Christmas 2025: London’s Best Festive MenusBy Josh Pedro
Christmas in London is about more than just turkey and trimmings. From creative plant-based feasts and festive pasta to luxury hotel dining and grab-and-go comfort food, the city’s Christmas menus for 2025 are more varied than ever. Here’s where to eat this December, whether you’re booking weeks ahead or planning something spontaneous.
If you’re still deciding how to spend the season, don’t miss our round-up of London’s best Christmas-themed events
1. For Festive South African Fare: Vivat Bacchus
The Lowdown: Vivat Bacchus brings a South African–inspired Christmas to its London restaurants this season, serving family-style festive menus until 23 December. Try your hand at Cape Malay cuisine with starters such as spiced lentil bobotie pâté, Cape Malay cured cod or beef carpaccio. Mains include squash and mushroom wellington, Brannas and Coke gammon, Karoo-style roast lamb, and turkey and boerewors sosatie. Plenty of words you’ve likely never heard before, so definitely one for the curious
What: £57.50 per person for three courses
Where: London Bridge and Farringdon
2. For Festive Italian: Pasta Evangelists
The Lowdown: Artisan fresh pasta restaurant Pasta Evangelists has released a limited-edition festive menu, featuring some genuinely creative interpretations. Highlights include a vegan nut roast lasagne, black truffle and burrata soli, festive squash and chestnut agnolotti, and pigs in blankets ravioli. You can also learn how to make these dishes yourself in their pasta-making classes.
What: Festive specials from £13.50
Where: Multiple locations across London and available for delivery
3. For a Plant-Based Menu: Mallow
The Lowdown: Inspired by European Christmas markets, Mallow’s six-course plant-based festive feast brings Borough Market’s seasonal spirit to life. Begin with mixed marinated olives, rosemary focaccia and porcini truffle parfait with port jelly, followed by fig and fennel bitter leaf salad, beetroot and sweet potato tortelloni with citrus pesto, and a roast squash strudel. The main course features celeriac purée with sautéed winter greens, heirloom carrots, pumpkin and potatoes, finished with rich port gravy, before ending with pistachio and white chocolate tiramisu and handmade sea salt truffles. A vegan Christmas done properly.
What: £60 per person for six courses
Where: Borough Market, London Bridge
4. For Ramen: Shoryu
The Lowdown: Shoryu’s Kurisumasu Menu includes a festive mocktail, a special ramen, a side, and dessert, plus one lucky dip per person. Festive specials include the Kurisumasu ramen, a playful twist on pigs in blankets, alongside Brussels sprout tempura and, for dessert, snowman-shaped vanilla mochi. The Shoryu JFC Chicken Bucket (£20) is a nod to the curious Japanese Christmas tradition of eating KFC on Christmas Day.
What: £35 per person for the Kurisumasu menu
Where: London (Soho, Carnaby, Regent St, Covent Garden and Shoreditch), Oxford and Manchester.
5. For On-The-Go Bites: B Bagel
The Lowdown: Want your festive flavour fix while on the move? Pick up one of B Bagel’s much-loved Christmas bagels. Baked on site, the Holly Jolly Turkey Bagel and the Tofu Tinsel Treat are both packed with traditional festive flavours and served with a side of brandy-infused gravy for dipping.
What: £9.50 takeaway, £11.50 eat in (including salad or crisps)
Where: Soho, Strand, Chelsea, Highgate, Camden, Tottenham Court Road, New Oxford Street
6. For an Upmarket Feed: The Winter Garden Restaurant
The Lowdown: Dine beneath The Winter Garden’s glittering, decorated atrium with a refined three-course menu, paired with a welcome glass of Taittinger Champagne. Highlights include salted cod brandade croquettes and butternut squash velouté, slow-cooked short rib of beef, poached loin of hake with platinum caviar, and Christmas pudding with cognac sauce. For a full festive splurge, there is also a lavish Christmas Day buffet luncheon with free-flowing Taittinger Rosé Champagne for £425 per person.
What: £72 per person for a three-course lunch with a glass of Taittinger Champagne (£82 for dinner)
Where: The Landmark London, Marylebone
7. For a Taste of France: Balthazar
The Lowdown: Step into the romance, decadence and theatrical glamour of cabaret at Balthazar this Christmas. Draped in red velvet and gold, the restaurant becomes a glittering celebration of Parisian allure in the heart of London. Expect Christmas classics with a French twist. Start with dishes such as Balthazar house-cured salmon, roasted pumpkin soup or pressed confit pork terrine. Mains include turkey ballotine, seafood tagliatelle and moules marinière with frites, before finishing with desserts ranging from crème brûlée to classic Christmas pudding.
What: £29.50 for the three-course festive menu
Where: Covent Garden
8. For Festive Mexican: Taco Bros
The Lowdown: Taco Bros is a third-generation, family-run taqueria newly opened in East Finchley, following rave reviews for its taco truck. This festive season, they are offering a set menu for £32 per person. Start with a festive cocktail such as the spiced apple margarita, followed by guacamole and a sizzling main of either half a chicken or portobello mushrooms. Finish with cinnamon churros or tres leches.
What: £32 per person for the festive set menu
Where: East Finchley
9. For Pub Classics: The Cavendish
The Lowdown: The Cavendish is a charming, historic Marylebone pub with just the right level of cosy warmth and characterful decorations to really capture the Christmas spirit. Starters such as creamy salsify soup and house-cured salmon set the tone, while confit hispi cabbage and the turkey dinner deliver hearty pub classics. Don’t skip the drinks either, from the signature mulled wine to a carrot cake punch and a cherry and chocolate Manhattan.
What: £70 per person for the set menu (à la carte also available)
Where: Marylebone
10. For Indian Dishes and Snacks: Mint Leaf
The Lowdown: If you’re bored of the usual Christmas flavours, Mint Leaf’s festive sharing menus could be just the thing. You’ll still find nods to tradition, such as oven-roast turkey and white chocolate panna cotta, alongside plenty of classic, warming Indian dishes well suited to a cold December.
What: Festive set menus from £42.50 per person
Where: Bank
11. For British Bites: The Gore
The Lowdown: The Gore has deep ties to rock ’n’ roll history, most famously hosting the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet album launch party in 1968. In the same space, Bar 190, they are hosting Christmas carol evenings on 19 and 20 December. Pair the carols with a festive pre-theatre menu, starting with a choice of terrine, celeriac velouté or chicken and mushroom vol-au-vent. Mains are classic, with options including roasted venison, herb gnocchi and halibut fillet.
What: £55 for three courses, £50 for two courses (pre-theatre menu)
Where: Kensington
Many of these festive menus are available for a limited time throughout December and often sell out well in advance, particularly for larger groups and key dates. If you’re planning a Christmas meal in London for 2025, it’s worth booking early to secure your spot at one of the city’s standout festive tables.
