The London restaurants with Christmas food menus to book now

Whether you’re after turkey with all the trimmings or Sri Lankan hoppers for your festive meal, London has a brilliant array of restaurants offering traditional and unusual Christmas food.

Here are some of our favourite London restaurants to book for Christmas dinner this year.

Hoppers Sri Lankan and South Indian dining
For a different Christmas lunch, book at the Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurant group Hoppers. Hoppers are a type of pancake filled with lamb, chicken, pork or vegetables and served with as much dosa, rice and chutneys as you like. For starters there’s venison rolls with cranberry ketchup and hot butter squid. Christmas pudding is swerved in favour of Wattalpam pudding, a traditional cardamon spiced coconut dessert. There are three branches, Soho, Marylebone and King’s Cross.
£48 per-person; hopperslondon.com

The Palomar
The Palomar is offering feasting menus for groups this Christmas. The restaurant serves the food of modern Jerusalem, with influences from Southern Spain, North Africa and the Levant. The feasting menu features a range of classic dishes from the restaurant. For starters there’s labneh, za’atar, and roasted pistachios and hummus masabacha, and for mains, sea bream, fennel slaw fattoush, tomatoes, labneh, tapenade friggitelli peppers, charred spring onion salsa, aubergine yoghurt and ribeye, chimichurri z’chuna ras al hanout chicken, and tahini with amba slow-roast carrots, marinated feta and date. £49 per-person, thepalomar.co.uk

Gatsby’s Room at the Beaumont Hotel
This 1920s-inspired restaurant is hosting festive afternoon teas featuring international flavours to celebrate Christmas. Dishes include turkey with stuffing and cranberry, maple glazed cammon, sage and spiced apple relish, pear and mulled wine mousse, blackcurrant and vanilla tart and cranberry and buttermilk scones. English wine is included in the experience and many of the food flavour combinations are inspired by transatlantic classics. From £74 per person; thebeaumont.com

Petersham Nurseries
Book for a long lunch or candlelit dinner at Petersham Nurseries for one of the most classic Christmas dinners in the capital. The original restaurant within the garden centre in Richmond is truly the place to book for an exceptional Christmas dinner, though there is an outpost in Covent Garden too. Dishes will be seasonal and feature high quality ingredients, largely from Britain but celebrating Italian flavours. There’s a festive afternoon tea too. Prices vary, petershamnurseries.com

Dovetale by Tom Sellers
Dovetale is only offering Christmas lunch on Christmas Day, great if you don’t fancy cooking for the main event. The new restaurant from twice-Michelin-starred chef Tom Sellers, Dovetale’s Christmas meal begins with duck liver parfait, cornish grab and English burrata starters leading into turkey with chestnut and sausage stuffing, red wine poached monkfish tail or salt baked truffle celeriac, with festive sides to boot. Christmas pudding is to follow, with mince pies and brandy cream as a follow up to dessert, just because. £195 per person; 1hotels.com

Acme Fire Cult in Dalston
Fire cooking is hugely en vogue, but Acme Fire Cult takes it to new levels. The Dalston restaurant has a Christmas feasting menu cooked over the outdoor grill. Available for groups of 9-30 people, the experience begins with small plates like brussels sprouts and kale with sourdough miso caesar salad, and shaved pumpkin with squash hummus. Mains include dishes like chicken with smoked wild mushrooms and miso cream, smoked lamb shoulder with salsa roja, jalapeno, lamb fat crema and beer grain tortillas with beef fat tomatoes. £90 per person; acmefirecult.com

Spring by Skye Gyngell

This is just one night only, but Skye Gyngell’s cooking is worth marking the date in your diary. At her Spring restaurant Gyngell will cook a ‘scratch’ menu of ingredients that would otherwise have gone to waste, marking the last day of service before Christmas. It’s a one-off three-course menu and the dishes will be revealed on the day, as the kitchen won’t know what’s left over until then. £30; springrestaurant.co.uk

Smoked meats at Smokestak
Smokestak kickstarted the low-and-slow barbecue trend in London over a decade ago and has remained one of the capital’s finest places to indulge in carniverous desires. For Christmas, they invite diners to try a menu of signature smoked meat dishes and favourites from across the years. There is rare breed pork, green chilli slaw potato skins, beef brisket, and pulled pork. A dimly lit, atmospheric spot. £65, smokestak.co.uk

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