If you’re not up for taking on the turkey challenge this year, or you’re looking for a fun alternative to the traditional Christmas lunch, there’s still time to
book yourself and your loved ones into a restaurant to remember this Christmas. Surprising numbers of London restaurants are open on 25 December, serving festive menus that require no pre-planning,
no fuss and no washing-up – on your part at least.
Open: 11.30am-5.30pm
Price: £50 for six courses, plus a glass of Prosecco or Buck’s Fizz on arrival and tea/coffee (£20 for under-12s).
Festive food: options include confit of guinea fowl and ham-hock terrine, roast turkey, and chocolate panettone bread-and-butter pudding.
Open: lunch 12N-3pm
Price: £80 for six courses.
Festive food: options include clam-and-mussel broth, roast turkey, and steamed prune-and-ginger pudding.
Open: 11.30am-12M
Price: £85 for five courses.
Festive food: options include honey-roasted pumpkin velouté with coconut and amaretto, turkey with mince-pie stuffing, and Christmas pudding with brandy cream.
Open: lunch 12N-3pm
Price: £75 for four courses, including a cranberry kick aperitif, coffee, and petits fours.
Festive food: options include Keralan-style lobster soup flamed with brandy, slow-roasted milk-fed lamb with green chilli and mint, and garam-masala Christmas pudding with nutmeg custard.
Open: 9am-9pm
Price: £95 for five courses, including a glass of Champagne.
Festive food: options include fried duck egg with wild mushrooms, turkey with chestnut stuffing, and tipsy sherry trifle.
Open: 12N-3pm
Price: £55 for five courses.
Festive food: options include smoked salmon with horseradish cream on rye bread, roast turkey, and chocolate delice with honeycomb ice cream.
Open: 12N-11pm
Price: £95 for six courses, including a glass of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Champagne, coffee, and petits fours.
Festive food: options include foie-gras parfait with crispy brioche, slow-cooked guinea fowl with pancetta and leek fondue and morel sauce, and bûche de Noël.
Open: 12N-5pm
Price: £89.50 for four courses, including coffee and petits fours.
Festive food: options include rabbit-and-foie-gras terrine with pickled vegetables and petit brioche, roasted loin of venison with potato fondant and braised red cabbage, and
pear-and-hazelnut clafoutis with vanilla ice cream.
Open: lunch 12N-3pm
Price: from £65 for five courses
Festive food: options include Beijing duck, tiger-prawn croquettes with soft-shell crab, poached sea-bass fillet in homemade chilli sauce, and chocolate-mousse cake with black-sesame ice
cream.
Open: lunch 12N-4pm
Price: £80 for six courses, plus a glass of English fizz on arrival.
Festive food: options include terrine of duck foie gras with Sauternes jelly and brioche, turkey with sauce périgourdine, and Christmas pudding with warm Cognac sauce.
Open: lunch 12N-5pm
Price: £95 for four courses (£35 for children), including a glass of mulled wine or Champagne, and mince pies.
Festive food: options include game terrine with Cumberland sauce and toast, roast turkey, and chocolate cheesecake with mandarin salad.
Open: lunch 12.30-3.30pm; dinner 6.30-10pm
Price: £225 for three courses (£100 for under-12s), including a visit from Santa and a take-home gift.
Festive food: options include Loch Fyne smoked salmon with crab, lobster and sweetcorn crêpe, roast rib of Buccleuch Aberdeen Angus with Yorkshire pudding, and Christmas pudding with brandy
butter and rum custard.
Open: lunch 12N-3pm
Price: £195 for four courses (£295 with wine pairings), including canapés, a glass of Champagne, coffee and mince pies, plus a visit from Santa, a live harpist and the broadcast of the
Queen’s Speech.
Festive food: options include lobster bisque, turkey with pigs in blankets and stuffing, and bitter chocolate-and-praline Yule log.
Please note: Roux at The Landau is also serving Christmas dinner from 7pm (£95 for three courses).
Suka, Bloomsbury
Open: lunch 12N-2.30pm; dinner 5-10pm
Price: the restaurant’s à-la-carte menu is available for groups of less than 12 people. Set menus for groups of 12 or more start from £40 for four courses at lunch (£50 at dinner), including
tea/coffee.
Festive food: A-la-carte options as normal. For groups of 12 or more, set-menu options include deep-fried crispy squid with coriander, ginger and green peppercorns, beef rendang, and berries
with white-chocolate sauce and lime tuiles.