normal bookings over the Christmas period. Check out our roundup of the best restaurants in Bristol for more of that, or perhaps check out the best brunches in Bristol if you fancy some festive fizz and brunching.