London restaurants with great festive menus

Most Londoners know about Forza Wine by now. This small plates restaurant and wine bar is a dependable place to have a Good Time, with outlets in Peckham, the South Bank and a new spot in Soho. Their ten-dish Christmas sharing menu comes in at £50 per person and is available from November 16, featuring lovely things such as  eetroot-cured trout with pickled celery, burrata with radicchio and grapes and hazelnuts, as well as pumpkin gnocchi with brown butter and sage. 

The very good looking Cafe Kowloon in London Fields are launching their first ever Cantonese-inspired feasting menu, with a £60 per person sharing offering from November 24. Come with a big group of pals and get stuck into the likes of Wagyu ox cheek curry puffs, steamed market fish and duck crown as well as mushroom claypot rice. 

Cult east London barbecue joint Uncle Hon’s finally has its own permanent space. The Hackney Wick BBQ restaurant has only been open a couple of months, but they’re already on the festive menu bandwagon, with a festive platter featuring soy-brined smoked turkey, typhoon shelter Brussels sprouts, sticky rice and chestnut stuffing with lap cheong and plum sauce. It’s £38 and available from November 25 to December 23.  

Informal but plush, satisfying but not overwhelming, always busy but never rushed, Hoppers is inspired by Sri Lanka and the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with an emphasis on small plates, steaming bowls of curry and the venue’s trademark hoppers – featherlight pancakes precision-engineered for soaking up all manner of spicy, flavoursome treats. They have four branches across London (Soho, Marylebone, Kings Cross and Shoreditch) and their festive menu is a decent £48 a head for mutton rolls with chilli ketchup, bone marrow varuval, hot butter squid, charred hispi cabbage, banana leaf bream and lots and lots of roti.

West End institution J Sheekey is getting into the Christmas spirit with a maritime themed Fisherman’s Christmas set menu (£50 for two courses/£58 for three) that focusses on fine British seafood, served until Jan 4, 2027. Start with a tuna tartare or twice baked cheddar soufflé before pan-fried sea bass or roast Devonshire chicken. For pud you can have gingerbread ice cream sundae or triple chocolate steamed sponge pudding. All in one of the most glam dining rooms in town.

From The Ashes, the barbecue-cooking duo at Hackney’s Five Points Courtyard are getting serious this Christmas. Their festive offering includes smoked turkey breast with cranberry BBQ sauce and pickles, pit roasted pumpkin with burnt onion sauce, toasted pumpkin seeds and crispy cabbage leaves, and a turkey bun filled with stuffing, sausage and chilli jam alongside dipping gravy. We’re most interested in the camembert and walnut mac & cheese. 

Serving the veggie massive for more than a quarter of a century, Mildreds has earned the right to call itself a London institution. Their festive vegan menu comes in at £45 for two courses (£50 for three), with dishes such as arancini alla vodka with faux-chorizo and tomato cream, as well as cranberry harissa shawarma and sticky toffee pudding with apple and butterscotch. Find them in Camden, Kings Cross, Victoria, Soho and Covent Garden. 

The ever-excellent St John is celebrating the season with an £85 a head feasting menu at their bijoux Marylebone branch, for groups of eight or more. Choose from chicken and ox tongue pie, roast goose with goose fat mash, braised lamb with turnips and anchovy and various other meaty platters that will make you feel as if you’re dining at Hampton Court Palace 400 years ago. 

Ever-reliable burger chain Honest Burgers is getting stuck in with a cheap and cheerful set menu. For £22 you can have a camembert Christmas burger with cranberry sauce, bacon, fried camembert and rocket on top of a double smashed beef, classic beef or fried chicken patty. (There is also a vegan Shamembert burger with a Beyond Meat patty and La Vie fake bacon). The set meal also comes with rosemary salted chips, as well as bacon gravy, coleslaw or a green salad, and a soft drink, with a booze upgrade for an extra £2.50. Festive!

Mallow, the sister venue to cult London veggie restaurant Mildreds, is also offering a festive feasting menu. Slightly higher end than its sibling, come to their Borough restaurant for two menus, The Festive Table (£65pp) and The Festive Feast (£75pp), with porcini and truffle parfait en croûte, delica pumpkin vol-au-vent and pistachio praline choux buns. 

All-day Brixton bistro the Laundry is going Alpine for its festive menu, with a raclette feast where you can DIY with hot slabs of cheese on top of new potatoes and cornichons. Add on an order of pigs in blankets for true seasonal energy.