Not all festive menus are created equal and this year, a number of London’s great dining rooms are going all out to deck the halls with more Christmas cheer than a stocking full of elves.
First to bat is Fallow (52 Haymarket, SW1Y, fallowrestaurant.com) a restaurant close to many of the best shops. It’s lining up a whopping Christmas Day feast featuring hash browns with caviar, salmon belly terrine and turkey with all the trimmings for £195 a head.
Elsewhere in Mayfair and Bibi (42 North Audley Street, W1K, bibirestaurants.com) offers something of a festive alternative, without losing an ounce of class. It will be serving two menus throughout the season (priced at £125 & £175) named Kamal and Ranjana, in honour of the chef founder Chet Sharma’s two grandmothers. Both look a treat, but the Ranjana is the big one thanks to lobster and wagyu beef.
Another less traditional alternative to festive feasting arrives at Sabor (35-37 Heddon Street, W1B, saborrestaurants.co.uk). Upstairs is a private table, La Mesa, for ten guests, so gather nine mates or five couples — depending on how well cuffing season is going — and tuck in. The £1,000 minimum spend is easily reached. On the menu, Segovian suckling pig and Rubia Gallega beef, among plenty more fine produce.
If one Michelin star isn’t enough, head to the two Michelin-starred Dinner by Heston (66 Knightsbridge, SW1X, dinnerbyheston.co.uk) which is offering a set festive menu full of Heston classics — think meat fruit and the famous tipsy cake. Not bad for £160 a go.
For something altogether less classic, and round the corner is CLAP (12-14 Basil Street, SW3, claprestaurant.com) which is laying on a range of top-end Japanese feasts with five-course menus of varying degrees of premium fish cuts. At the top of the tree? Expect sushi of the highest possible grading in the forms of sashimi, nigiri and maki, as well as truffled kholrabi salad, scallops with foie gras and mains featuring wagyu rib-eye, all for £185 a go.
Back in Mayfair and Mount Street (41-43 Mount Street, W1K, mountstrestaurant.com) is a where we return to the classics being done well. The menu couldn’t be more straightforward: three courses plus snacks to start and mince pies with coffee to finish, but the simplicity belies the calibre of the cooking and produce. The menu naturally features a Norfolk Bronze turkey, all the trimmings imaginable, which arrives following a caviar adorned prawn cocktail. All in for £135 each.
And top dining in Mayfair this Christmas doesn’t stop there. There’s the inestimable Claridge’s Restaurant (Brook Street, W1K, claridges.co.uk), which has a £90 menu running until December (apart from the big day itself) including a duck, cranberry and pistachio terrine before turkey and trimmings; and The Savoy Grill (Strand, WC2R, gordonramsayrestaurants.com), with a £320 a la carte on Christmas day which features Dover sole Véronique, roast turkey, and a traditional beef Wellington (it is a Gordon Ramsay joint, after all).
Over at the Midland Grand (Euston Road, NW1, midlandgranddiningroom.com) is a banquet-inspired £95 menu. Expect crab on toast or spiced game terrine with damson jam before roast cod with preserved lemon or grass-fed beef sirloin au poivre. Chocolate log for pudding, too, and how often do we see that?
For something less traditional and a little more creative, Cycene (9 Chance Street, E2, bluemountain.school) is going to put on a special £175 per person menu. Due to the hyper seasonality of the restaurant, the entire menu is yet to be fully announced, but we’re reliably informed an ambitious, showstopping game pithivier will be the tasting menu’s centrepiece. Book this one, and watch this space.
While we’ve already arranged a rundown of London’s favourite wallet-friendly festive options, there are a host of spots across town that don’t quite break the bank but will come in above a £50 budget.
Kicking things off is Dovetale (1 Dover Yard, W1J, 1hotels.com), Tom Sellers and Tom Anglesea’s restaurant at the 1 Hotel. It has a £85 feast on offer. The dining room will be replete with festive adornments providing the setting for a centrepiece of stuffed turkey ballotine or a rich short rib bourguignon.
South of the river and The Camberwell Arms (65 Camberwell Church Street, SE5, thecamberwellarms.co.uk) is a must, with a £58 or a £65 feasting choice. Dishes include rich beef shin ossobuco, Vacherin dauphinoise potatoes and a pickled walnut salad. Sister pubs the Walmer Castle (58 Ledbury Road, W11, walmercastle-nottinghill.co.uk) and the Surprise (6 Christchurch Terrace, SW3, thesurprise-chelsea.co.uk) are each serving a three-course party menu featuring Jerusalem artichoke velouté, roasted turkey crown and classic Christmas pud. Mince pies too, all for £60 a head.
In Soho, and for another alternative festive feast, Berenjak (27 Romilly Street, W1D, berenjaklondon.com) is set to serve a five-course menu including meygoo jonoobi (BBQ prawns, Kashmiri chilli, roasted garlic) and a mixed grill masti of beef and chicken. Lots of hummus too. At £65 per person, it looks a treat.
And in Bloomsbury, Cafe Deco (43 Store Street, WC1E, cafe-deco.co.uk) is serving a £70 menu which includes savoury snacks such as devils on horseback and eggs mayonnaise before hearty roast beef with horseradish cream and trimmings-a-plenty. Treacle sponge with custard to finish, because at Christmas, we eat puddings.
