tkirving Posted November 8, 2016 #1 Share Posted November 8, 2016 We will be arriving in London on Christmas day and can't seem to figure out if there are restaurants and/or pubs open. We don't need to eat at a 5 star restaurant that will cost a family of 4 over $500. I would love to hear any suggestions you might have... (including non-traditional christmas dinners) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted November 8, 2016 #2 Share Posted November 8, 2016 We will be arriving in London on Christmas day and can't seem to figure out if there are restaurants and/or pubs open. We don't need to eat at a 5 star restaurant that will cost a family of 4 over $500. I would love to hear any suggestions you might have... (including non-traditional christmas dinners) Chinatown where you will meet many of the other Americans in London that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisRiver Posted November 8, 2016 #3 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Where are you staying? Taxis may be hard to find. Chinatown is a good recommendation if you are in Central London. You may get better answers if you post on Trip Advisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatters cruiser Posted November 8, 2016 #4 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Taxis will be more difficult to find, and worse Public Transport such as buses and the Underground are closed on Christmas Day. Knowing where your hotel is could be important for, and even in most pubs on Christmas Day a reservation may be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanexile81 Posted November 8, 2016 #5 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Christmas Lunch on the 25th is expensive anywhere in the UK. I live just outside Edinburgh and even our local restaurant is charging £85 per person. You will almost certainly pay well over the odds at Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare insidecabin Posted November 8, 2016 #6 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Wetherspoons are relatively reasonable out of London, not sure in. https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/christmas/christmas-meals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob++ Posted November 8, 2016 #7 Share Posted November 8, 2016 (edited) London is crammed with ethnic restaurants: Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Thai, among many others from non Christian countries. As a last resort, I have no doubt that the usual fast food places like Macky D and KFC will be open for business. As said above, you may well have to rely on Shanks's Pony, so find one near to the hotel. If you really want to save money, go to a supermarket and make yourself a picnic. If you want 'special' go to Fortnum and Mason and get them to make you up a picnic to eat in your room. https://www.fortnumandmason.com/ Dinner for four, in a 'proper' restaurant in london, would likely cost more than $500 on a normal weekday. Edited November 8, 2016 by Bob++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonTowner Posted November 8, 2016 #8 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Without knowing where you are staying it is difficult to advise. Many restaurants in Covent Garden open on Christmas Day. I think you will be hard pushed to find any time of restaurant offering lunch for four less than 100 USD. Although bear in mind we use GBP. If you need to take a taxi they will charge double on Christmas Day and there is no public transport. If you do a Google search you will find details of restaurants that are open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatters cruiser Posted November 8, 2016 #9 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Wetherspoons are relatively reasonable out of London, not sure in. https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/christmas/christmas-meals According to the link the Wetherspoons festive menu is served from the 14th of November until the 22nd of December, it does not give the link for their menu for Christmas Day itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towncar T Posted November 8, 2016 #10 Share Posted November 8, 2016 $500? Family of four? Christmas Day??? You'll be lucky! I think your best bet might be to see what your hotel is offering on that day. The places that are open will be heavily booked and charging premium prices. Good luck!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted November 8, 2016 #11 Share Posted November 8, 2016 Some 'chain' restaurants will be open - e.g. Bella Italia, a pretty ordinary Italian chain, has a Christmas Day menu at £44-95 and availability at their Leicester Square branch. Your location is pretty key to all this. When looking online, please don't mistake 'Christmas menu' (probably available throughout December, except the 25th) for 'Christmas day menu', by the way. You say you are arriving in London on Christmas Day - I hope you have factored in the transport issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted November 8, 2016 #12 Share Posted November 8, 2016 According to the link the Wetherspoons festive menu is served from the 14th of November until the 22nd of December, it does not give the link for their menu for Christmas Day itself. And this from their Christmas 2016 FAQ page: When do your pubs open on Christmas Day and is food available? The majority of our pubs will be open on Christmas day; however, opening times may vary. With the exception of our pubs at Airports, we will not be serving food. So discount Wetherspoons unless at an airport! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janrey1234 Posted November 8, 2016 #13 Share Posted November 8, 2016 (edited) Try this link to a variety of restaurants and pricing. There is limited to no public transportation on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. The tube will not run Christmas. http://www.opentable.co.uk/promo.aspx?pid=584&m=72 Edited November 8, 2016 by janrey1234 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducklite Posted November 24, 2016 #14 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I agree with the others that you've got a bit of a pickle between transport and food costs. A proper meal in a restaurant (not pub) will set you back $100 per person, more on Christmas. You can probably prearrange a private car to take you from the airport to your hotel, or use Uber which should still be running. Make sure you have the app set up in advance in your phone, and understand they need to meet you in the short stay lot for your terminal, not at the curb. You should also be able to use Uber to get to a restaurant. Many of the ethnic restaurants will be open, but won't offer a "traditional" Christmas meal. I would use an app like OpenTable or Yelp to find something near your hotel. I would also caution that whatever you think London will cost, add an extra 25-50%. It is the most expensive city we've ever visited, puts NYC and San Francisco to shame. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrJ Berkshire Posted November 24, 2016 #15 Share Posted November 24, 2016 Christmas meal for $500 will be a good deal, very few places will be open, and those that are , will be pre booked only, no walk up and probably about 3x normal prices, ethnic restaurants will open but not a turkey Christmas meal on offer. London on Christmas day will be a ghost town, especially as it's Sunday this year. No transport provided till the 27th, few shops, only small ethnic stores open, cabs rare and expensive and equally few mini cabs either. To get any service you will have to pay way over the odds. The problem is staff don't want to work, and/or can't get in . More likely to find service at Heathrow, hotels here might provide food, but again pre-book. Only tourist location would be to go to a Christmas day service at famous church/ abbey/ cathedral! I wish you well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducklite Posted November 24, 2016 #16 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I'm sure Le Belle Epoch will be open at the Sofitel LHR T5, but you will want to pre book and expect dinner to run $150 pp. that said, it might solve the problem of transport and hoping to find someplace open. The Savoy has what looks to be an exceptional Christmas dinner, but it is ££££ and must be pre booked. Tea at the Savoy would be an option, not a typical dinner but very filling and under $100 pp. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted November 25, 2016 #17 Share Posted November 25, 2016 No transport provided till the 27th ...Where do you get this from? There's plenty of public transport on 26 December: see https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/boxing-day-2016. But I agree with others. Without knowing where the OP is staying, and how they're going to get there from Heathrow, it's impossible to provide any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrJ Berkshire Posted November 26, 2016 #18 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Sorry, meant to post no public transport till 26th, as a limited service on Boxing day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted November 27, 2016 #19 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Sorry, meant to post no public transport till 26th, as a limited service on Boxing day.I think that "limited" may give a misleading impression. It's basically a Sunday service with a slightly late start, subject to a number of specific closures due to planned work (which is not unlike many other Sundays). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLAalum Posted November 29, 2016 #20 Share Posted November 29, 2016 My DD her DH and their 3 teen to twenty sons will be in London on Christmas day. They would like to volunteer somewhere in the city that serves a meal to the needy. We all did this last Christmas here in Ohio and it was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. I thought that the experts here might point me to what opportunities there may be in London that day so I can pass them on to her. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob++ Posted November 29, 2016 #21 Share Posted November 29, 2016 A lot of organisations want more commitment than just the one day, but here is a website that might give you a few leads. http://londonist.com/2016/10/where-to-volunteer-in-london-at-christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatters cruiser Posted November 29, 2016 #22 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Out of that list I would exclude Royal Holloway, unless you can drive there its location in the Surrey countryside make it very difficult to get to. Founders building does look great in the though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted November 29, 2016 #23 Share Posted November 29, 2016 My DD her DH and their 3 teen to twenty sons will be in London on Christmas day. They would like to volunteer somewhere in the city that serves a meal to the needy.Crisis, the first in that list in the Londonist, is perhaps the best known one. Its own volunteering page is here: http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/volunteer-for-crisis-at-christmas-in-london.html. I haven't looked at all of the others, but I would say that despite Royal Holloway's location it is worth clicking through to the Royal Holloway page. While the institution itself is out in Surrey, many of the opportunities that it lists are not located in or confined to Surrey, so there may be some places there that are not on the Londonist's main list. I would sound one note of caution, though. As I haven't done this, I don't know how rigorous these organisations' safeguarding checks are at Christmas. But I do know from personal experience that if you volunteer at non-Christmas times for a role which has direct contact with clients (eg serving a meal to them), many charities are now required to carry out a lot of checks, including a criminal records check (I can't remember whether it's the enhanced version) as well as giving training about safeguarding and just as importantly about personal safety. (It is sadly the case that many clients have psychiatric, psychological and/or behavioural problems.) If your daughter and her family are not based in London but will only be visiting briefly, it's possible that there will be some hurdles in the way of a client-facing role, and it might be as well for them to make clear to the organisations they contact that they will only be visiting London briefly (if that is the case). That would help to ensure that if they find a spot to do this, they don't suffer a last-minute disappointment from what might seem like red tape because they've signed up for a role which they won't actually be able to qualify for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatters cruiser Posted November 29, 2016 #24 Share Posted November 29, 2016 (edited) Royal Holloway, It's my alma mater, as our American friends would put it well technically back then it was Royal Holloway and Bedford New College but that's a bit of a mouthful. I have fond memories of it and if they are doing work closer to London then that could work out well for geographically. I did have a housemate who worked with young offenders at Feltham. Edited November 29, 2016 by Hatters cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLAalum Posted November 29, 2016 #25 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Passed all the helpful links onto DD. Hope something can be arranged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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