Booking the Christmas party? Get the room sorted first

The good rooms for December are usually gone by the end of September. So whether it's a team, a family or a group of friends, book the room first and argue about the menu later.

How December works

Most dining rooms for hire in central London quote a minimum spend, not a room fee. In December the minimum goes up, and Thursday and Friday nights in the first three weeks are the dearest; the give is at lunch, on Sunday evenings and in the dead week between Christmas and New Year.

For any group over ten, expect a set or sharing menu. Kitchens do it so they can feed a room of twenty at once, and it keeps the bill predictable, which matters when someone else is signing it off. Get the wine list in advance and agree a per-head drinks figure, or you'll be making decisions at the table with a sommelier hovering.

A deposit is normal. Read the cancellation terms before signing, because plenty of rooms go non-refundable a fortnight out and final numbers are often fixed 72 hours before. Ask, too, for the minimum spend on your date, what counts towards it (service charge usually doesn't), the latest you can keep the room and whether it's properly private or just screened off from the main restaurant, since the answers vary far more than the websites let on.

Smaller tables: Claridge's and Bob Bob Ricard

For a small group that wants to be near the cooking, Claridge's in Mayfair has a chef's table in L'Epicerie for 14, plus The Painter's Room and other spaces for bigger parties. It's the classic December address, and the lobby tree does half the evening's work for you. Book through the hotel's private dining team rather than the restaurant line.

Bob Bob Ricard in Soho has a room for up to 18, with set menus from £95 a head. It suits a party that wants a bit of theatre without the stiffness: polished brass, booths, and house rules (no under-15s, a dress code) that keep things grown-up. For a team dinner that should feel like a treat rather than a work do, it's a good shout.

Bigger groups: Kanishka, HIDE and Spring

Atul Kochhar's Kanishka on Maddox Street hosts groups of anything from eight people up to 100, which makes it one of the few Mayfair places that can take a whole department. Indian cooking also solves the December problem of the fourth turkey dinner in a week. Ask about sharing menus for bigger groups.

HIDE, on Piccadilly, holds a Michelin star and has several rooms of different sizes looking over Green Park. The cellar is serious, and if you give the team a budget they'll build a wine flight round the menu. It sits between Green Park station and the Ritz, so it's easy for guests coming from offices all over the West End.

Skye Gyngell's Spring, inside Somerset House on the Strand, has The Salon, which seats around 36. In December the courtyard outside usually becomes the ice rink, which takes care of the after-dinner plan. The cooking is seasonal and leans on vegetables, handy when half the guest list has had enough rich food for one month.

Food hygiene ratings for the places in this guide

Official fact Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, checked 23 September 2026. 5 is the top rating.

Name	Registered address	Rating	Inspected
Bob Bob Ricard	1 Upper James Street, W1F 9DE	5	Oct 2025
Kanishka	17-19 Maddox Street, W1S 2QH	5	Oct 2025
HIDE	85-87 Piccadilly, W1J 7NB	4	Aug 2026

Ratings cover hygiene only, not food quality. Matched by name and address; a venue not shown was not found or could not be matched with confidence.