5 Ways to Eat Christmas in London This WeekBy Alicia Grimshaw
Christmas is upon us! To get into the festive spirit, here’s 5 ways to eat Christmas in London this week – from turkey wontons to festive tapas, we’ve got you covered:
1. Eat Christmas in Tapas: OPSO
What: Marylebone-based contemporary Greek restaurant OPSO is treating everyone to a truly different taste experience this season as it launches a Christmas menu with an indigenous twist. Feast on a unique set menu that combines a modern interpretation of traditional Greek festive favourites with the finest quality ingredients.
Why: The menu includes dishes of Venison Tartar, served with a soft boiled quail’s egg and festive beetroot ribbon, and the melt-in-the-mouth Inside Out Xmas Stuffing, slow cooked chicken drumsticks with rice, pine nuts and raisins. To finish, a range of delectable desserts include the decadent Bitter Chocolate Madness served with clementine zest ‘spoon sweet’ and coffee ice cream, alongside traditional Greek favourite Melomakarona, an irresistible sweet olive oil cookie, with thyme honey and walnuts.
Price: Three courses for £40
Where: OPSO, 10 Paddington Street, W1U 5QL
2. Eat Christmas in a Burger: Shake Shack
What: For a taste of the USA this holiday season, Shake Shack are serving up a variety of seasonal items at Covent Garden and Westfield Stratford Shacks. Can’t make it to either branches? You’re in luck, Shake Shack have just opened a new branch at 80 Oxford Street.
Why: Check out the Alpine Bacon Burger – a 100% Aberdeen Angus beef burger topped with melted Appenzeller cheese sauce and British free range Wiltshire cure smoked bacon. For something sweet, order the Gingerbread Apple Caramel concrete – vanilla frozen custard blended with Bread Ahead Ginger cake and almond cider caramel sauce. While you’re there, check out there Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate. Delightful.
Price: Alpine Bacon Burger – £7.25. Gingerbread Apple Caramel concrete – £5.50/£8
Where: Locations here
3. Eat Christmas in Kobe Beef: Sushisamba
What: SUSHISAMBA are celebrating all things Christmas with their own menu ’12 Days of Kobe’. There’s no gold rings or turtle doves but they can promise some unbelievably tasty Kobe beef with 360 degree views of the city.
Why: As one of the select restaurants in the world certified to sell Kobe beef, until Boxing Day the restaurant is running an exclusive Kobe Christmas Menu with 12 Kobe Specials. It’s total beef mania. The meat madness doesn’t stop there, sup on a Kobe Cocktail – the classic Old Fashioned sees Yamazaki Japanese Whisky treated to a wash of the highest grade Kobe fat before being stirred with maple and salted caramel – served over a block of ice.
Price: £6 – £144 (plus Kobe Beef Ishiyaki at £1000)
Where: Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
4. Eat Christmas in Fried Chicken: Flesh and Buns
What: Following its success last year, Flesh & Buns are bringing ‘finger lickin’ holiday cheer back to London with the Japanese Fried Chicken (JFC) Feasting Basket. Only available until 23rd December – get grabbing that sweet, sweet chicken.
Why: Available at the Covent Garden restaurant only, tuck into a steamer basket of buttermilk and shichimi fried half-chicken with BBQ mayonnaise, served with a salad and signature steamed buns, followed by a rich and chocolatey Yamazaki cake and all washed down with a Spiced rum and grenadine hard shake. Get us there asap.
Price: £37.00 for two people
Where: 41 Earlham St, London WC2H 9LX
5. Eat Christmas in a Wonton: Zing Zing
What: North London Chinese takeaway Zing Zing has launched, not one, but two new wontons to celebrate Christmas. Sack off your egg fried rice and order a few of these delicious creations.
Why: The Christmas Wonton is basically a Christmas dinner in one bite. The ingredients include: turkey breast, bacon and stuffing, plus a cranberry sauce to dip your Christmas wontons into. Not forgetting dessert, the Melted Lindt Wontons are up for grabs. The 4 wontons each has a melted Lindt chocolate inside – with varying flavours. Call it ‘Lindt Roulette’, if you will. Come Easter, they make their heavenly Creme Egg Wontons. Egg-cellent stuff.
Price: A portion of four wontons costs £5.95
Where: Locations here
