Christmas Restaurants London

Christmas in London is a busy time for restaurants, and Bocconcino is one of the more established options for festive dining across the season. The two London restaurants in Mayfair and Soho both run a full festive programme from late November into early January: private Christmas parties for groups, festive set menus alongside the standard à la carte, Christmas Day lunch, New Year’s Eve dinner, and gift vouchers for guests who want to give the experience as a present. Both venues take Christmas seriously without turning the dining room into a theme park.

The festive decor goes up in late November and stays up through early January. The kitchen runs the seasonal Italian menu alongside the festive set menu through the period, so guests who would prefer to skip the traditional Christmas dishes still have the regional Italian à la carte to order from. The wine list expands for Christmas with a small festive selection of wines that pair particularly well with the heavier winter dishes, and the cocktail bar runs a Christmas cocktail programme through the season.

Christmas Parties and Private Dining

Christmas party season at Bocconcino runs from late November through to mid-December, with corporate parties, team Christmas dinners, and private group bookings making up most of the calendar. Both venues have dedicated private dining rooms (lower ground floor at Mayfair, multiple spaces at Soho) and both can be combined with the bar areas for standing receptions or after-dinner drinks.

Booking lead time is the main practical consideration: the most popular dates (the Friday and Saturday in mid-December) are typically booked out by mid-October. Smaller midweek bookings remain available later into the season, but it is worth enquiring as soon as the date is fixed. The events team handles the menu, the drinks package, the room configuration and any extras such as a Christmas cake, decorations or a printed menu in advance.

For larger Christmas parties (forty or more), the Soho venue can combine the restaurant with Sotto Bar downstairs, giving the booking a dinner space upstairs and a late drinks space below. For a more formal corporate Christmas dinner, Mayfair’s lower ground floor private rooms are usually the better fit.

Christmas Day Lunch in London

Both Bocconcino venues serve Christmas Day lunch. The Christmas Day menu is a multi-course set menu drawn from the festive Italian and British Christmas tradition: antipasti and cured meats, a soup or pasta course, a choice of main (typically a roast turkey option, a roast beef option, a fish option, and a vegetarian or vegan main), traditional Christmas pudding alongside an Italian dessert option, and Italian coffee. Wine pairings are available and a Champagne option is included on some packages.

Christmas Day bookings open in late summer and tend to be full by mid-November. The price point reflects the day: it is set at the higher end of the standard restaurant calendar, with Champagne and a tailored package included on most bookings. Children are welcome and charged at a reduced rate. The booking is held for a longer slot than a normal lunch to give the table time to enjoy the meal at the right pace.

Festive Italian Menu

Through December the kitchen runs a festive set menu alongside the standard à la carte. The festive menu is built around the Italian Christmas tradition rather than a British one: cured meats and antipasti, a fish course, a slow-cooked meat main, and panettone or Italian Christmas dessert to close. Two and three-course options are available, priced for the festive season. The festive menu is designed to work for both business Christmas dinners and family Christmas lunches, with portion sizes pitched in between.

Vegetarian and vegan festive options run through the menu rather than being added as an afterthought. The traditional Christmas pudding is offered alongside an Italian alternative (typically panettone with mascarpone cream, or a chocolate dessert pulled from the regular menu).

Christmas Cocktails and Italian Wines for Winter

The cocktail bar runs a Christmas cocktail programme from late November. The list rotates each year and typically features a hot toddy, a winter spritz, an espresso martini variant, and a couple of seasonal drinks built around panettone or Italian liqueurs. The standard cocktail list runs alongside the festive programme. Sotto Bar at the Soho venue runs its own separate Christmas cocktail menu, distinct from the restaurant programme.

On the wine side, the festive period is when the heavier Italian reds find their natural pairing. Brunello, Barolo, Amarone and Super Tuscan all pair well with the Christmas Day main courses, and the sommelier team will have a list of recommended bottles for festive tables. Champagne is available by the glass and bottle through the season, and a small festive selection of Italian sparkling wines (Franciacorta, Trento) is added to the by-the-glass list for December.

Christmas Gift Vouchers

Bocconcino gift vouchers are valid at both Mayfair and Soho across all services (à la carte, brunch, Sunday lunch, festive menus). They make a useful Christmas present for guests who can’t make a meal in person, or who want to give the experience as a present and book the date later. Vouchers can be sent digitally or as a physical card with a personal message, in time for Christmas. The gift voucher page on this site has the current denominations and ordering options.

New Year’s Eve at Bocconcino

New Year’s Eve runs as a separate evening from Christmas. Both venues run a New Year’s Eve dinner with a set menu and drinks package. Mayfair is the more formal of the two: a dinner with live music and a luxury evening setting. Soho runs a more energetic evening with a DJ in the restaurant and a separate party at Sotto Bar downstairs. New Year’s Eve bookings open at the same time as the Christmas calendar and are typically full by early December.

Booking, Pricing and What to Expect

The Christmas calendar opens for bookings in October each year. Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and the Friday and Saturday party nights in mid-December are the highest-demand slots and tend to fill first. Standard midweek dinner bookings remain available later into the season. For private dining and large groups, lead time matters more: the events team will be able to confirm availability and a tailored quote within a working day or so of an enquiry. The Christmas section of the booking page on this site is updated each October with the year’s menus and packages.

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