It’s grown-up Narnia, isn’t it, sitting down to a damn good lunch? When a lunch is good, time stops, it’s like falling in love.
You’d think that every restaurant would have the capabilities to make this kind of luxury bedding possible, but even Michelin stars can’t guarantee the right mix of comfort, candlelight and generosity. And what good is the perfect table in the perfect restaurant if you are laughed at after two hours? In any case, here’s a simple solution: book from 1:30 PM, to avoid kryptonite before a big lunch: the dreaded table change.
Christmas meals are of course not Christmas meals without the pre-dinner drink (nor the after-dinner drink, of course). Therefore, find out The Botree bar at the Botree hotel (30 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2DR, thebotree.com), for premium cocktails in surroundings that suggest both sophistication and pleasant levels of Christmassy giddiness. Ferenc’s Festive Negroni is a must, and there are even oysters on the bar menu if you fancy a little lip-smacker before lunch.
Once you’re sufficiently warmed up, head over to one of these, my 12 Christmas Tables. It’s no time to be a Scrooge.
Noble Rot Mayfair
Ask a regular at Mayfair’s Noble Rot what the best table is for a naughty lunch and they’ll say: “the one at the top of the stairs”. Hidden in a cozy corner, Table 40 is known as The Chave Suite, after the photo of winemaker Jean-Louis Chave’s Les Chalaix vineyard, which hangs over its horseshoe-shaped banquette. Officially designed for four, the Chave can comfortably squeeze six. Stunningly good food, quick service and the daily changing set lunch costs £26 for three courses. Go big on the Coravin list of exceptional fine wines by the glass.
5 Trebeck Street, W1J 7LT, noblerot.co.uk
Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill
It has had its ups and downs over the last 112 years, but since Richard Corrigan took it on almost twenty years ago it has been all ups and downs. Take a seat at the table by the white marble counter, near the oyster shells, where the light is warm and dim, the flowers beautiful, and the soundtrack is jazz and the gentle crackle of shucking. Your starting block is a glass of fizz. Sparkling on the menu are dressed crab, Cornish fish stew, fish pie, sole and creamy mash. The cheese board is an adventure in Irish cheese making. Corrigan should be knighted for his commitment to ensuring people have a good time. If lunch really sticks around, there’s always his secret basement lair for all kinds of fuss, pranks and ballyhoo. Expect a good lunch from £100 per person.
11-15 Swallow Street, W1B 4DG, bentleys.org
The Devonshire Grillroom
The hippest opening this year is undoubtedly a pub, but not just any pub. Devonshire is run by a maestro of conviviality, Irish publican Oisín Rogers, who promises that “this will never be a place where we say no”. Tables are hard to come by – although not impossible, and there are cancellations – but in a few weeks the new Claret Room will open on the second floor, where table 53, a corner sofa by the window, seems the perfect place to sit in to sleep. The cozy, all-you-can-eat pub offers delicious food such as potted prawns, risotto, steak and chips, or a beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding. A set lunch costs £25, but it’s at the Pomerols et al where the check is put to the test.
17 Denman Street, W1D 7HW, devonshiresoho.co.uk
The red lion and the sun
It looks like a suburban liquor store, but Heath Ball’s Highgate Hill institution is better at facilitating long lunches than most posh places uptown. The food is delicious: roasted suckling pig, Singaporean lobster, huge plates of grilled langoustines. Table seven by the window (for six) is the prize seat. There’s a good mix of trendy, skin-contact natural wines for the kids and thumping Rhône, Bordeaux and oak-aged Super Tuscans for the old farts. You can’t go wrong here. Expect to start at around £30 per head, but it can go anywhere.
25 North Road, N6 4BE, theredlionandsun.com
Otto’s French restaurant
There’s no better place than Otto this side of 1972, with its dedication to old-style haute cuisine. The room sparkles with cutlery and the kind of rich French food that takes a week to digest. There is performance and drama at every course, helmed by patrons Otto Tepasse and Elin Hansen. Duck and lobster (£150 and £200 per person respectively) are pressed in an antique silver vice to extract every bit of rich juice and flavour, then flambéed with five types of liquor. L’escargots are available in parsley, garlic and bone marrow. Otto’s is A LOT – and it’s magical. If you like celery juice and clean eating, don’t even think about it. They do everything they can to make sure you are satisfied: one regular guest was so tired after lunch that they put him to sleep on the couch under a blanket and woke him up in time for dinner with a glass of champagne on a salver. Lunch from £70, but the sky’s the limit.
182 Gray’s Inn Road, WC1X 8EW, ottos-restaurant.com
Dorian
They call it a ‘bistro for locals’ and for the billionaire class of neo-Notting Hill it may be. Securing tables here is a matter of negotiation: if you’re a power player who loves caviar rostis and olive-fed beef, there’s nowhere else on the planet like London right now. Once you’re inside, the fishbowl windows make it feel especially good to be inside. There are good vegetable dishes with drop-the-mic. Chef Max Coen has enormous talent, but is just as modest as Australian owner Chris D’Sylva is bold and brash. Always make a reservation for a 2:00 PM lunch, or an 8:00 PM dinner if you’d like to stay seated. Don’t ask for a 7pm table unless you’re Victoria Beckham. The corner tables, 220 and 224, are the best, but are given at D’Sylva’s discretion.
105-107 Talbot Road, W11 2AT, dorianrestaurant.com
Luca
Start with a silky gold Negroni and move to table 180, near the back of the roaring fireplace in the conservatory. Heaven. Luca has a Michelin star and the food is neat and serious, but the Italian energy keeps it light. Italian cuisine here revolves around British ingredients: Orkney scallops, Jerusalem artichokes, Cornish mussels (and the five-course meal is a bargain at £95). The wine list is full of tempting Tuscan vintages. Owners Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith circulate and exude charm. The bar is also an atmosphere at the end of a long lunch.
88 St John Street, EC1M 4EH, luca.restaurant
LPM
Given the expansive surroundings of neighboring Mayfair, it feels very naughty to leave this sleek and timeless dining room feeling slightly dazed and hazy, after a lunch of fine white Burgundies and velvet Clarets. No restaurant survives the 15-year milestone without some serious culinary delights and so it is here: come for Christmas as it might happen on the Riviera, with great shrimp platters, for King Crab tarts, for mussel-studded linguini and fries. chicken pampered with lemon. Service is discreet; no eyebrows are raised when the third bottle is ordered. The cocktail list is also daunting: a faux pas to overlook it, isn’t it?
53-54 Brook’s Mews, W1K 4EG, lpmrestaurants.com
The dining room of The Goring
The dining room has a grand hotel space. Swarovski chandeliers bathe the room in festive twinkling light, while the heaviest yellow-gold curtains only enhance the magic. There’s plenty of action on the trolley, with carved beef Wellington at the table. The food is delicious and has kept its star since 2015. The Goring is the last major family-run hotel in London, the only one with a royal warrant, and surprise faces often appear. The round table 16 seats nine people and is the table you can reserve for a dazzling lunch. It’s quite formal – socializing may be out of fashion – but you’ll feel very special here. The set Christmas lunch for £130 includes their famous lobster omelette (even better with fries).
15 Beeston Place, SW1W 0JW, thegoring.com
Nessa
Slide into the booth, table 77, order a Boho Negroni and delve into Tom Cenci’s eccentric spin on retro favorites. Hearty and rich food still meets many vegetarian and plant-based requirements. The carbonara consists of tender strips of celeriac topped with an egg yolk for richness, and wood-fired leek with a delicious vegan ricotta. A popular LGBTQ+ haunt and just as generous with vegans and veggies as the old fashioned meatheads. The seats are plush, the lighting is low and the buzz is good. Nessa in Soho is a 2023 newcomer that attracts a younger long luncher. The wine list is a mix of funky and classic. Lunch from €70.
86 Brewer Street, W1F 9UB, nessasoho.com
The Marksman
Tables 11 and 12 are on a platform immersed in the comforting buzz of a much-loved pub, yet also somewhat removed. With St. John veterans at the helm, this gem of a Dickensian boozer offers British pub dinners and lunches. Go for creaky floorboards polished by time, pickled bits, smoky bits, pork bits and generous chunks of meat, fish and pies to share. Order a Gibson, champagne with a few oysters, Hereford wing ribs with bone marrow and parsley salad, chips, then cheese and brown butter and honey tart, and expect to spend around £75 per person with wine. The stylish European wine list has made a mistake – look, it’s E2 – but not to its detriment.
254 Hackney Road, E2, marksmanpublichouse.com
The Camberwell arms
High ceilings, lots of natural light, tables and chairs made of reclaimed oak, menu on a dusty blackboard… Frank Boxer, Jackson’s brother, is a third-generation restaurant king and has cleverly disguised one of London’s best restaurants as a welcoming pub. Chef Mike Davis is an alumni of Canton Arm’s Trish Hilferty and serves good seasonal British cuisine with an Italian flair. You know lunch is long when at the end of the shift all the staff sits down and eats the leftovers. Grab a huge cake to share for a cozy feeling. Book table 100, a banquet in a corner overlooking the kitchen, and expect a bill of £40 per person.
65 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8TR, thecamberwellarms.co.uk