Skiddle's guide to Christmas Dining in London

Christmas is all about eating, drinking, merrymaking, and eating some more. And where better to do so than London, where such a magnificent variety of restaurants, teahouses, clubs and bars can be found?

So, after some laborious food type research we’ve put together a shortlist of some of the most promising tasting places to enjoy a festive meal or drink.

Now read on, for good times await you...

Disappearing Dining Club - Too Much Is Never Enough

Where: 123 Bethnal Green Rd, Poplar, E2 7DG (a temporary location, it moves!)

Why: First on our list is the Disappearing Dining Club, a pop up eating experience that blends insanely good cooking with the sensibilities of a cool art exhibition or a mystery tour.

Highlights include super exceptional cocktails, a decadent yet delicious four course meal that spans three floors and includes everything from pork scratching to mince pies, and a guided tour of the historic premises whilst you nibble.

They’re currently set up in the atmospheric 123 Bethnal Green Road, a beautiful Victorian corner terrace which in its day job is ‘a gift and fashion concept store, championing young British designers, artists and makers of very nice things’. Which is cool.

The Disappearing Dining Club is a tasty and intimate dining experience and definitely one worth sharing with some good friends.

We recommend it.

Online: disappearingdiningclub.co.uk

Dishoom

Where: 12 Upper St. Martin's Lane, WC2H 9FB

Why: Dishoom is the kind of place you don’t see every day. A Bombay café, serving a hybrid of Indian and western food, along with an unmatched selection of specialty teas. And guess what? Their ‘Bombay In London’ Christmas menu is fully rolled out and ready to go. What’s on offer, you ask?

Ever had a Naughty Chai? It’s Indian style tea but with added ‘Christmas cheer’ – try one spiked with Baileys or Warm Winter Pimms for something very different.

Then there’s things like the Flaming Turkey Raan - a whole leg of turkey, marinated and cooked over a whole day. Served with a spiced cranberry chutney, and Bombay Potatoes. Fusion food indeed!

The ambience is a hybrid, mixing up old Irani café tradition with the hustle and bustle of an Indian metropolis and modern Western sensibilities. Attention to detail is meticulous, the chai glasses imported from Bombay, and with wires drooping from the ceiling to create an authentic feeling. Yeah, wires.

So, if quirky is your thing, try Dishoom.

Hideaway jazz club

Where: 2 Empire Mews Streatham SW16 2ED

Why: The Hideaway is an award winning, South London based jazz, swing, soul and blues venue that’s also focused on getting the dining right. Oh, they do comedy as well. And they’ve been busy preparing for this Christmas, which looks like it’ll sound as good as it tastes.

Choices for your main course include roasted Norfolk turkey with all the traditional trimmings - that’s pigs in blankets, Brussel sprouts, chestnuts, roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, bread and cranberry sauces. Desserts on offer include Christmas pudding with brandy cream.

And for New Years they’re offering seats to ‘New Year's Eve with Soul Purpose,’ which boasts a similarly monstrous menu and another huge musical line up.

Hideaway is one for the live music lovers to enjoy this festive period.

Online: hideawaylive.co.uk

wxyz bar

Where: One Eastern Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock , E16 1FR

Why: wxyz bar is described as a ‘a no-walls, no-limits place’ and may be an appealing stop for the more tech savvy, cocktail loving partygoer this Christmas.

Set in the stylishly modern, urban surroundings of the Aloft London Excel, wxyz focuses on mingling and drinks as oppose sit down dining. This year they’re offering bespoke Christmas-themed cocktails created by Ruth Ball of Alchemist Dreams. Ruth is a qualified chemist who decided to turn her alchemical abilities towards cutting-edge cocktail mixology. Ballsy.

There’s also free wireless and guest DJs, so if you are looking for a more of a ‘club experience’ for your festive occasion, wxyz may be up your street.

Online: aloftlondonexcel.com/wxyz

The Geronimo Inns

Where: Various locations throughout London.

Why: The Geronimo Inns offer a more traditional pub Christmas experience, and this year are going out of their way to get punters in the Christmas spirit with Christmas canapé boards bedecked with mince pies, slivers of smoked salmon (and more). And then there’s the main event – the Christmas Feast menu, which includes overtly opulent items like beer braised steak, with a suet crust and oyster fritter. Or goat’s cheese and roast garlic tart and poached duck egg. Mmmmmmmm.

And asides from food, each of the Inns is putting on some festive, extracurricular activities. What to do? Wine tastings, Christmas quizzes, cooking lessons (each pub will be different!).

Tradition loving foodies and people who are really good at quizzes should definitely give the Geronimo Inns some consideration.

Online: geronimo-inns.co.uk

Inamo

Where: 134-136 Wardour St, Soho, W1F 8ZP

Why: If you like pan Asian food and fancy a futuristic, somewhat quirky eating experience, then why not head down to Soho and check out Inamo? They cite influences from Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean ‘and beyond’ as influences on their menu. Futuristic? Well you order your meals via a touchscreen tabletop. Very Japanese.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Inamo are offering an imaginative, oriental infused Christmas menu. The gastronomical gratification on offer includes duck pancakes, black cod , mushroom toban yaki and Christmas pudding with ginger mirin. They’ve also planned a separate menu for New Years and will be open ‘til very late indeed.

So if you are getting bored with straight European cuisine (hey, it could happen), or if you like fusion food, Inamo could be the place for you.

Find out more and book online

Fire & Stone

Where: Covent Garden, Spitalfields, Westfield

Why: If you’ve not heard of Fire and Stone, they’re building quite a reputation for a flavoursome and adventurous take on Italian cuisine. That means that this year in a (quite cunning) publicity stunt they’ve brought back their limited edition Christmas pizza.

What’s a Christmas pizza you ask? Why – it’s your ENTIRE Christmas main course improbably yet artfully sandwiched onto a pizza. So, a red wine gravy base topped with a medley of roast turkey breast, Brussels sprouts sautéed with pancetta, melted brie, roast potatoes, chipolatas and stuffing, finished with cranberry sauce and chopped parsley. Oh yeah.

And if pizza isn’t your thing, they’re also quite big on the pastas (quite a selection to pick from) and an international array of salads.

So if you fancy a carbolicious (not a real word) Christmas with unorthodox Italian recipes, this year you’ll want to head to Fire and Stone.

Find out more and book online

Cigalon

Where: 115 Chancery Lane, WC2A 1PP

Why: Know much about Corsican cuisine? Perhaps you owe it to your mouth to discover it. That’s where Cigalon comes in. This season’s festive menu has been inspired by the Christmas flavours of Provence and Corsica.

The eatery boasts a double height dining room , a green house styled glass-ceiling, reed fences and singing cicada (we assume it is hiding in a bush or something).

And the food? Luxuriant, of course! Three courses. Dishes such as “Fondant Potimarron with Savory” to start, followed by “Grilled Rump of Venison, Chestnut Polenta, Confit Quince & Rosemary” and then . There’s also an epic selection of Corsican wines.

Fun fact: Cigalon is named after a classic French film of the same name. It’s the story of a stubborn master chef, who refuses to cook for customers he deems unworthy of his talent. No worries though, we’re told the restaurant has not chosen to adopt this approach to business. So go discover. Bon appetite.

Find out more and book online

Bumpkin

Where: Westfield, South Kensington and Notting Hill.

Why: According to The Internet a bumpkin is English slang for ‘An unsophisticated or socially awkward person from the countryside’. And with this said, Bumpkin are all about sourcing and supporting the best of sustainable, authentic and seasonal British produce. Which means that the food is good too. And it won’t be socially awkward.

Bumpkin work to a number of traditional recipes. So, think British cow pie, made with Buccleuch beef, root vegetables and thick gravy, or slow roasted Dingley Dell pork belly with Savoy cabbage and creamed celeriac and apple. Tradition lives!

It follows logically then they have a very British and also delectable Christmas menu. Mulled cider, mince pies, free range turkey with all the trimmings, British cheeses, Yorkshire puddings and more besides. Makes us proud.

So, feeling rustic? Feeling patriotic? Perhaps you’ll want to eat your way through Bumpkin this year.

Book your table at Bumpkin Notting Hill

Book your table at Bumpkin South Kensington

Cookbook Cafe

Where: 1 Hamilton Place, Park Lane, W1J 3QY

Why: Cookbook Café is a pretty nifty idea. Make and sell people nice food and teach them how to do it for themselves. If the timing is right you can drop in and chat with the head chef himself . Strewn about the café are cookbooks of all sorts (see a theme developing here?), and you can book the place for a ‘kitchen party’ (which also seems like a cool idea – especially if your mates are all chefs).

Asides from multiple menus, the Cookbook Café holds a variety of cooking classes, and this Christmas they have a festive theme.

This probably is one for the hardcore foodies, the hands on types who want to eat a good meal but who are also capable of making (or learning to make) something equally as good for themselves.

Find out more and book your table at Cookbook Cafe

Fat Santa Speakeasy

Where: Vinopolis, No.1 Bank End, London, SE1 9BU

Why: Ever visited prohibition era America? Probably not. But that’s not a problem any more, because this Christmas, Vineopolis in Southwark is transformed into a 1920s style speakeasy – and the word is out (we think is a cool marketing idea).

Since this is a Speakeasy, the alcoholic selection is superb and served up to you by waiting staff in 1920s regalia. Then of course there are the three course meals off of the Christmas menu, a DJ, a disco and actual stage managed lighting and atmosphere. Like with what you get at the theatre.

A really fun idea and probably one worth checking out if you are seeking something particularly atmospheric and enjoyed Bugsy Malone. Or drinking.

Online: vinopolis.co.uk/christmas/fat_santas_speakeasy.php

The Moose, Canary Wharf

Where: Canada Square Park, E14 5AH

Why: Ice skating is good ol’ fashion fun. Ice skating after or during drinking and eating is probably not fun. But that’s fine because now you can skate until content and then kick back with some refreshing refreshments and tasty bites . And all in the magnificent setting of Canada Square Park.

The Moose is the Canadian themed onsite bar and eatery of Canary Wharf's Ice Rink. And has lot to offer cold (and possibly bruised skaters) coming off of the ice. Warm mulled wine, a cocktail bar, barbecued delights, festive foods, log fires and a wall with a moose head on it. Yup.

Seems extremely Christmassy if you ask us, and if you are going ice skating you might as well take a look!

Online: canarywharficerink.com/the-moose

Archer Street Bar

Where: 3-4 Archer Street, South Soho, W1D 7AP

Why: The Archer Street Bar, conveniently located on Archer Street in South Soho, has a whimsical, yet inviting take on Christmas. A cocktail bar/restaurant, the bar offers complimentary pre dinner bites in the Italian ‘aperitivo’ tradition. They also have a quite extensive drinks list including some rarities such as things made with coconut water and exclusive Champagnes provided by Billlecart-Salmon. The Archer Street Bar is run in the style of a private, members' only club. Though they tell us it’ll be open to those in the know. And now you know!

And here’s something else to know. Their festive plans. Coming up are Christmas Drinks and Carols Nights in which you can have hot cider, rum, egg nog, mince pies and the works. All the while (quite talented) singing and dancing staff will serenade you with all the yuletide classics. Archer street are calling it pop up entertainment!

So if you fancy carols and warming drinks – check out Archer Street.

Online: archerstreet.co.uk

Our thanks to Nick Telson @ designmynight for some great recommendations!

Words: Jack Oughton

Looking for some festive drinks to wash down your festive meal? Check out our Christmas Cocktail guide.

Find more London Restaurants and book your table online in our London Dining Out guide.