Christmas Day at £90, £100, £105 and £120, plus festive menus from £43: eleven Islington pubs and restaurants with 2026 prices, deposits and booking rules.

For Christmas Day in Islington, the menus most people will find are at the Duchess of Kent on Liverpool Road (£90), the Narrowboat by the canal (£100), the Canonbury Tavern (£105) and the Crown on Cloudesley Road (£120 with a glass of English sparkling wine). For a festive meal earlier in December, three courses start at £45 at the Highbury Barn Tavern. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 1 November 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the price printed on the venue’s own Christmas menu, what that includes, when it runs and what the venue says about booking, plus the Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating from Islington Council’s inspections. Prices exclude service unless we say otherwise; most places here add a discretionary 12.5%.

Open on Christmas Day

1. The Duchess of Kent, Liverpool Road

The Duchess of Kent is the Young’s pub at 441 Liverpool Road, on the Holloway side of Barnsbury. Its Christmas page says it is open from 12pm to 6pm on Christmas Day, and the Christmas Day menu costs £90 a head.

That is the same Young’s Christmas Day menu as the Narrowboat and the Canonbury, at a lower price: starters such as baked south coast scallops or venison carpaccio, then a crown of English turkey with maple roast gammon, duck breast and pigs in blankets, sirloin of beef, halibut, or a beetroot, truffle and mushroom Wellington for plant-based guests, all with Yorkshire pudding and goose fat roast potatoes. In December the three-course Festive Feast is £46.

The dining room at the back seats 52.

Open Christmas Day 12pm to 6pm; Christmas Eve 12pm to 10.30pm; Boxing Day 12pm to 10.30pm
Price Christmas Day £90; children's Christmas Day menu £45 (3 courses); Festive Feast £46 (3 courses); discretionary 12.5% service
Booking Christmas Day paid in full in advance, menu choices by 1 December (Young's terms)
Call 020 7609 7104
Address 441 Liverpool Road, N7 8PR
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 1 September 2026
Website theduchessofkent.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for children's menu, plant-based main, dining room for 52

2. The Narrowboat, St Peter’s Street

The Narrowboat is the Young’s pub at 119 St Peter’s Street, on the Regent’s Canal, about ten minutes’ walk from Angel station by its own account. Its Christmas page lists Christmas Day hours of 12pm to 6pm and links a Christmas Day menu at £100 a head, with the turkey, gammon and duck main, aged sirloin, halibut or the vegan Wellington, Christmas pudding with brandy butter ice cream and a mince pie to finish.

On other December days the three-course festive menu is £50. The Lower Deck downstairs, with its own bar, takes 45 seated or 60 standing.

Open Christmas Day 12pm to 6pm; Christmas Eve 11am to 10.30pm; Boxing Day 12pm to 10.30pm
Price Christmas Day £100; children's Christmas Day menu £60 (3 courses); festive menu £50 (3 courses); discretionary 12.5% service
Booking by enquiry through the Book Now button; Christmas Day paid in full in advance (Young's terms)
Call 020 3040 7245
Address 119 St Peter's Street, N1 8PZ
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 31 January 2025
Website thenarrowboatpub.com/christmas
Good for canalside, private room for 45, plant-based main

3. The Canonbury Tavern, Canonbury Place

The Canonbury is the Young’s pub at 21 Canonbury Place, and its Christmas page describes a dining room with “roaring open fire and elegant French doors leading out to a peaceful garden”. It is open from 12pm to 6pm on Christmas Day with a £105 menu, the most expensive of the three Young’s pubs here for the same dishes.

The children’s Christmas Day menu, a half-sized version with turkey or beef, is £75. The pub’s FAQ says Christmas bookings are made by enquiry, with a £10 a head holding deposit and pre-orders at least two weeks ahead.

The upstairs Spencer Room, with its own bar, seats 35.

Open Christmas Day 12pm to 6pm; Christmas Eve 11am to 9pm; Boxing Day 12pm to 10.30pm
Price Christmas Day £105; children's Christmas Day menu £75 (3 courses); festive menu £55 (3 courses); discretionary 12.5% service
Booking by enquiry; £10 a head holding deposit, pre-orders two weeks ahead; Christmas Day paid in full in advance
Call 020 7704 2887
Address 21 Canonbury Place, N1 2NS
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 5 June 2026
Website thecanonbury.co.uk/christmas
Good for open fire, garden, private room for 35, crackers provided

4. The Crown, Cloudesley Road

The Crown is the Fuller’s pub at 116 Cloudesley Road in Barnsbury, which its own site lists as a historic pub with a real fire and a garden that welcomes dogs. Its Christmas Day menu is £120 a head and starts with a glass of English sparkling wine and canapés, including a cauliflower and Wookey Hole cheese croquette and a smoked salmon blini, before starters such as prawn and queen scallop ravioli or chicken liver parfait.

The children’s Christmas Day menu is £60 for under-13s. The December Christmas menu is £43 for two courses or £47 for three, with a glass of Prosecco for £7 more.

Price Christmas Day £120 with a glass of English sparkling wine; children 12 and under £60; Christmas menu £43 (2 courses), £47 (3 courses)
Booking online or by phone
Call 020 7837 7107
Address 116 Cloudesley Road, N1 0EB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 28 July 2026
Website crownislington.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for real fire, garden, dogs welcome, children's menu

December festive menus (closed or no menu on Christmas Day)

5. The Drapers Arms, Barnsbury Street

The Drapers Arms is the independent pub and dining room at 44 Barnsbury Street. Its Christmas Feasting Menu 2026 is served family style on sharing platters: the table chooses two dishes from each course, such as burrata with marinated peppers, Scottish mussels or ham hock, then suet crust turkey and bacon pie, whole market fish or pig’s cheek with chorizo, and sticky toffee pudding or apple and rhubarb crumble.

A 35-day aged côte de boeuf is £10 a head extra. The pub needs ten working days to guarantee your choices, and vegetarians are served from the à la carte menu on the day.

The site does not list Christmas Day opening.

Price Christmas Feasting Menu £58 (2 courses), £64 (3 courses); cheese platter for eight £60; 12.5% service on party bookings
Booking online; choices ten working days ahead
Call 020 7619 0348
Address 44 Barnsbury Street, N1 1ER
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 12 February 2026
Website thedrapersarms.com/book-your-christmas-menu-2026.php
Good for sharing platters, groups, côte de boeuf

6. The Albion, Thornhill Road

The Albion is the pub at 10 Thornhill Road in Barnsbury. Its Festive Feasting Menu 2026 is for groups of 15 and over, served sharing style at £65 a head: sourdough with whipped truffle butter, then duck liver parfait, beetroot and gin cured trout and aubergine fritti, followed by roast turkey, beef Wellington and baked whole plaice with Brussels sprouts, pigs in blankets and a winter leaf salad, and Christmas pudding with brandy custard.

A wild mushroom vol-au-vent is the vegan main. The menu’s policy asks £25 a head to secure the booking and final numbers seven days before, after which the full price is charged.

Price Festive Feasting Menu £65 (groups of 15 or more); discretionary 12.5% service
Booking £25 a head deposit; final numbers seven days before, then charged in full
Call 020 7607 7450
Address 10 Thornhill Road, N1 1HW
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 8 September 2026
Website the-albion.co.uk
Good for large groups, sharing menu, vegan main

7. The Duke of Cambridge, St Peter’s Street

The Duke of Cambridge at 30 St Peter’s Street calls itself Britain’s first organic pub, certified by the Soil Association since 1998, and is now part of the Culpeper Family group. Its Christmas menu costs £55 a head and runs from 23 November to 23 December for tables of six or more, with burrata (£5 extra) and Angus beef (£10 extra) among the choices.

The brochure says no deposit is taken outside full private hire, but card details confirm the booking, and cancelling within a month of the date can be charged in full. Pre-orders are due a month ahead.

The site says the pub is dog and family friendly, with grown-ups only after 7.30pm.

Price Christmas menu £55; Champagne on arrival £15; cheese £17.50
Booking tables of 6 or more by email to events@dukeorganic.co.uk; pre-order a month ahead
Address 30 St Peter's Street, N1 8JT
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 9 January 2025
Website dukeorganic.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for organic, dogs welcome, families before 7.30pm, groups up to 110

8. The Highbury Barn Tavern, Highbury Park

The Highbury Barn Tavern at 26 Highbury Park is run by Urban Pubs and Bars. Its festive menu is three courses from £45: roast crown of Norfolk turkey with chestnut and thyme stuffing, North Sea cod, confit duck leg or a butternut squash and chestnut Wellington, with an aged sirloin for £8 more, and sticky toffee or Christmas pudding to follow.

The pub’s Christmas page says it is closed on Christmas Day and open from 12pm on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. The dining room seats 45.

Open Christmas Eve 12pm to midnight; closed Christmas Day; Boxing Day 12pm to 11pm
Price festive menu from £45 (3 courses); sides £6 to £8; discretionary 12.5% service
Booking by enquiry on the Christmas page
Call 020 8161 1062
Address 26 Highbury Park, N5 2AB
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 21 June 2024
Website urbanpubsandbars.com/christmas/the-highbury-barn-tavern
Good for vegan main, dining room for 45, whole-pub hire

9. The Fox and Anchor, Charterhouse Street

The Fox and Anchor is the Young’s pub with six bedrooms at 115 Charterhouse Street, opposite Smithfield Market. Its Christmas page calls it “a cosy, atmospheric Victorian pub” and links a three-course Festive Feast at £55 a head.

It opens at 7am on Christmas Eve but is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The Gallery at the back of the bar next door seats 45 for private parties, and the cocktail bar next door can be hired whole for 70.

Open Christmas Eve 7am to 4pm; closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Price Festive Feast £55 (3 courses); sides £7 to £8
Booking online; £10 a head party deposit (Young's terms)
Call 020 7250 1300
Address 115 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6AA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 2 March 2026
Website foxandanchor.com/christmas
Good for rooms upstairs, private room for 45, Smithfield

10. Morito, Exmouth Market

Morito is the Moorish tapas and mezze bar at 32 Exmouth Market, sister to Moro next door. Its Christmas page offers a festive set menu from 23 November for groups of nine or more at £55 a head, or £65 with a Spritz.

The set menu opens with tortilla, chorizo and padrón peppers and whipped houmous with fried cauliflower, then six shared plates chosen from salt cod croquetas, cuttlefish rice, charcoal grilled lamb and chicharrones, with Malaga raisin ice cream and PX sherry or a sherry trifle to finish. Smaller tables can order from a Christmas à la carte with plates from £3 to £18.

Open Mon 12pm to 3pm and 5pm to 10.30pm; Tue to Sat 12pm to 10.30pm; Sun 12pm to 9.30pm
Price Christmas set menu £55, £65 with a Spritz (groups of 9 or more); à la carte plates £3 to £18
Booking events@moro.co.uk
Call 020 7278 7007
Address 32 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 6 May 2026, on Moro's record, which covers the ground floor rear of No. 32
Website morito.co.uk/christmas
Good for Spanish and North African food, groups, vegetarian plates

11. Malmaison London, Charterhouse Square

Malmaison London is the hotel at 18-21 Charterhouse Square in Clerkenwell. Its Christmas page offers a three-course Celebrations Menu in the Chez Mal Brasserie from 18 November to 24 December, from £54.95.

The menu includes a ballotine of free-range turkey with prosciutto and a pig in blanket, slow-braised beef daube and treacle-cured salmon, and private dining packages add crackers, fizz and wine. The hotel says it is closed on Christmas Day.

Open Celebrations Menu 18 November to 24 December; closed Christmas Day
Price Celebrations Menu from £54.95 (3 courses); discretionary 12.5% service
Booking online or through the hotel's enquiry form
Address 18-21 Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6AH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 30 September 2026
Website malmaison.com/locations/london/christmas
Good for private dining, hotel stay, vegan dishes

How we chose

We started from the pubs and restaurants Islington people search for at Christmas, then kept only those whose own website published a 2026 Christmas menu with a price on 1 November 2026, and only those rated 3 or better by the FSA. Prices, dates, deposits and hours are copied from each venue’s own Christmas page or menu PDF; hygiene ratings come from the FSA register. We left out pubs that publish no Christmas menu or price yet, and Moro, whose Christmas page was still showing a September menu. Young’s pubs share one set of booking terms, which say Christmas Day is paid in full in advance.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@islingtontoday.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@islingtontoday.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

For more on the season, see Islington Christmas markets, Santa’s grottos, pantomimes and Christmas shows, Christmas concerts and carols and trains and buses over Christmas. Our things to do in Islington guide and what’s on this month cover the rest of the year, and every pub in the borough is in the Islington pub directory.

Frequently asked questions

Which Islington pubs are open for Christmas dinner on Christmas Day 2026?

Four pubs on this list publish a Christmas Day menu with a price: the Duchess of Kent on Liverpool Road (£90), the Narrowboat on St Peter’s Street (£100), the Canonbury Tavern on Canonbury Place (£105) and the Crown on Cloudesley Road (£120 with a glass of English sparkling wine). The three Young’s pubs serve Christmas Day from 12pm to 6pm. The Fox and Anchor, the Highbury Barn Tavern and Malmaison are closed on Christmas Day.

How much is a Christmas meal in Islington in 2026?

December festive menus on this list start at £43 for two courses at the Crown, £45 for three at the Highbury Barn Tavern and £46 at the Duchess of Kent, and run to £55 at the Canonbury, the Fox and Anchor, the Duke of Cambridge and Morito, £64 at the Drapers Arms and £65 at the Albion. Christmas Day costs £90 to £120 a head. Most add a discretionary 12.5% service charge.

Do Islington pubs want a deposit for Christmas bookings?

Young’s pubs (the Canonbury, the Narrowboat, the Duchess of Kent and the Fox and Anchor) take a £10 a head deposit for parties and want Christmas Day paid in full in advance, with menu choices by 1 December. The Albion asks £25 a head. The Duke of Cambridge takes card details instead of a deposit.