Christmas is going to be here sooner than you realize. For us, it’s all about getting together with friends and family over a whole lot of food. Each year Beijing’s favorite hotels and restaurants also get into the holiday spirit with themed meals and brimming buffets as they try to out-holiday-cheer one another.
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Here are our picks for this year’s family-friendly Christmas eats:
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: Nuo Resort Hotel at Universal Beijing
If Nuo Hotel in Lido has a reputation as the decadent boozy brunch hangout, Nuo Resort Hotel at Universal Beijing is the new family-friendly place to be. What could be more festive than Christmas at a theme park? The Nuo Resort at Universal Beijing has gone all out with its buffet, available daily from Christmas Eve until Jan 2. Highlights include a variety of tasty fresh seafood, succulent turkey, ham, outstanding pastries, and cakes from pastry chef Jacopo Bruni, featuring some of your favorite Universal characters. Located on the third floor is their Kids’ Club with different daily activities, toys, and cartoons to keep the young ones entertained. Some activities that require art supplies will require an additional fee.
Add RMB 188 to the price of the buffet for free-flow prosecco, wine, and beer. 5.30-9pm. RMB 388.
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: Feast by East
Feast by East remains one of the best value buffet options in town. Their Christmas Eve full buffet is priced at RMB 488 per person, including free-flow beer and wine, and their Christmas Day buffet is priced at RMB 428 and allows you the option to pick a three-hour slot any time between 11.30am and 9pm. For those who haven’t been to Feast in a while, they’ve completely renovated their Kids’ Corner into a two-story play area filled with swings, slides, a ton of balls, and more toys than they know what to do with.
Christmas Eve: 5.30-9pm. RMB 488
Christmas Day: 11.30am-9pm. RMB 428.
Hulu by TRB and Peach by Hulu
These guys love getting into the holiday spirit – any holiday! Remember their Halloween menu with all sorts of spooktacular items? Well, they’ve made another one for Christmas! What’s more, the pink and white decor is beautiful and true to the brand’s core values, and the teams at Peach and Hulu go above and beyond to accommodate their guests’ needs. Bringing the kids? No problem. There are kid-friendly items on the menu. Bringing a group of babies? Sure, why not! The staff has been known to take a few moments off from their duties to entertain their tiny, wobblier patrons.
Sun-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-midnight.
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: LAD
Lily’s American Diner (aka LAD) is a great option for those who want classic American comfort food. Their Christmas set menu is priced at RMB 219 per person and comes with a choice of ham, turkey, salmon, or Beef Wellington. LAD is also selling whole roasted turkeys for RMB 139/kg (be sure to order in advance).
Open daily from 10am to midnight.
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center
Signature’s restaurant at the Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center is a perennial favorite for Christmas dining, with a dedicated kids’ play area. Expect lots of traditional Christmas meats, plus a German twist with beers from Paulaner Brauhaus.
Christmas Eve: 6-10pm. RMB 788.
Christmas Day: noon-3pm. RMB 588.
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day: Beersmith
Whether you want to dine in or takeaway, Beersmith has all your festive bases covered. In addition to traditional whole roast turkeys, they also have options for smaller groups, such as a barbecue turkey leg or a stuffed turkey breast roll (much easier to carve). Whole turkey sets with all the trimmings are priced at RMB 1,388 dine-in or RMB 1,188 take-out and are available until Dec 31.
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Images: Courtesy of vendors, Pexels
