Celebrate the holiday season in style with Tempus’ round-up of London’s best festive feasts

As much of the UK eases its lockdown restrictions restaurants are once again, to our delight, open for business. With an array of exquisite fine dining options to choose from in London, it can be tricky to narrow down where to spend your time. Hopefully, we can make the decision a little bit easier for you by selecting our favourite venues offering the finest fare for the holiday season. From The Grill at the Dorchester’s four-course festive dinner to a less traditional meal at Engawa London – hello, 12-course Christmas Wagyu menu – you can’t make the wrong choice with our decedent selection of restaurants, below.

The Dorchester: The Grill Restaurant and Bar

Capture the magic of Christmas by celebrating with The Dorchester. Its renowned Grill Restaurant and Bar will be open throughout Christmas and New Year, offering guests a selection of seasonal menus including the four-course festive menu by Head Chef Tom Booton, which is accompanied by live music. Also available is Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester’s six-course Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day lunch and extravagant seven-course New Year’s Eve dinner, all perfectly executed by executive chef Jean-Philippe Blondet. 
New for 2020 is The Dorchester’s festive al fresco Winter Garden, nestled underneath its plane tree it's the perfect spot to enjoy its Christmas facade decor. The Winter Garden features two heated private Garden Globes, which seat up to five guests each. Each globe is equipped with Johnstons of Elgin blankets to ensure you’re kept cosy all while enjoying the three-course Winter Garden Chefs’ menu. Treat yourself to one, (or more to be merrier), of Dorchester’s festive cocktails, such as Naughty or Nice mulled wine or a Snowflake Negroni, all created by its award winning alchemists and led by cocktail connoisseur, Giuliano Morandin.  

Pétrus by Gordon Ramsay

Set between Belgravia and Knightsbridge, Michelin-starred restaurant Pétrus by Gordon Ramsay is serving an impressive selection of festive menus, including Christmas and New Year’s Eve, full of elegant modern and classic French cuisine. Wine connoisseurs will be in their element choosing a fine wine to pair with the food – though, of course, the expert sommelier will be on hand if you prefer a suggestion. The extensive wine list includes an array of wines from around the world, but is most famous for vintages from its namesake Chateau Pétrus, in Bordeaux.
Should you be looking to celebrate in extra-special style opt for Pétrus’ Prestige Menu, which offers a taste of Pétrus through exquisite seasonal dishes, such as beautiful Isle of Skye scallops and grilled Dexter short rib of beef, to picture-perfect desserts like the Meyer lemon parfait. If you’re looking to indulge in the ultimate Pétrus dining experience, choose to dine at the Kitchen Table where you will be served a seven-course bespoke menu (available for up to six guests), right in front of the kitchen pass.

Engawa London

If you fancy something different from the classic Christmas menu, why not opt for traditional Japanese cuisine? Engawa London is one of London’s most authentic Japanese restaurants, specialising in the finest Kobe beef. Feel festive and indulge in the very best Japanese food with Engwa London’s 12-course Christmas Special Wagyu menu (available from 4-27 Dec) offering guests a welcome champagne cocktail upon arrival, delicious plates of Kagoshima beef sirloin, sushi and much more.

Hakkasan

Award-winning Hakkasan offers modern fine-dining Chinese cuisine in its 12 locations worldwide, including in the prestigious London locations of Mayfair and Hanway Place, Fitzrovia. Indulge in a decadent Christmas at Hakkasan with its new festive signature menu featuring its most popular dishes alongside new creations such as crispy citrus chicken with kumquat and wok fry venison with charcoal grilled bone marrow.Should you prefer to dine in the comfort of your own home, it’s all available for “hosted by Hakkasan’s” bespoke home service.  

Dalloway Terrace

The highly instagrammable Dalloway Terrace is transformed for the festive season into an outdoor winter wonderland, featuring picture-perfect seasonal display by McQueens Flowers, new culinary dishes and an addictively great cocktail list (with names inspired by chat-up lines about the cold weather) in collaboration with Belvedere Vodka. Take a sip of “I didn’t think I was a snowman but you just made me melt” –a fruity mix of Belvedere Vodka, Mancino Rosso Chinotto and Blackberry Guinness garnished with frozen winter berries – created exclusively for Dalloway Terrace. Festive additions have also been added to the menu, including Christmas classics of Le Gruyere Premier Cru Fondue served with toasted rosemary focaccia, pickles and potatoes, Roast Loin of Venison served with braised red cabbage, celeriac mash and madeira jus, and a Christmas favourite – Chateaubriand fillet with king oyster mushrooms and black truffle jus.
The Kensington and The Marylebone – also part of The Bloomsbury hotel and sister properties – will be offering special Christmas and New Years menus too.

TĪNG Lounge and Restaurant

From December until March 2021, the Shangri-La Hotel, at The Shard in London, is offering multi-sensory experiences including après-ski afternoon tea at TĪNG Lounge and Restaurant, on level 35, or guests are welcome to opt for a more traditional Christmas Day dinner. On New Year’s Eve the venue will host an Après Ski White Party where guests will enjoy a five-course menu accompanied with fine-wine pairings. In want of a hearty winter fare? Head down to Bar 31 where you can indulge in dishes such as Raclette and Schnitzel. Come New Year’s evening head on up to GŎNG Bar, on level 52, and indulge in the breathtaking views of London’s skyline, the perfect start to 2021.

The Athenaeum Hotel

This stylish Mayfair based five-star hotel is offering guests an enjoyable Festive Afternoon Tea with sandwiches, scones and sweet treats like clementine and white chocolate trifle. If you’re wanting to spend Christmas Day away from home, Athenaeum’s Christmas Menu will be sure to satisfy, featuring dishes such as, sweet potato and thyme gougère, roasted chicken and chestnut velouté, Paris Mushroom toast, bronze turkey ballotine, sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and roasting juices and, of course, classic Christmas pudding served with brandy sauce and tonka bean ice cream. Delicious and decadent!

Frog by Adam Handling

Celebrate Christmas in Covent Garden where Adam Handling’s flagship restaurant, Frog, is situated. Festive additions to the à la carte menu include the likes of goose, stuffing, chestnut, and all the trimmings as well as innovative twists on classic desserts. Handling’s seven-course tasting menu includes decadent dishes such as Wagyu lobster and can be paired with a choice of two wine pairing menus. Continue the festivity in the Eve Bar where fun festive cocktails have been created.

Hot Stone

Located in Islington’s Chapel Market, Hot Stone has returned from its Covid-19 lockdown closure with a new Omakase concept that showcases “inventive molecular gastronomy and impeccable top-end sushi.” The Omakase menu consists of 17 meticulously prepared courses, kobachi small plates, sushi sashimi and more. Moreish desserts, such as aubergine ice cream and wagyu chocolate, enhance the new menu and are certain to become a firm favourite of lovers of Japanese cuisine.

Hive at Selfridges

Experience a new honey-based culinary concept restaurant in the high-end department store of Selfridges. Offering modern interiors that pay homage to the honey-making bees, which are viewable outside of the window thanks to plant boxes filled with florals pollinated by the restaurant's very own bee population. The creative all-day menu offers diners fresh dishes all created with natural honey. Hive also offer a range of honey and cheese pairings to be enjoyed, including Comte and Chestnut Honey, and Fourme d’Ambert with Buckwheat honey.

Cinnamon Bazaar

If you’re seeking a less conventional Christmas eatery head down to Covent Garden’s Maiden Lane where the modern Indian restaurant Cinnamon Bazaar is located. Inside its vibrant interior will raise your spirits and its exclusive garam masala mince pie will have you feeling fully festive. Owner Vivek Singh’s Mince Pie Naan is a unique twist on a classic Christmas indulgence. Sink your teeth into its acclaimed buttery naan bread and you’ll be pleased to find inside the prized homemade mincemeat, matured for six months in three types of alcohol, add a scoop of cinnamon ice cream on the side for a sweet treat you won’t want to share.

Related: Our pick of the top Christmas hampers to impress your guests this season

Ikoyi 

Situated just off Regent Street, in the exclusive St James’s Market, Ikoyi is a stylish restaurant that offers a unique fine-dining experience of a spice-based cuisine that focuses on West African flavours and British micro-seasonality. Its new Winter Menu delivers vibrancy to the high-grade seasonal produce used bringing innovative flavour combinations to its diners. Indulge in divine dishes, such as crab and malted barley brioche and plantain with persevered cabbage, all bursting with flavour and meticulously plated. New to this year Ikoyi will remain open on New Year’s Eve where you can book its distinctive Blind Tasting Menu (£160.00) that will be served, to our delight, with a glass of champagne.