the last-minute london christmas party edit

Upstairs dining room; ask for the whole first floor

The pub of the moment. Candlelight, pared-back rooms and Bib Gourmand cooking on All Saints Road.

First-floor dining room

Michelin-starred pub food in a wood-panelled room above a proper East End boozer.

Upstairs room; whole-bird and pork-shoulder feasts

The pub people cross the river for. Order the feasts for the table and let it get loud.

Private room 20 · The Gluepot 10 · whole pub 100 / 150

JKS’s 18th-century pub with named snugs and an English sparkling list. Ask for the Gluepot.

Rose Room 35 / 45 with its own horseshoe bar · whole pub 90 / 150

A private bar inside a private room. Georgian details, big roasts, King’s Road postcode.

Charlotte Room 12 · Victoria Room 20 · Conservatory 24 · Restaurant 36

Cubitt House’s prettiest pub, with four rooms so you can scale the night up or down.

The Fireplace 20 / 40 (from £1.6k) · Chelsea Room 18 · The Bistro 38 / 60 (from £3.3k) · ground floor 70

One of Chelsea’s oldest pubs, with a fireplace room and wine from its own Sussex vineyard.

Blue Room 16 / 30 (from £1k) · Front Room 25 / 40 · Dining Room 40 · Courtyard 55 / 70

Sister to the Pelican. Same taste, more rooms, far easier to book.

Upstairs dining rooms; bedrooms for anyone staying over

North London’s great gastropub, on the edge of the Heath. Order the Scotch eggs for the table.

Private room for 8

Michelin-starred live-fire Mediterranean in terracotta tiles and blood-orange mohair.

Exclusive hire, 12 at the counter

Michelin-starred counter in the cellar of The Blue Posts. Take all twelve seats.

Exclusive hire, 24 around the horseshoe

Steel counter, open fire, North African plates. At 24 the whole room is the party.

Countertop table 10 · rooms for 20 and 28 (from £2.4k)

Two wine importers and an ex-Lasdun chef in a Smithfield house that survived the Great Fire.

Upstairs room, 14 · feasting menu from £85pp

Victorian booths downstairs, candelabras up. The feasting menu is the move.

Supra table 16 · Bar Kinky below, 17

Modern Georgian feast upstairs, red-lit cocktail den downstairs. Two rooms, one night.

Private room, 14

Chrome-edged seafood counter. Oysters, ceviche and martinis for a table that wants to look good.

Blue Room 16 / 20 (from £750) · Upstairs 16 / 22 (from £1.2k)

London’s smallest wine shop with two rooms upstairs. Low-intervention bottles and snacks from the Crudo team.

Private room 12 / 15 (from £750) · whole venue 45 / 60 (from £5k)

San Sebastián pintxos at a marble counter, with sister restaurant Lurra over the road.

Garden Room 8 · Pasta Room 10 · Terrace 20 · menus from £95pp

Michelin-starred Britalian. The Garden Room is the prettiest small room in EC1.

Private room 12 (from £1.5k) · first floor 20 / 40

Amber light, leopard portraits and South African sharing plates.

Private room 36 / 45 (£2–4k) · courtyard 24 / 30

Basque grill with a covered courtyard for the smokers. Txuleta for the table.

Drawing Room 34 · Arts Room 45 · Big Snug 20

Grade II Georgian townhouse, working fireplaces, Tel Aviv home cooking.

Jungli 6 · Tamasha 10 · Raja Rani 12 (£500–800) · Verandah 40 / 60

Punjabi party mansion. The private rooms have DJ booths for a reason.

The Cockatoo 54–60 (from £2.5k) · whole warehouse 200 / 350

Own bar, own kitchen, a 1930s baby grand. Dinner upstairs, the party below.

Tom Dixon Arch 22 / 60 · first floor and terrace 30 / 60 (from £2.8k)

Tom Dixon’s canalside arches. The design crowd’s canteen.

About 60 seated / 100 standing, full buyout only

The old judges’ dining room of an 18th-century courthouse. Peeling plaster, candlelight, the room everyone asks for. Terraces close at 10pm.

20 / 35

Thomas Straker’s all-day place on Golborne Road. Cheap to take over, looks expensive.

35

Central and Eastern European wine bar. Low-intervention list, neighbourhood crowd.

36

José Pizarro’s most personal room. Terracotta, art on every wall, Extremadura on a plate.

43 / 60

North London’s best neighbourhood restaurant, yours for the night.

56 / 65 (from £2k)

All-you-can-eat raclette and French countryside cooking. Christmas in one sentence.

42–120 (from about £3.4k)

A Living Voice sound system that changes a room. Hand it to a DJ you trust.

Bar Room 60–80 / 150 · full buyout 150 / 300+ · Christmas menu £85pp

Parquet, Wolfgang Tillmans photographs, a 9m iroko bar and a planted terrace. The best-designed big room in central London.

Whole house 110 / 250 (hire from £6k + VAT) · first floor and cellars 70 / 120

Georgian mansion packed with LASSCO antiques and chandeliers. Cocktails, dinner and dancing on three floors.

76 (Naked & Famous room 35) · from £9.5k

Greek island energy in a loud, good-looking room. Plates get smashed on request.

80 · lower ground 40 / 50 (from £5k)

A 1969 institution with real cult status. The whole house is a party.

The Studio 200 / 450 (from £10k) · Library 14 / 20

Art-filled hall in a converted car showroom, with Pollini’s cooking and the gallery thrown in.