Christmassy Restaurants in London 2026 [15 Festive Places to Eat]

If you want a proper Christmassy meal on a December trip to London, plan around the decorated dining rooms, riverside igloos, and fireside pubs below.

The catch is that the best ones can often book out before most visitors even start thinking about Christmas dinner. Daphne’s fireplace tables book out weeks in advance, Coppa Club’s igloos vanish within days of release, and a Christmas Day lunch anywhere central is usually full by the end of October.

This guide covers 15 Christmassy restaurants, pubs, bars, and dinner experiences for the 2026 season, including festive party cruises, afternoon teas, and Christmas Day options.

Each entry includes the festive menu price, address, and booking details, and the table lists the nearest step-free station. It sits alongside our guides to Christmas in London, Christmas afternoon tea in London, what is open on Christmas Day and festive cruises on the Thames.

Good to know: festive menus go on sale in September and October and run from mid-November to Christmas Eve. December weekend evenings sell out first, and most places take a deposit or full payment when you book.

TIP: There is no Tube, bus or train on Christmas Day, so lunch has to be somewhere you can walk to or reach by taxi. Our pick is the Christmas Day lunch cruise on the Thames: three courses on the river from Westminster Pier, from £175, and it usually sells out in October.

Christmassy restaurants in London at a glance

Venue	Area	What it is	From	Nearest step-free station
Coppa Club Tower Bridge	Tower Hill	Riverside igloos (min of 4 people)	Festive menu £43 or £48	Tower Hill, 8 min
Daphne’s	South Kensington	Decorated dining room	A la carte	Knightsbridge, 15 min
Clos Maggiore	Covent Garden	Conservatory restaurant	Weekday lunch £37.50 or £44.50	Tottenham Court Road, 10 min
Sketch	Mayfair	Afternoon tea	Tasting lunch menu £120	Bond Street, 6 min
34 Mayfair	Mayfair	Decorated grill restaurant	Weekday lunch festive menu £52 3 courses	Bond Street or Green Park, 10 min
Dalloway Terrace	Bloomsbury	Winter terrace	3 course £35 from 5pm – 9pm	Tottenham Court Road, 2 min
The Ivy Chelsea Garden	Chelsea	Restaurant	£55 set menu	None close; bus 11, 19 or 22
Aviary	City	Rooftop views	£64.94 or £49.95 set menu	Moorgate or Liverpool Street, 5 min
The Churchill Arms	Kensington	Pub covered in trees	Pub prices	None close; bus 27, 28 or 52
The Mayflower	Rotherhithe	Riverside pub	£55 set menu	Canada Water, 15 min
The Holly Bush	Hampstead	Village pub	£62	None close
The George	Fitzrovia	Victorian pub	£85 set menu	Bond Street, 10 min
The Tokenhouse	City	City pub	£43 or £47 set menu	Moorgate, 1 min
Miracle on Russell Street	Covent Garden	Christmas cocktail bar	Drinks only	Tottenham Court Road, 10 min
The Great Christmas Feast	West Kensington	Dinner and a show	£150+ticket	Earl’s Court, 10 min
Christmas lunch party cruise	Westminster Pier	Three-course lunch cruise	£75	Westminster, 2 min
Christmas dinner party cruise	Tower Pier	Dinner cruise with a DJ	£86	Tower Hill, 5 min

The decorated dining rooms

These are the restaurants people cross London to photograph, and most are known for the food as well as the room. The fireplace and window tables go first.

1. Daphne’s, South Kensington

Daphne’s is an Italian restaurant on Draycott Avenue that hangs baubles and ribbons from its ceiling every December, with a different theme each year. Last year’s theme was ‘Silent Night’. There are open fires, and we’d ask for a table beside one.

It opens at noon, and the first sitting is quiet so it’s best for seeing the room before it fills up.

Where: 112 Draycott Avenue, SW3 3AE.

Booking: OpenTable or 020 7589 4257.

2. Clos Maggiore, Covent Garden

Clos Maggiore is a small French restaurant on King Street named by Harden’s as London’s most romantic restaurant. Book the conservatory room at the back, where the ceiling is a canopy of blossom branches and lights and there is a fire in winter. 

The seasonal set menu is £44.50 for three courses on a weekday or at a weekend. The tasting menu costs £89 for five courses. The Christmas set menu starts from 29th November and is yet to be revealed. 

Christmas Eve offers a separate prepaid menu at £85 for three courses, including a welcome drink, with sittings from noon to 8 pm. December bookings require a £ 35-per-head deposit at lunch and £45 at dinner. Dress is smart casual.

Where: 33 King Street, WC2E 8JD.

Booking: closmaggiore.com.

3. Sketch, Mayfair

Sketch on Conduit Street is an 18th-century townhouse turned into several very different restaurants, and every winter the whole building is dressed for Christmas to a different theme (2025 was ‘Alpine’). This year’s theme has yet to be announced but will run from 12th November until 6th January 2027.

A three-course lunch menu costs £120 (including half a bottle of wine), and the dinner tasting menu costs £225.

Afternoon tea in the Gallery starts at £95 for adults and £60 for children. It’s expensive for an afternoon tea, but if you want one place purely for the Christmas spectacle, this is it.

Where: 9 Conduit Street, W1S 2XG.

Booking: sketch.london, weeks ahead for December weekends.

4. 34 Mayfair, Grosvenor Square

34 Mayfair is a grill restaurant on the corner of Grosvenor Square. This year’s theme is ‘A Gingerbread House.’ The food is a proper British menu, making it a top pick for couples who want the dinner as much as the decorations.

The festive menu is available on weekdays only from 2nd November between 12pm and 5pm and costs £46 for two courses or £52 for three courses. There is also an à la carte evening menu or a two-course set menu for £34. 

Where: 34 Grosvenor Square, W1K 2HD.

Booking: 34-restaurant.co.uk or 020 3350 3434.

5. Dalloway Terrace, Bloomsbury

Dalloway Terrace is the covered, heated terrace of the Bloomsbury Hotel on Great Russell Street, two minutes from the British Museum. Each winter it is dressed with snow-covered trees, pine cones and lights, so it works as a lunch stop on a museum day as well as a dinner. The Coral Room, the hotel’s bar next door, is the place for a cocktail before or after.

A three-course set lunch or pre-theatre menu costs £35. Afternoon tea costs from £55. 

Where: The Bloomsbury Hotel, 16 to 22 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NN.

Booking: dallowayterrace.com.

6. The Ivy Chelsea Garden, King’s Road

The Ivy Collection restaurants are the easy option. There are more than a dozen across London all of which will be decorated for Christmas.

The Chelsea Garden one on the King’s Road has the best frontage. Its Christmas set menu is £55 for two courses or £65 for three courses, from 4 November to 29 December. The same menu runs at other Ivy restaurants if one is closer to your hotel.

Where: 195 to 197 King’s Road, SW3 5EQ.

Booking: theivychelseagarden.com.

Igloos on the river and the rooftop

7. Coppa Club Tower Bridge

Coppa Club’s cosy igloos are London’s best-known and the ones most people want. A row of heated pods sits on the riverside terrace at Three Quays, looking across the Thames to Tower Bridge, the Shard and HMS Belfast.

Bookings are for two-hour slots and parties of four to eight. Dates are released a few months ahead, and the December dates sell out quickly. Parties of three or fewer can sometimes book off-peak with a minimum spend of around £30 a head.

Coppa Club’s 2026 festive menu costs £43 for two courses or £48 for three courses and is available from 16th November. A set Christmas Day four-course lunch costs £100, including a glass of fizz. The all-day menu of pizzas, grills and sharing plates is served in the igloos too.

Where: 3 Three Quays Walk, Lower Thames Street, EC3R 6AH. Despite the name, it is not beside Tower Bridge; it is about 500 metres along the river, past the Tower of London.

Booking: coppaclub.co.uk/tower

8. Aviary, Finsbury Square

Aviary is the rooftop bar and restaurant on the tenth floor of the Montcalm Royal London House, on the edge of the City. It offers fantastic views over the city, especially at night.

The 2026 festive menu runs from November 23rd to December 25th. The three-course gold package costs £ 64.95, and the silver package costs £ 49.95.  Christmas Day lunch is £165 for three courses and a glass of champagne.

Where: 22 to 25 Finsbury Square, EC2A 1DX.

Booking: Aviary’s Christmas page.

Christmas in a London pub

Pub festive menus run from mid-November until late December. Most pubs require a deposit and a pre-order for groups, and weekday lunch is cheaper and easier to book than a Saturday night.

9. The Churchill Arms, Kensington

The Churchill Arms on Kensington Church Street is covered in lit Christmas trees, more than ninety of them! The 2026 switch-on takes place on Thursday 12 November at 6 pm, and the trees stay up into January. Viewing is free and the pavement opposite fills with people taking photographs from dusk onwards.

It’s a Fuller’s pub with a Thai restaurant in the conservatory at the back and prices are pub prices rather than restaurant ones. There is no festive set menu, and the pub does not take bookings on the switch-on night.

Where: 119 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LN.

Booking: Book the Thai restaurant at churchillarmskensington.co.uk; the bar is walk-in.

10. The Mayflower, Rotherhithe

The Mayflower sits on the river at Rotherhithe (which was the famous ship’s home port before it sailed for America in 1620). It is a low-beamed, candlelit pub with a deck over the water, and it does Christmas the traditional way.

The festive menu runs from November 24th and costs £55 for three courses. There are two sittings on Christmas Day at 1 pm and 3.30 pm and the set menu for the day costs £95. The pub asks for two weeks’ notice on festive bookings.

Where: 117 Rotherhithe Street, SE16 4NF.

Booking: mayflowerpub.co.uk.

11. The Holly Bush, Hampstead

The Holly Bush is a gorgeous Georgian pub up a lane off Heath Street in Hampstead. It boasts a real fire, panelled rooms and the feel of a village pub that happens to be on the Northern line. Dining here partners well with a winter walk on the Heath or viewing the lights in Hampstead village.

Their three course festive menu cost £62 whilst the Christmas Day menu costs £150.

Where: 22 Hollymount, NW3 6SG.

Booking: hollybushhampstead.co.uk or 020 7435 2892.

12. The George, Great Portland Street

The George is a restored Victorian pub a few minutes north of Oxford Circus, and ideal for anyone shopping on Oxford Street or Regent Street. The festive season starts on 16th November, with a festive set menu costing £55pp. 

Where: 55 Great Portland Street, W1W 7LQ.

Booking: thegeorge.london.

13. The Tokenhouse, Moorgate

The Tokenhouse is a Fuller’s owned pub on Moorgate that goes all out on decorations for Christmas. It’s a good option if you’re spending the day at Leadenhall Market and the Tower.

It serves a three-course festive menu, listed at £43 or £47 on weekdays until 7.30 pm. It is usually closed on Christmas Day and shuts at 6 pm on Christmas Eve.  

Where: 4 Moorgate, EC2R 6DA.

Booking: tokenhousemoorgate.co.uk.

A Christmas bar and a Christmas dinner show

14. Miracle on Russell Street, Covent Garden

Miracle is a Christmas cocktail pop-up known for its kitsch decorations. Tinsel covers every surface, 1970s Santas line the walls, and cocktails such as the Christmapolitan are served in novelty mugs.

It runs from 9 November to 30 December in 90-minute sittings that sell out well in advance, though a few tables are held for walk-ins each day. It is a party venue, so it suits groups of friends better than couples.

Where: 9 Russell Street, WC2B 5HZ.

Booking: Miracle’s booking page. 

15. The Great Christmas Feast at The Lost Estate, West Kensington

The Great Christmas Feast takes place in a Victorian-themed hall in West Kensington. It is an immersive performance of Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol which is performed around you while you eat. It is a full evening’s entertainment lasting around three and a half hours, with a three-course dinner served between the acts.

It runs from 6 November to 31 December 2026, with matinee and evening performances. Tickets are £150 for a standard table, £195 for a private one and £235 for a VIP package. All prices have an additional £4.85 booking fee. Preview shows from 6 to 12 November are cheaper at £136. The recommended minimum age is 13, and festive dress is encouraged.

Where: 7-9 Beaumont Avenue, W14 9LP.

Booking: christmasfeast.thelostestate.com.

Christmas party cruises on the Thames

City Cruises runs two festive party cruises throughout December. Both sail the central stretch of the river with the riverside lit up at night. Both cruises are adults-only, and the lunch cruise seats people at tables of ten, so couples will share with other groups.

The Christmas lunch party cruise boards at 12.45 from Westminster Pier and sails from 1pm to 4pm. Guests will enjoy a welcome glass of fizz, a three-course festive lunch, tea and coffee, and a live singer. It costs from £75 a head and runs from 27 November to 20 December.

The Christmas dinner party cruise boards from Tower Pier at 6.15 pm and sails from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. You’ll get a welcome glass of fizz, half a bottle of wine each, a three-course dinner, and a DJ and dancing once the plates are cleared. It costs from £86 a head. The Friday and Saturday sailings sell out first, and the office party season means mid-December is usually very popular. 

Our Christmas cruises guide has the full list, including the Christmas Day sailings, the evening canapés cruise and the hop-on hop-off pass for daytime sightseeing.

Festive afternoon teas in London

A Christmas afternoon tea is the festive meal that fits most easily into a sightseeing day, and London has enough of them to need a guide of their own – so we wrote one! Our Christmas afternoon tea in London guide covers 21 of the best festive teas in the capital, from the Ritz and Claridge’s to the Snowman tea bus, with prices and dates for each.

Our top recommendations are The Library at County Hall (from £75 pp) for views of Big Ben through the window or the ‘Frosted Cocoa Afternoon Tea’ at Strand Palace from a very reasonable £50. 

The Rubens offers a ‘Royal Afternoon Tea’ with views of Buckingham Palace from £70pp, and TĪNG at the Shard offers afternoon tea with a spectacular view over London (35 floors up). Their St. Germain tea costs from £78pp.

The Chinoiserie at the Carlton Tower Jumeirah in Knightsbridge serves a botanical-inspired afternoon tea from £85pp. Last year they also offered festive hot chocolate with a tower of toppings under the hotel’s Christmas tree (£18pp).

Christmas Day lunch in London

There is no public transport running on 25 December so Christmas Day lunch is a hotel dining room, a pub, a cruise, or Chinatown. Whichever venue you choose needs to be within walking distance of your hotel or a short pre-booked taxi ride.

Most venues take full payment in advance, and many are booked up by the end of October. These are the Christmas Day lunches we would look at first for Christmas 2026.

• The Christmas Day lunch cruise. Boarding from Westminster Pier at 11.30am, you’ll enjoy a three course dinner during a three-and-a-quarter-hour sailing. It costs from £175 a head. Dates and prices for the Christmas Day lunch cruise are on the City Cruises site, and our Christmas cruises guide covers the other festive sailings.
• The English Grill at the Rubens, Victoria. Five courses with seating from 1pm to 7pm costing £325 for adults or £162.50 for children under 12. The hotel’s Curry Room serves a Christmas Day menu at £60 to £70, paid in advance.
• Straits Kitchen at the Pan Pacific, Liverpool Street. Fancy something a little different? Enjoy a Singaporean and Malaysian Christmas Day lunch costing £135 for adults and £65 for children.
• Cinnamon Kitchen, City and Battersea. Five courses of Indian cooking and a cinnamon Bellini costing £75 last year. 
• Coppa Club Tower Bridge. Four courses with a glass of fizz for £100.

Our guide to what is open in London on Christmas Day covers church services, Chinatown restaurants, the pubs that open, and how taxis and airport transfers work on the day.

Our guide to what is open in London on Christmas Day covers church services, Chinatown restaurants, the pubs that open, and how taxis and airport transfers work on the day.

Booking a festive meal in London: what to know

A British festive menu means a set price for two or three courses, nearly always with roast turkey and all the trimmings as one of the mains and Christmas pudding as one of the desserts, and often a cracker and a paper hat on the table. Restaurants add a service charge to the bill as standard, usually 12.5%, and print it on the menu.

A deposit or full prepayment is normal for December bookings, particularly for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and pubs generally want a pre-order from parties of six or more. Cancellation windows are short. The same menu is easier to book and often cheaper at lunchtime from Monday to Thursday, plus the decorated rooms will be quieter at lunch if you want to take photos. 

Christmas Eve winds down early. Many restaurants close mid-afternoon on 24 December and many City pubs shut by 6 pm, so an early lunch is the safer plan for that day.

For a cheaper night out, First Table lists London restaurants that give half-price food on the first sitting of the evening, for parties of up to six. The code UKTP10 gives you £3 of booking credit when you join, and in December an early table is often the only one left anyway!

The nearest step-free station for each venue is in the table above. Only a few of these venues publish information about their own entrances and toilets so, if you have mobility issues, we recommend checking with a phone call before booking. Our guide to getting around London covers buses and taxis, which are often the easier choice in December.

All our festive London guides

• Christmas in London 2026: the complete planning guide
• Events in London in December 2026
• Self-guided Christmas lights walk with map
• Christmas shopping in London
• Christmas afternoon tea in London: 21 festive options
• Christmas tours in London: lights, cruises and day trips
• Christmas cruises on the Thames
• What is open in London on Christmas Day
• New Year’s Eve in London

Would you like some help planning your festive trip? Our London Itinerary Planning Consultation is a 60-minute live call with us, and the Video Itinerary Review is a recorded walkthrough of your draft plan. Both fill up in the run-up to Christmas, so it is worth booking early.