Resy’s Guide To Celebrating Christmas In London

Few places are better suited for hosting Christmas dinner than a good pub, and few do it better than the Royal Oak. Along with the Columbia Road location, as a venue it’s pretty much perfect for treating your nearest and dearest—the upstairs dining room is intimate but comfortable, the classic menu (fact: buttermilk brine makes for a better turkey) reads like a dream, and for afters, the pub itself is just a tipsy stumble downstairs.

City establishments tend to follow a well-trod path, but barbecue master Neil Rankin isn’t a chef known for following the rules. Temper City, his grandest project, is an exemplar of cooking interesting food while making people happy; whole joints cook over open fire in the centre of a dining room that accommodates entire crews with ease. Eat tacos and slow-cooked meat, while downing G&Ts to a good-time soundtrack—there are few more enjoyable dining rooms in the City. 

Renowned for creative, delicious food using wild and foraged ingredients, Native’s ultra-seasonal approach has won it plenty of plaudits. Taken in the restaurant’s private room or leafy dining area, a festive meal reflects the best of whatever’s available locally: wood pigeon ‘kebab’ and wild mallard with squash are appropriately seasonal fare, while even snacks and desserts incorporate chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes’ zero-waste approach to food.

Stem’s December menu is a svelte, refined take on a seasonal lunch—Shalom Harlow at a Christmas gala, if you will. Yes, there’s roast goose, egg custard tart, and Christmas pudding ice cream, but chef Sam Ashton-Booth’s execution is anything but ordinary, and star GM Emma Underwood’s service makes a meal here a pleasure from start to finish.

East Londoners pack Ombra’s dining room to sip negronis, natural wine, and feast on chef Mitshel Ibrahim’s excellent pasta and desserts. The restaurant’s festive menus are the bucolic Italian escape most can only dream of, with both fully vegetarian and omnivorous offerings—guinea fowl tortellini and winter truffle risotto are standouts, with equal consideration given to their walnut cake with nocino custard and a boozy, satisfying tiramisu.

The rumours are true—festive party hats and dry turkey are not universally adored. Pied à Terre is the antidote to seasonal cliche, a quintessential fine dining restaurant where manners and cheer are as abundant as petits fours and dreamy wine flights. A new refurb has kept things fresh, while a sublime tasting menu offers partridge with cranberry, and seasonal grace notes like an extravagant chocolate indulgence with chestnuts and dulce de leche.  

A little slice of France in Shepherd’s Bush, Albertine goes all-in on the wine bar-cum-bistro vibe, and pulls it off. The bar downstairs is buzzing, but the upstairs dining room is where you’ll want to be—there’s Riesling-braised turkey or beef with Cafe de Paris butter, followed by clementine pannacotta for dessert. It’s like enjoying the works at home, except with much, much better wine.

While hardly traditional, Pique-Nique in Bermondsey serves a Christmas dinner that’s a very delicious (and very Francophile) departure from goose or turkey. Chateaubriand is an obvious choice, were it not for a Bresse chicken accompanied by morel sauce that vies for attention. The restaurant’s legendary soufflé is essential, all accompanied by plentiful wine. Take your best friends—this is the stuff of last suppers.