Combining the decadence of Christmas lunch at your favourite London restaurant, with the luxury of being able to pass out on your sofa in a gravy-stained fugue state straight after: here's our pick of London's festive meal kits for delivery.
Bubala — Vegetarian Festive Feast
A four-course feast from east London mezze-slingers Bubala, the Festive Feast's an elaborate vegetarian spread — think dishes like za'atar dusted labneh, whipped carrot with coriander oil, crispy parsnips with zhoug and date syrup, and a main course of roasted celeriac with sumac onions and miso sauce.
Details: £95 for two people.
Order the Bubala Vegetarian Festive Feast.
Andi Oliver — the Caribbean rum-glazed ham
Studded with cloves, poached in spices: the Caribbean-spiced ham from Andi Oliver looks relatively low effort and extremely high-swagger, with little more prep work involved than some pre-oven and mid-roast basting with the brown sugar and rum glaze. And the chilli shrimp mac and cheese — cooked in a chilli and langoustine bisque, topped with coconut-crumb prawns — might technically be meant as a bolt-on side dish, but it's bringing a lot of main character energy.
Details: £75 for four people, and an extra £16 for a side of chilli shrimp mac and cheese, delivery on 16 and 23 December.
Order the Andi Oliver Caribbean rum-glazed ham.
Swaledale Butchers — the Christmas meat box
A swaggering 4.5kg of free-range meat from butchers Swaledale, this is one for turkey refuseniks. The centrepiece is a rolled sirloin joint, along with a (huge) dry-cured ham rump, and a lot of pigs in blankets. All the meat you need, basically, to make a Tudor-banqueting-hall level of food for 8+ people on Christmas Day, and still be eating leftovers well into Twixtmas.
Details: £110, delivery 20-24 December.
Order the Swaledale Christmas meat box.
Gunpowder — the Festive Stuffed Chicken
Rather than an entire meal kit, the centre of Gunpowder's festive offering is a stuffed chicken — a twist on murgh mussallam, the cornfed chicken's marinated in yoghurt, roasted red peppers, and tandoori spices then stuffed with pork mince, dried apricots, hot lime, mango pickle, ginger, chilli, and a boiled egg. Delivered up to you with very little to do other than scatter it with more spices, roast, and serve it in a sea of Gunpowder’s makhani sauce. You can also order extra sides and starters to go with it.
Details: £35 for the stuffed chicken, delivery on 16 and 23 December.
Order the Gunpowder Festive Stuffed Chicken.
Simon Rogan — the five-course Christmas box
The Simon Rogan meal kit boxes are relatively high prep compared to some others — but instructions are clear, and Christmas is a time to get everything in your kitchen dirty in the pursuit of ultimate hedonism. Their Christmas box is built along indulgent and trad lines — five courses, sides, and snacks, including an artichoke, cheese and chestnut starter, potted and smoked salmon, turkey with rillettes, and an array of sides, desserts, and decadent frills. There's also a vegetarian menu that gives the meat version some solid competition for allure.
Pricey, but the fact you can bespoke it a bit — order per person, rather than in batches of two, choose from meat and vegetarian options per person, and choose a lot of extra flourishes (wine, cheese, truffles) to add — is an added bonus.
Details: £95 a head, delivery on 22 December.
Order the Simon Rogan five-course Christmas box.
