Nine Brighton and Hove pubs and restaurants open on Christmas Day 2026, from a £66.95 pub lunch to £150 at Embers, and deposits listed. Updated November 2026.
Nine pubs and restaurants in Brighton and Hove are open for Christmas Day lunch in 2026, and this guide puts their prices, deposits and booking rules in one place. For a pub lunch, most people land on the Druids Head (£66.95) and the Sussex (£67.95), a few doors apart in The Lanes; for a long lunch by the sea, Pearly Cow and the Harbour Hotel on Kings Road; in Hove, Hove Place on First Avenue. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 8 November 2026.
Christmas Day is a Friday this year. No trains run, and Brighton and Hove Buses run only routes 1, 5B, 7, 12, 28 and 49, so plan the journey home before you book; our Christmas trains and travel page has the details. Almost every Christmas Day table needs a deposit and a pre-order, and the cheaper pub lunches go first.
The Lanes and the town centre
1. The Druids Head, Brighton Place
The Druids Head is the flint-fronted pub on Brighton Place, at the edge of Brighton Square in The Lanes, and Historic England lists the building. It is a Greene King pub, and its Christmas Day page sets out a three-course menu at £66.95, with a children’s Christmas Day menu at £32.95.
The pub promises “traditional turkey dinners, all the tasty trimmings”, with Yorkshire puddings and pigs in blankets, and publishes a separate no-gluten Christmas Day menu. Bookings are confirmed with a £10 deposit for every adult and child.
Price 3 courses £66.95; children's menu £32.95
Booking £10 deposit per adult and per child
Call 01273 325490
Address 9 Brighton Place, BN1 1HJ
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/east-sussex/druids-head/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for The Lanes, children's Christmas Day menu, no-gluten menu, listed building
2. The Sussex, East Street
The Sussex is the cream-fronted pub on East Street in The Lanes, with tables out on the paving in front. It is the cheapest Christmas Day lunch in The Lanes after its neighbour: the Christmas Day page lists three courses at £67.95 and a children’s menu at £28.95.
Puddings run from Christmas pudding with custard or brandy sauce to a vanilla and pistachio cheesecake and a triple chocolate brownie, and a mince pie arrives at the end. A £10 deposit per person secures the table.
Price 3 courses £67.95; children's menu £28.95
Booking £10 deposit per person
Address 33-34 East Street, BN1 1HL
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/east-sussex/sussex/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for The Lanes, children's Christmas Day menu, no-gluten menu, mince pies
3. Coppa Club, Brighton Square
Coppa Club takes up the corner of Brighton Square, with a courtyard on Dolphin Square. Its Christmas page offers a four-course Christmas Day lunch at £100, “beginning with seasonal sharing dishes”, then mains and puddings with mince pies to finish.
The Christmas Day menu has Devon crab tartlet and roast scallops for the table, then turkey crown with honey-glazed gammon, pan-roasted halibut or a wild mushroom Wellington that is plant-based. Children have their own three-course Christmas Day menu at £50.
Price 4 courses £100; children's 3 courses £50
Booking through the Coppa Club site
Call 01273 900731
Address 12-16 Brighton Square, BN1 1HD
Website coppaclub.co.uk/christmas-brighton
Listing Our listing
Good for The Lanes, children's Christmas Day menu, plant-based main, sharing starters
4. Embers, Meeting House Lane
Embers is the wood-fire restaurant on Meeting House Lane run by Dave and Isaac, who say they “have known each other for 15 years”. Its Christmas Day 2026 menu is “all cooked over woodfire”: Yule fizz and snacks from the fire, then duck liver parfait, warm lobster and prawn cocktail or smoked pumpkin minestrone, and a main of smoked turkey breast and leg, an 8oz fillet steak, halibut or a vegan “Vegington” in puff pastry.
Everything comes with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and cauliflower cheese purée. It is the most expensive table in this guide at £150, with under-12s at £65.
Price £150 per person; under 12s £65
Booking online through the restaurant's site
Call 01273 869222
Address 42 Meeting House Lane, BN1 1HB
Website embersbrighton.co.uk/christmas-day-2026-menu
Listing Our listing
Good for The Lanes, wood-fired cooking, vegan main, under-12s price
On the seafront and at the Marina
5. HarBAR + Kitchen, Harbour Hotel, Kings Road
The Harbour Hotel is the white Victorian hotel on the corner of Kings Road and West Street, once the Belgrave, and its seafront restaurant is HarBAR + Kitchen. The hotel’s Christmas page lists Christmas Day lunch in the restaurant at £95 a person, with the menu linked from the same page.
It is the lowest-priced seafront hotel table we found for the day, and the hotel has rooms for anyone making a night of it.
Price £95 per person
Booking through HarBAR + Kitchen on the hotel's site
Call 01273 323221
Address 64 Kings Road, BN1 1NA
Website harbourhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/sussex/harbour-hotel-brighton/christmas-new-year
Good for sea views, hotel rooms, seafront
6. Pearly Cow, Kings Road
Pearly Cow is the steak and seafood restaurant on Kings Road, and it says “Christmas Day is the highlight of the year, so we make sure to get it right”. Its Christmas 2026 page has the Christmas Day menu bookable online: a run of courses from tacos to start through to a cheese course, puddings such as sticky toffee soufflé, and rum and raisin truffles with mini mince pies to finish.
It costs £130 an adult and £65 for children aged 3 to 12.
Price £130 per adult; children 3 to 12 £65
Booking online through the restaurant's site
Call 0330 055 4531
Address 123 Kings Road, BN1 2FA
Website pearlycow.co.uk/pearly-cow-brighton/christmas-at-pearly-cow-brighton-2026
Good for seafront, children's price, cheese course
7. Chez Mal, Malmaison, Brighton Marina
Malmaison sits on the waterfront at Brighton Marina, and its Chez Mal Brasserie and Bar serves Christmas Day lunch. The hotel’s Christmas page prices the “Christmas Day feast” at £119 a head, including a glass of Champagne.
Price £119 per person, including a glass of Champagne
Booking through the hotel's site
Call 01273 041482
Address The Waterfront, Brighton Marina Village, BN2 5WA
Website malmaison.com/locations/brighton/christmas
Good for marina views, Champagne included, hotel rooms
Hove
8. Hove Place, First Avenue
Hove Place is the pub and dining room on First Avenue, just off Church Road, with a garden and a marquee that it says gets “Festivisized” for December. It is candid about the price: “we recognise our Christmas Day menu is on the expensive side”, and says the day always sells out early.
The Christmas Day menu opens with bread and olives, then starters such as beetroot-cured salmon or wild boar terrine, and mains of herb-fed bronze turkey, coffee-braised short rib or a squash and Brighton Blue brioche Wellington. There are three sittings, and tables are capped at six.
Open Christmas Day sittings at 12pm, 2.30pm and 5pm
Price £130 per guest; under 14s £75; pigs in blankets and other extras £6; 10% discretionary service charge
Booking £50 deposit per person, refundable until 11 December; pre-orders two weeks before; maximum six per table; call or email to book with under-14s
Call 01273 738266
Address 37 First Avenue, BN3 2FH
Website hoveplace.co.uk/christmas2026
Listing Our listing
Good for three sittings, garden marquee, vegetarian Wellington, Sussex cheeseboard
Rottingdean
9. The White Horses, High Street, Rottingdean
The White Horses is the gabled hotel on the seafront at the bottom of Rottingdean High Street, above the Undercliff Walk. Its Christmas Day page offers a three-course lunch with “stunning sea views from our beautiful restaurant”, and the Christmas Day menu is £132 a person, with sides such as pigs in blankets, glazed dauphinoise and Gruyère cauliflower cheese charged as extras.
There is a separate children’s menu and a no-gluten menu.
Price £132 per person; sides from £3 extra
Booking deposit £25 per adult and £10 per child
Call 01273 300301
Address High Street, Rottingdean, BN2 7HR
Website thewhitehorseshotel-rottingdean.co.uk/christmas/christmas-day
Good for sea views, children's Christmas Day menu, no-gluten menu, hotel rooms
Already full, or closed on the day
Hotel du Vin on Ship Street is fully booked for its £139.95 Christmas Day lunch. The Lord Nelson Inn on Trafalgar Street is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and opens again on Sunday 27 December. The Plough in Rottingdean and the Ladies Mile in Patcham list Christmas party and buffet menus for December but no Christmas Day lunch.
How we chose
This guide lists the Brighton and Hove pubs and restaurants that publish a Christmas Day 2026 menu with a price, taken from each venue’s own Christmas page or menu on 8 November 2026. Prices, deposits and sittings are as each venue states them, and the cheaper tables fill first. For the rest of December, see our Brighton pubs guide, Brighton restaurants, Sunday roasts, the Christmas lights and market, what’s on this month and things to do in Brighton. If you are thinking of a morning dip first, read what the council says about the Christmas Day swim. More pubs are in the directory.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@brightontimes.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@brightontimes.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.
Frequently asked questions
Which pubs in Brighton are open on Christmas Day 2026?
Two Greene King pubs in The Lanes publish Christmas Day 2026 menus: the Druids Head on Brighton Place (£66.95 for three courses) and the Sussex on East Street (£67.95). Hove Place on First Avenue (£130) and the White Horses in Rottingdean (£132) also serve a Christmas Day lunch. The Lord Nelson Inn on Trafalgar Street is closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
How much is Christmas Day lunch in Brighton in 2026?
From £66.95 a head at the Druids Head and £67.95 at the Sussex, £95 at the Harbour Hotel, £100 for four courses at Coppa Club, £119 at Malmaison, £130 at Pearly Cow and Hove Place, £132 at the White Horses in Rottingdean and £150 at Embers. Most take a deposit when you book, from £10 to £50 a person.
How do I get to a Christmas Day lunch in Brighton without a car?
No trains run on Friday 25 December. Brighton and Hove Buses run a Christmas Day service on routes 1, 5B, 7, 12, 28 and 49 only, so check the timetable home before you book a late sitting, or arrange a taxi in advance.
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