Dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in London

Typical Christmas dinner is roast Turkey, roast potatoes, pig in blankets, various veg dishes eg roast parsnips, red cabbage, carrots, gravy and cranberry sauce.

I would expect a lot of places in London to be fully booked for Christmas Day by now and it’s also very expensive to go out on the day itself.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that it’s traditional to eat Christmas (Day) dinner at lunchtime or mid-afternoon rather than in the evening.

Many pubs and restaurants are either closed on Christmas Day or serving an expensive prebooked meal.

It tends to be a day for us Brits to hunker down with family while everything is closed.

You’ll find some ethnic restaurants open, but for a trad British Christmas dinner you’ll either need to self-cater or hope you can find a last-minute booking somewhere.

Christmas Eve, for most, nothing in particular. For Christmas Day, it's normally lunch with roast turkey and all the trimmings, Christmas pud etc. In terms of where, if you haven't booked somewhere yet, it's a good idea to do so if you want something special - many (actually most) restaurants will be closed. In the past, I have noted a few pubs open in and around Westminster, and managed to get in for Christmas lunch without booking (expensive though). Other times we've just bought food from the supermarket early on Christmas Eve, or gone for an ethnic restaurant.

You forgot the sprouts Helen!

And what about the mince pies and Christmas Cake?

And the Christmas pudding.

And the turkey sandwiches at tea time on Christmas Day, washed down by random alcohol, followed by your body weight in Quality Street.

Satsumas and nuts if you’re on a healthy eating kick.

Also some Stilton and crackers.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like lunch/brunch on Christmas Day may be tough to find. We are find with a good pub if anyone knows of any that are open. We are staying around Trafalgar, but could easily bus over to Westminster area.

You will be walking to Westminster. Apart from one HoHo route no buses or tubes run anywhere in London on Christmas Day bar National Express buses to the airports.

And the Christmas crackers? Not edible items but the ones that pop.

Absolutely chuffed when I was first introduced to them!

Thanks everyone. Sounds like lunch/brunch on Christmas Day may be tough to find. We are find with a good pub if anyone knows of any that are open. We are staying around Trafalgar, but could easily bus over to Westminster area.

No public transport in London on Christmas Day. Any pubs that are serving traditional Christmas food will probably need booking - possibly several weeks ago? Oh, I did a Google and the few that I found with availability were charging well over £100 for a Christmas Day meal.

This might help: https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/10-pubs-to-book-for-a-christmas-lunch-in-london

And you could do an Open Table search: https://www.opentable.co.uk/

As I said above, ethnic food - eg restaurants in Chinatown might be easier.

If you’ve not been here before, it really is difficult to get across how closed the UK is on Christmas Day.

Based on all the wise advice so far, I suggest looking at what you can book via Open Table and make a reservation asap. Or, make sure you do some grocery shopping on Christmas Eve, there are many options near Trafalgar Square but likely will close early on the 24th.

OP to add to what has been pointed out regarding transport on Christmas day.

Be prepared to walk and walk some more unless you want to spend your life savings on an uber.

Christmas is about being with family.

For the Christmases spent in London I’ve worn either a Santa cap or antlers ( gag gift ) and meandered about whatever park I was staying near to.

Favored memory with my late partner Bill ( his 1st and only visit to London) was of me wearing those antlers and strolling together through Hyde Park. An elderly couple passed us by and the woman said aloud “ bloody brilliant!” I smiled.

Lovely memory, Claudia.

d in New Orleans, once you get searching on Open Table, you will discover that the majority of pubs and restaurants that open on Christmas Day will be serving a set menu only, often for £100 or more. Staffing is tricky at Christmas as it’s such a big family time, so pubs and restaurants need to make it worth their while paying extra staffing costs and staying open. You’re unlikely to stumble on a pub that’s open and serving normal pub grub, is what I’m saying.

nobody mentioned the bread sauce, the stuffing balls (Paxo), twizzlers and footballs and Turkish Delight, did somebody mention the crackers and panto,

about the sprouts - sprouts on the stick.

then the flaming Christmas Pud, the fruit cake, Brandy Butter..

basically the reason that none of the workers are working, other than the religious import and taking care of the kiddoes, is they drop into a stupor after all that food - just waking up a bit to watch the Queen's King's Speech and many predictable Christmas standards on TV.

Christmas is, basically, the entire country stopping to spend time with the family. And prepare New Years resolutions to lose all that Christmas weight.....

Thanks for all the info and links.

It is not unusual for pubs to open on Christmas day for a few hours around midday, typically 11 to 2 where locals have meet and indulge in few pre-Christmas dinner drinks, so there is reasonable chance you may find one of those with a bit of planning. You won't get anything to eat at most of those, save a packet of crisps or a bag of nuts or scratchings though. You are less likely to get these opening in central London as these pubs tend to rely on business clientele rather than the local community.

Goose was more a traditional bird eaten at Christmas, but that tradition has largely died out post war as Turkey is seen as better value for money. My MiL used insist on goose for Christmas also in some parts of the country roast beef is served.

You may need to eat at the restaurant in your hotel, which is likely to be expensive, but you may have difficulty finding anything else open. Christmas 2014, we stayed at the Hilton in Trafalgar and ate dinner there.

I have spent the last few Christmases in London--excluding, of course, the pandemic. I'll be there again this year.

My suggestion is to contact your hotel and ask what restaurants, or pubs, withing walking distance will be open on Christmas.

If you can forego a "typical" Christmas dinner, many "ethnic" restaurants such as Chinese, Indian and the like may be open as well.

If you are in an apartment, you might consider gathering food the day before, or before that, and do some light cooking.

My two kids and I are also going to be in London over Christmas, and it seems like almost every pub I look at is advertising a Christmas Day menu. Because we're spending a whole week in London together which feels celebratory all on it's own to us, I didn't feel compelled to spend the $300+ for one dinner so I spent ~$75 pre-ordering prepared Christmas food from Marks & Spencer. We pick it up a couple days in advance and will eat it at our rental apartment Christmas Day. Another option to consider if you have space to reheat food...

Trafalgar Square to Westminster is an easy walk, so no need for a bus even if they were running. In general, if we've needed to go further afield on Christmas Day (ie visit family etc) we've pre-booked a minicab, but Uber may be an option (just far fewer around than normal). We try to stay central and just walk around.

Some great ideas about pre-ordering a meal to eat at your accommodation, assuming you have space. While we've always managed to find somewhere that's open, we normally but a few sandwiches etc early on Christmas Eve (shops close early) as a backup.

I spent ~$75 pre-ordering prepared Christmas food from Marks & Spencer. We pick it up a couple days in advance and will eat it at our rental apartment Christmas Day.

This is an extremely traditional Christmas dinner these days! M&S prepared Christmas food is what many British people will be tucking into on the big day.