Wondering what’s open on Christmas Day? Your mind is inevitably going to wander to Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner, both popular options come Xmas given you can dine exceptionally well without having to worry about the massive clean-up job that follows.
While most shut up shop for the small stretch of Festive glory in mid-December, there are quite a few Sydney restaurants open on Christmas Day. Most of them offer curated Christmas lunch packages to take care of all needs, while some stay open for dinner and offer selections from their regular a la carte menu.
To help give you a guide on where to eat on Christmas Day, here are our picks for the best restaurants where you can book Christmas Day lunch and Christmas dinner in Sydney.
Restaurants open for Christmas lunch
1. Gowings
Spend your Christmas day at QT Sydney’s acclaimed Gowings. Chef Sean Connolly has put together an elegant four-course Christmas lunch for $289 per person, netting you a glass of Perrier Jouet Blason Rosé on arrival and a selection from the kitchen’s best dishes. Oysters, prawns and tuna crudo are all on the cards, as is golden porchetta, blue eyed cod and a pistachio and raspberry tiramisu. Fork out a bit extra and you’ll be tucking into a 1.2-kilo rib eyes on the bone.
Where: 1/49 Market St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: December 25; from 11:30am
Price: $289 per person
2. Delta Rue
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth’s new star player, Delta Rue, is looking forward to its very first Christmas lunch just weeks after opening at the refreshed five-star hotel. The French-Vietnamese restaurant is offering a long seafood buffet lunch for $249 per adult ($99 per child) with free flowing drinks and live band playing Christmas tunes. Santa might even pop by for a surprise visit.
Where: 61/101 Phillip St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: December 25; 12pm – 3pm
Price: $249 per adult, $99 per child
3. Quay
If you really want to splash some cash for your Christmas Day lunch, look to one of Sydney’s only three-hatted restaurants, Quay. The fine dining icon is offering a five-menu for Christmas lunch, curated by Peter Gilmore featuring dishes like raw scallops with smoked eel cream and sea cucumber crackling and marron with sea urchin, koshihikari rice and marigold broth.
Where: Upper Level Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks NSW 2000
When: December 25; 12pm – 3pm
Price: $650 (additional wine pairing option available)
4. The Langham
One of Sydney’s foremost luxury hotels is hosting a Christmas day lunch at Kitchens on Kent. The Langham’s signature restaurant is swinging their doors open for the afternoon with a share-style Christmas menu designed with families in mind. Tables will covered with plates of fresh seafood, meaty mains, charcuterie and all the request sides, plus a few festive desserts to keep everyone satisfied.
Where: 89-113 Kent St, Millers Point NSW 2000
When: December 25; 12pm – 3pm
Price: $345 per adult, $170 per child. A $75 per person bottomless beverage add-on is also available.
5. Reign at QVB
An epic Christmas buffet with fine Champagne on arrival. Reign at QVB is dialling up the opulence on Christmas Day with a huge, varied program of food that’ll be available from 11am on the day. Book in for an all-you-can-eat buffet with options like oysters, prawns, sashimi, orange maple glazed ham, roast beef with red wine jus, roast turkey breast with cranberry sauce, Yorkshire pudding, Christmas pudding, pavolva and all the other usual suspects like deli meats, cheeses and desserts.
Where: Level 1 Shop 48/455 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: December 25; from 11am
Price: $170 per adult, $80 per child
6. Loulou Bistro
If your idea of a good Christmas lunch is flecked with fine French food, then you’ll love what Loulou Bistro has planned for the big day. The popular Milsons Point restaurant is just a short walk from the water’s edge so indulge in a three-course lunch before heading down and enjoying the views. The kitchen has put together a limited menu for the lunch including dishes like scallop cru with summer berries and verjus, assiette of lamb with petite pois a la Francause, and peaches and cream for dessert.
Where: 61 Lavender St, Milsons Point NSW 2061
When: December 25; available from 11:30am
Price: $195 for three courses ($50 for children’s menu)
7. Kingsleys
A shared, four-course menu with Champagne on arrival at one of Sydney’s top steakhouses is always going to be a tempting proposition for Christmas, no less because it takes place on the breezy, picturesque set of Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf. The kitchen’s four-course Christmas Day menu has been curated from the restaurant’s greatest hits so you’ll have plenty to pick from, including a steak tasting plate, Morton Bay bugs thermidor, and three desserts including a summer-appropriate mango cream brulee.
Where: 10/6 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
When: December 25; 11am or 2pm
Price: $249 for four courses ($55 for children’s menu)
8. Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park
One of Sydney’s longest operating five-star hotels, Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, is taking care of both Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner with two separate buffets this year. With a 3-hour beverage package available for an extra cost, reservations should be hard to come across as the big day approaches. Lunch will be a bigger affair, with lobster thermidor served tableside, while dinner as a full sushi buffet for guests to pick apart.
Where: 161 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: December 25; lunch (12:30pm – 4pm); dinner (6pm – 9:30pm)
Price: $365 per adult (lunch), $175 per child (lunch); $149 per adult (dinner), $60 per child (dinner)
9. The Winery
One of the best bars in Surry Hills has put together a familiar Christmas Day menu packed with Aussie classics like oysters, BBQ prawns and honey-glazed ham. With a glass of Champagne on arrival, the simple Christmas lunch package is hard to beat if you want to celebrate around the inner-city.
Where: 285A Crown St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
When: December 25; 11am seating
Price: $180 per adult, $50 per child
10. Ripples Chowder Bay
Ripples Chowder Bay is a smart choice if you want to spend Christmas Day close to the water’s edge. The sparkling waterfront location makes up the value, lifted by a smart set menu that includes Murray cod croquettes, burrata with char-grilled peaches, roasted pistachios and pomegranate dressing, and wagyu tenderloin with braised leeks, burnt shallots and lime butter sauce.
Where: Building 7 C, Chowder Bay Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
When: December 25; from 11:30am
Price: $295 per adult; $95 per child
11. The Charles
One of the best French restaurants in Sydney CBD has spun a rather sophisticated Christmas lunch menu to pair with the restaurant’s stunning dining room. The three-courser will run through French classics and Christmas favourites like oysters, prawn cocktails, roast dry-age duck and Black Forest cake with indulgent French mains and a range of award-winning wins and cocktails available on the day.
Where: 66 King Street, Sydney NSW 2010
When: December 25; from 11:30am
Price: $195 per adult; $75 per child
12. Continental Deli
Head on out to Newtown’s Continental Deli for a charming, vintage-minded Christmas lunch where a shared banquet menu is complemented with a glass of sparkling on arrival. The feast is centered around a Christmas honey-glazed lamb with pickles, mustard and chutney, with supporting stars including mussel gilas, roasted potatoes with mint paste and garlic creme fraiche, and the kitchen’s signature Continental Christmas pudding served along with honey-drizzled truffle brie.
Where: 210 Australia St, Newtown NSW 2042
When: December 25; from 12pm
Price: $250 per person
continentaldelicatessen.com.au
13. Promenade Bondi Beach
The breezy, open-plan Promenade Bondi Beach makes full of its location opposite the golden sands of Bondi Beach. If this is the perfect scene for your Christmas lunch, book in for The Dining Room’s lavish festive spread. From 11am, the space will be brimming with all the Christmas classics so you can indulge without having the worry about the washing up.
Where: 4a Queen Elizabeth Dr, Bondi Beach NSW 2026
When: December 25; from 11am
Price: $299 per adult; $99 per child
14. Chiosco by Omeggio
Alessandro Pavoni’s generous family-style Italian restaurant, Chiosco, should be another easy pick for Christmas lunch if you’re sticking to the leafy suburb of Mosman. The kitchen will be one of the few in the area that stays open on Christmas Day, offering two-hour bookings with selections from a special three-course feasting menu featuring all the coastal Italian classics you need to ferry to family over to the Mediterranean for a few hours.
Where: d’Albora Marina, Spit Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
When: December 25; from 11:30am
Price: $275 per adult; $90 per child
15. Osteria Coogee
One of the most affordable Christmas menus going around Sydney this year is the $180 per person, four-courser at Osteria Coogee. The breezy Italian restaurant is hosting a Christmas Day lunch feast that takes place just steps from the beach, with airy classics like crudo and prawn caserecce, as well as pochetta served with stuff, rolled and roasted pork belly, and a ferrero roche cheesecake for dessert.
Where: 31 Alfreda St, Coogee NSW 2034
When: December 25; 11:30am – 2pm
Price: $180 per person
16. O Bar & Dining
The best Christmas lunches in Sydney have several pricing options, take care of every aspect of the meal, and can replicate the kind of lavish spread you’ll find in any well-to-do dining room on Xmas day. O Bar & Dining is ticking all those boxes with the revolving restaurant’s Christmas Day special. The menu is offered as either a 5-course lunch ($345 per person) and a 3-course dinner (5:30pm – 8:30pm) with the full a la carte menu to choose from.
Where: Australia Square, level 47/264 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
When: December 25; lunch (12pm – 2:30pm) or dinner (5:30pm – 8:30pm)
Price: $345 (lunch), $245 (dinner), $130 (children for a 3-course lunch or 3-course dinner)
17. Otto Ristrorante
Those spectacular waterfront views and easy, breezy vibe of Wooloomooloo’s symbolic Finger Wharf make Otto Ristrorante an easy sell any day of the year. Throw in an epic Christmas feast and it’s no wonder this waterside restaurant is watching reservations fly out the door. This year, the kitchen is offering two lunches options. First, you’ve got a 4-course set with a glass of Champagne on arrival for $545 per person, with all outdoor seating. It’s less expensive if you’re fine with sitting inside, with a 3-course sharing menu served on the upper level for $350 per person. Kids dine for $120 per child.
Where: Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
When: December 25; from 11am
Price: $545 (outdoors), $350 (indoors)
18. Captain Cook Cruises
One of the most popular Christmas Day lunch ideas is to take the family out on Sydney Harbour. And if you don’t own a boat to do so, the next best option is to book a Christmas lunch cruise. Captain Cook Cruises sort this option each year, offering a cruise package that sets sail at 12pm, tracking Sydney Harbour for over three hours with guests choosing between three, four and six courses paired with beverages and a swift reminder why we live in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
Where: Sydney Harbour
When: December 25; 12 – 3:30pm
Price: $229 per adult (excluding drinks packages)
Restaurants open for Christmas dinner
19. Me-Gal
Taronga Zoo’s picturesque fine dining restaurant, Me-Gal, is throwing its creative little Santa’s hat in the ring with its own Christmas Day dinner menu. The three-courser takes from the menu’s highlight so you’ll be able to pick between king prawn tataki, lemon myrtle brined turkey breast, ora king salmon and a rich chocolate forest with lychee caviar. The most valuable player here is the view, with plenty of natural light pulled in by those floor-to-ceiling picture windows.
Where: 2A Bradleys Head Rd, Mosman NSW 2088
When: December 25; from 5pm
Price: $250 for adults, $100 for children (aged 7-12), $50 for children (under 7)
20. a’Mare
Alessandro Pavoni’s swanky Italian restaurant at Crown Sydney is nodding to both Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner this year with a $295 per person tasting menu built from the kitchen’s most festive dishes. Both services feature a $295 tasting menu that tracks the kitchen’s signatures including tableside pesto trofie, grilled rock lobster and tiramisu.
Where: Level 1/1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
When: December 25; lunch (from 11:30am), dinner (from 5:30pm)
Price: $295 for adults, $60 for children
21. Woodcut
Crown Sydney is also keeping Woodcut open for Christmas Day this year. Ross Lusted’s flame-licked kitchen is plating up a selection of the regular menu’s greatest hits for both lunch and dinner. You’ll get a 4-course set from $390 per adult for lunch, or you can pick from the a la carte menu at dinner.
Where: Level 1/1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
When: December 25; lunch (from 11:30am), dinner (from 5:30pm)
Price: $390 per adult (lunch), $130 per child (lunch)
22. Sokyo
Sokyo is the top pick for Christmas dinner if you’re after authentic Japanese flavours. The Star’s signature restaurant will be open for lunch through dinner with a number of curated Christmas Day specials on offer, planning an absolute smorgasbord of luxurious foods like a $800 lobster sashimi platter with toro, scampi and caviar, and a la carte highlights such as a $85 smoked pork rib and potato dish with bacon creme.
Where: The Darling, Level G, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont NSW 2009
When: December 25; from 11:30am
Price: Varies ($800 for the lobster sashimi platter)
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