The Foodie’s Pocket Guide To Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is Asia’s biggest holiday – and London’s celebrations are the largest in Europe. This year, London’s celebratory parade will make its way through the West End on 22nd February to celebrate The Year of the Horse, and food plays an important part in the celebration. In Chinese culture, the horse is a symbol of freedom, energy, and adventure – sounds like it could be an interesting year…
From Lunar New Year afternoon tea to Chinese feasts, head on over to these London restaurants and bars to celebrate Lunar New Year in London.
Carousel
Carousel marks the Year of the Horse with a five-day collaboration between John Javier and Jackson Boxer. The £69.50 menu includes monkfish and prawn siu mai with trout roe, bang bang chicken, poached squid in superior broth and burnt cabbage with fish sauce butter, ending on deep-fried milk ice cream.
Where: 19-23 Charlotte St., London W1T 1RW
Website: www.carousel-london.com
Hoko
Seven Dials Market’s newest trader is marking Lunar New Year with something generous and joyfully chaotic. On Thursday 17 February from 1pm, HOKO — the contemporary Hong Kong café with a loyal Brick Lane following — will be giving away 100 of its signature Hong Kong Milk Teas, each paired with a taster of crispy wontons.
Adding to the atmosphere, a traditional live lion dance will weave through the market across the afternoon, bringing the usual cymbals, colour and crowd. Visitors can also pick up Lunar New Year sweets and fortune cookies from HOKO while stocks last.
Low ceremony, high energy. First come, first served.
Where: HOKO, Seven Dials Market by KERB
Website: www.sevendialsmarket.com
Din Tai Fung
If Lunar New Year means dumplings, Din Tai Fung remains a reliable answer. From 9–22 February, the Fire Horse is being celebrated with limited-edition specials alongside the usual xiao long bao favourites — soy noodles, dynamite prawns and prawn and egg fried rice with XO sauce.
Spend over £180 and you’ll leave with bespoke red pockets — a modern nod to tradition.
Where: Multiple Locations
Website: www.dintaifung-uk.com
Yú Gé at Park Hyatt London River Thames
Running 4 February–1 March, Yú Gé’s Cantonese New Year menu leans into symbolism. The £268 set menu (minimum four guests) includes roast chicken with ginger oil, steamed lobster with garlic and vermicelli, stir-fried turbot, and braised abalone with oysters and fat choy.
For something even more ceremonial, there’s the Royal Twelve-Treasure Poon Choi (£588), layered with abalone, prawns, oysters and roasted meats over broth-soaked vegetables below — designed to be shared.
Where: 7 Nine Elms Ln, Nine Elms, London SW8 5PH
Website: www.hyattrestaurants.com
House of Ming
From 6–22 February, House of Ming marks the Year of the Fire Horse with a bold, celebratory menu. Expect pan-fried rack of lamb in honey black pepper sauce, braised pork belly in soy, and the signature Inferno Ride cocktail alongside.
Where: 54 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AF
Website: www.houseofming.co.uk
3 Gorges
Dark and moody with yellow cushions and patterned floorboards, 3 Gorges leans fully into the drama of Lunar New Year. The nine-course set menu (£88pp) is generous and celebratory: rainbow salad with salmon fillets, steamed whole plaice with Chinese leaf and coriander, Scottish lobster with noodles, corn-fed roast chicken with XO sauce, finishing on sweet glutinous rice and butterscotch.
Where: 36 Goodge St, London W1T 2QN
Website: www.3gorges.co.uk
The Arch Bar
A family-style Cantonese and Sichuan banquet designed for groups: spring rolls to start, then Kung Pao chicken, hoisin-glazed short ribs, sweet and sour pork, steamed seabass, wok noodles and jasmine rice. Dessert lands with custard buns and black sesame tang yuan.
Where: 1 Hamilton Pl, London W1J 7QY
Website: www.park.lane.intercontinental.com
HUŌ & ULI
Across Marylebone, Chelsea, Notting Hill and Belsize Park, HUŌ and ULI are introducing a celebratory dim sum basket featuring chicken siu mai with XO sauce, prawn and truffle har gau, and aubergine-spinach dumplings.
There’s also crispy duck spring rolls and whole Dover sole with soy and ginger — dishes chosen for their symbolic links to wealth and surplus. Running 17 February–3 March.
Huō
Where: 29 Belsize Ln, Belsize Park, London, NW3 5AS
9 Park Walk, London SW10 0AJ
Website: www.huo.london
uli
Where: 5 Ladbroke Rd, London, W11 3PA
15 Seymour Pl, London, W1H 5BE
Website: www.ulilondon.com
Belly
For five days only (18–22 February), Belly is centring its celebration around duck, a symbol of prosperity.
The £160 feast includes whole roasted duck glazed with pink peppercorn and honey, foie gras fried rice, duck lumpia and adobo offal ragu. Only four ducks per day. Pre-order essential.
Where: 157 Kentish Town Rd, London NW1 8PD
Website: www.bellylondon.com
sAme sAme at Noisy Oyster
On 17–18 February, Brisbane’s modern Thai restaurant sAme sAme lands in Shoreditch for a two-night takeover. Expect fire-driven dishes, sharp technique and bold flavours.
Not traditionally Chinese, but very much in the spirit of celebratory dining — and one to book early.
Where: 2, Nicholls Clarke Yard, London E1 6SH
Website: www.opentable.com
Chinese New Year Tea Ceremony at Fulham Pier
For something quieter, Fulham Pier is hosting an intimate tea ceremony rooted in Daoist tradition. The focus is reflection rather than indulgence, supporting clarity, courage, attunement to the Fire Horse energy. If your Lunar New Year looks more contemplative than culinary, this is a good reset.
Where: Fulham Pier, London SW6 6HH
Website: www.fulhampier.com
