Sweating up a storm in the kitchen in the name of culinary delights might put you in the good books of your loving family, but we all need to hang the apron up eventually. Get out of the house and let someone else cook for you at least once this Christmas. With our five-day eating plan you can pick the best of the bunch from our hot, eating-out exclusives over the Christmas week, whichever day you’ve left blank on the calendar.
Xmas Eve - Oscar Restaurant, dinner and a movie
It’s all happening at Oscar’s on Christmas Eve - the swanky restaurant in the Charlotte Street Hotel. Gaze at scenes of contemporary London life as you dine on a three-course concoction of modern European cuisine. Imagine roast foie gras terrine with port wine jus, honey clove glazed ham and mirren braised pumpkin tofu, and can’t you just taste the plum pudding that you didn’t have to make yourself with a few tins from Tescos? Delightful! Oh and you also get to watch a movie afterwards in the hotel’s state of the art cinema. Recline with a drink in the comfy red Italian leather seats and pat your satisfyingly full tummy. This year they’re showing White Christmas, so even if it doesn’t snow on the day, you can still live the dream. Book now
Xmas Day - three course delights at Bluebird Brasserie
Forget the Christmas robins, it’s all about the Bluebird this season. Especially when this one’s offering a feast for all senses to tear you away from the kitchen. Slap bang in the middle of the Kings
Road, Bluebird Brasserie is one of Conran’s classics, and he’s whipping up a three-course Christmas dinner fit for a Prince, (or a Chelsea princess). Picture potted free range goose, Lancashire hot pot, dandelion salad (won’t make you wet the bed this time), and twists on the traditional festive fodder such as iced chestnut parfait with vanilla butterscotch and brandy snaps. You’ll get all this, plus champagne truffles and mince pies for just £50, and let’s not forget the socialising opportunities that come along with it. Well, a good few of those Chelsea chicks and chaps, who don’t want to waste a moment of their social time wearing oven mitts and slippers instead of sparkly dresses and heels, will undoubtedly be propping up the bar afterwards. Book now
Boxing Day – Woodlands Park Hotel Brasserie
Put a seasonal saunter into Surrey on your schedule, with this Boxing Day dining idea. The Woodlands 
Park Hotel in Cobham will welcome you in and warm your cockles with a glass of mulled wine, before serving up a fabulous three-course lunch from their special set menu. Tuck into eggs Benedict with ham and hollandaise sauce, veloute of celeriac with wild mushrooms and thyme, or roast saddle of lamb stuffed with apricots and dates. Whatever it is your tastebuds require, chances are there’s something here to satisfy. And you don’t even have to do the washing up afterwards. Book now
New Years Eve - Chez Gerard Southbank (great for the fireworks!)
It’s the big one – the night you either plan to the second, or ignore completely after everyone cancels at the last minute. Well, this year, why not book something that no one will want to wiggle out of? For just £50 a head, invite your mates for a little taste of something French, with a three course New Year’s Eve celebration dinner at Chez Gerard, Southbank. You’ll each get a free glass of champers on arrival, before choosing from the scrumptious set menu. How about Assiette de deux saumons, Bisque de crabe au gingembre, or Medaillons de filet de boeuf poelé, champignon des prés et sauce béarnaise? If all that doesn’t make sense with your GCSE standard French, maybe you should head over for a lesson yo
u won’t forget? Bring 2007 in with a taste sensation as the fireworks explode outside. Book now
New Years Day – Athenaeum Hotel
If you’ve partied like it was 1999, the dawn of 2007 might have you feeling a little unstable. There’s nothing better to sort you out than a good old-fashioned English breakfast. And we don’t mean greasy bacon butties down the caff, which consequently is never open when you need it to be. We mean a New Year’s Day bunch at the Athenaeum. Right your hurting head with a hair of the dog Bloody Mary or champagne, then bring on the brunch menu. Think Cumberland sausages, field mushrooms and fried bread, farmhouse cheeses or duck eggs in crispy bacon with black pudding. Feast on mini fruit and champagne jellies or sample the ocean's own treats with a seafood display of prawns, crab, lobster and more. Go with your other half and if it’s true what they say about oysters, you can really bring in 2007 in style when you get home… Book now
What a way to endear yourselves to the rest of the country! 5 restaurants and all in the London area, but be careful - Cobham is in the sticks, you may attract riff-raff!!
Posted by: Hywel Davies | 14/12/2006 at 05:03 PM