Lunar New Year – also known as Chinese New Year – is one of the biggest dates in the Asian cultural calendar. Each new year is represented by one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac and, on 29 January, celebrations will usher in the Year of the Snake, symbolising wisdom, transformation, and intuition. Celebrate Lunar New Year in London, and all the good things it’s predicted to bring, with opulent offerings from the capital’s most sophisticated restaurants and bars. 

Mei Ume at Four Seasons Hotel at Tower Bridge

Available from 20 January to 12 February 2025, Mei Ume’s chef Peter Ho has prepared a multi-course menu that showcases traditional dishes eaten on Lunar New Year. To start, take part in the Yu Sheng ritual, or Prosperity Toss Salad: a tangy salad traditionally eaten while standing and tossed with chopsticks, with the higher the toss indicating the better the luck that person will have in the New Year. The rest of the 10-course menu features golden oysters with sauteed enoki mushroom and umami dressing, and braised pork belly in bao buns with leeks and red chilli. The experience culminates in a visually captivating dessert: Mei Miao, inspired by the restaurant’s lucky cat statue, capturing the season’s prosperous spirit. The tasting menu includes a welcome cocktail and a glass of Moutai Flying Fairy – one of the most revered and famous drinks in China – making it one of the most authentic events to ring in the Year of the Snake.

Those celebrating with dinner at Mei Ume on the 29 January and 8 February will also be treated to live performances, including a Chinese lion dance and a traditional performance featuring beautiful costumes inspired by the Miao and QiPao styles, as well as Chinese fans, umbrellas and yao long drums.

From £148 per person, visit fourseasons.com

House of Ming, St James’s

From 18 January to 9 February, high-end Chinese restaurant House of Ming will serve an array of new dishes to celebrate the Year of the Snake. Drawing inspiration from this enigmatic creature, the menu features plates of golden garlic steamed lobster, whole seabass with smashed ginger and soy sauce, and Sichuan-style oriental vegetables, alongside two new cocktails. Embodying the spirit of the Great Race narrative – a traditional Chinese tale where the snake collaborated with the horse to secure sixth position in a race determining the order of the Zodiac – the Clever Snake cocktail features pear liqueur, lime juice, agave syrup and Xin Li He Fen Baijiu: a traditional Chinese spirit emblematic of good fortune and togetherness during Lunar New Year celebrations. 

Finally, the House of Ming will be honouring the gifting of red envelopes. Inspired by the tradition where elders give red envelopes containing money to children and grandchildren to bestow good fortune for the year ahead, each guest on Chinese New Year’s Day (29 January) will receive a red envelope with a gold coin special offer inside.

Visit houseofming.co.uk

Roe, Wood Wharf

From the team behind Fallow and Fowl, chef directors Will Murray and Jack Croft will be serving a unique set menu to welcome in the Year of the Snake at their Wood Wharf outpost, Roe. Inspired by celebratory Chinese dishes said to bring good fortune and served exclusively on 28 January, menu highlights include crispy stuffed chicken wings topped with Exmoor caviar, followed by Year of Snake Wellington featuring smoked eel, seabream and citrus butter, before caramelised pineapple served with timut pepper brioche and fragrant osmanthus flower for pudding. 

From £88 per person, visit roerestaurant.co.uk

Chinatown, Soho

This month, London will once again come alive to celebrate Chinese New Year with the largest celebration in the world outside of China. Chinatown will be the epicentre of the festivities, with thousands of visitors from far and wide expected to visit over the 15-day celebration period. With more than 60 restaurants, bars, shops, and businesses across 11 streets blending cultural dishes and experiences, on 1 February, lion dance performances will weave through the streets of Chinatown before the annual Chinese New Year parade takes place on 2 February, starting from Trafalgar Square.

Visit chinatown.co.uk

Daddy Bao, Tooting

Daddy Bao’s Lunar New Year celebration is back with a bang on 27 January. Bringing the rich traditions of Taiwan to Tooting, expect a six-course set menu where every dish holds meaning: think golden longevity noodles representing a long life, a whole sea bass, a Lunar New Year staple, representing abundance, and a seven coloured fish salad tossed together for luck and prosperity. Other highlights include barbecue soy, ginger and garlic prawn bao, vegetable and mushroom XO spring roll, and smoked eel and cod siu mai: an open top dumpling served in the traditional Cantonese style. 

From £60 per person, visit daddybao.co.uk

China Tang at The Dorchester, Mayfair

China Tang will make the Year of the Snake one to remember as it coincides with its 20th anniversary this year. From 28 January to 2 February, the revered Dorchester restaurant will be adorned with dazzling Chinese lanterns while the evenings of 28 and 29 January will host high-energy lion dance performances to ring in the celebrations.

The festivities extend to the menu, where guests can enjoy a selection of exquisite chef specials crafted exclusively for the occasion. Highlights include lo hei – a raw fish or abalone salad which symbolises prosperity and success – and lobster with XO sauce on crispy noodles representing longevity, and a cornucopia of mixed seafood and poultry featuring premium Japanese or Australian abalone. 

Visit chinatanglondon.co.uk

Bao, across London

Bao, with outposts spanning Battersea to King’s Cross, is honouring the Year of the Snake with a celebratory Taiwanese feasting menu where diners can honour the tradition of eating bao for good luck from 20 January. The set menu starts with a snack of smacked cucumber and Taiwanese sausage before a prosperity tossing salad, boiled cull yaw and mushroom dumplings, honey-glazed pork and crispy bean curd bao buns, and a variety of longevity noodles with slow-cooked beef cheek, fermented greens, coriander and an indulgent beef butter. 

Every guest who opts for the set menu will receive a red envelope containing a variety of snake-themed prizes, such as vouchers, Bao x Carhartt WIP limited-edition T-shirts and totes, and the grand prize of an engraved lighter, giving the winner a bao bun on the house every day for a year. Each restaurant is also serving pistachio-filled Year of the Snake BBGs, shaped like a sinewy serpent.

From £29 per person, visit baolondon.com

The Peninsula, Belgravia

Step into the enchanting world of Chinese New Year at The Peninsula London from 25 January to 5 February. For the Lunar New Year period, Canton Blue, The Peninsula’s refined Cantonese restaurant, will transform into Canton Red. Red is a sacred colour in Chinese culture, symbolising good fortune, prosperity, happiness and vitality, so the restaurant’s glossy blue entrance doors will be wreathed in red, and the interiors will be decorated with vibrant red florals and luminous Chinese lanterns. The festive menu includes steamed fish with ginger and shiitake mushrooms, fried wagyu beef with wild mushrooms, homemade spinach noodles, and a chestnut cream and mandarin mousse. All diners will also receive a traditional red envelope, and those visiting on 29 January can ask the Chinese calligrapher to create bespoke messages of prosperity for the year ahead. 

Also on 29 January, The Peninsula will present a spirited lion and dragon dance in the hotel’s courtyard, featuring colourful costumes and rhythmic drumming. Elsewhere, Canton Red’s Tea Lounge will host daily Chinese tea masterclasses. Led by the hotel’s expert tea masters, each session includes tastings paired with light dim sum, pastries, and traditional sweets, while learning the history and techniques of this ancient ritual. 

From £188 per person, visit peninsula.com

The Ivy Asia, across London

With stunning, theatrical surroundings and a lively atmosphere, The Ivy Asia is the perfect setting to ring in the Year of the Snake from 15 January to 28 February. Opt for the Lunar Dragon lunch menu – think crispy wontons, sesame prawn toast and salt and pepper beef with pink peppercorn and chives – or the Lunar Samurai dinner menu for an all-out evening celebration. The menu features a selection of signature dishes, with starters including duck and clementine salad, honey and sesame chicken with ginger, and salmon hunan (chargrilled salmon fillet in chilli, garlic and lime). Just like the lunch menu, mains are accompanied by steamed rice and wok-fried greens. Save room for the passion fruit and coconut doughnuts or the Sake Barrel: a vanilla crème brûlée with sesame and sake tuille.

To toast the occasion, The Ivy Asia’s mixologists have created four exclusive cocktails in partnership with Hennessy and one non-alcoholic mocktail, all inspired by Lunar New Year. Enjoy the Snake, which blends Hennessy whisky, honey syrup, ginger concentrate, lemon juice and ginger bitter, or sip the Moonlit Spritz: a refreshing mix of coconut liqueur, rum, pineapple and prosecco.

From £19.95 per person, visit theivyasia.com

Hakkasan, Fitzrovia and Mayfair

Where fine Cantonese dining meets rich tradition, Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurants Hakkasan Hanway Place, Fitzrovia, and Mayfair will offer a limited-edition menu, dessert and cocktail in partnership with Hennessy from 14 January to 12 February. The Year of the Snake is associated with wisdom, charm, and elegance, which has been used as inspiration for the ingredients and design of dishes such as Golden Yuan Bao – baked dim sum with king crab, caviar, and riceberry rice crisp, shaped like traditional Chinese ingots, symbolising wealth and prosperity – snake fruit and avocado salad, plum-braised beef short ribs and, last but not least, the Lucky Red Envelope. Featuring mango curry mousse, cashew peanut praline, and mango passionfruit sorbet, it's a playful nod to the cherished tradition of gifting red envelopes 

Also available exclusively for Lunar New Year, Hakkasan has partnered with Hennessy to create two new cocktails, including the Xiǎo Lóng, featuring Hennessy VSOP, Campari, Sichuan pepper and strawberry. Don't miss traditional lion dance performances weaving among tables and bespoke metal Wishing Trees adorned with snake-inspired lanterns on 28 January at Hanway Place and 30 January at Hakkasan Mayfair.

From £98 per person, visit hakkasan.com

Yauatcha, Soho and The City

Renowned dim sum restaurant Yauatcha has fully embraced the Year of the Snake, festooned with an abundance of traditional Chinese paper lanterns in pink and blue hues. Both locations will also boast vibrant windows with intricate snake designs and will host lion dance performances in The City on 29 January and in Soho on 1 February.

First on the special menu, available from 14 January to 12 February, is the Blossoms of Fortune dim sum platter featuring luxurious crystal scallop dumplings with pickled chilli and Chinese yam dumplings with aromatic herbal chicken. Elsewhere, highlights include crispy prawn with wasabi mayo, stir-fried corn-fed chicken with soy kumquat sauce, and don't miss the Chinese New Year macaron, named the Serpent’s Sweet with milk oolong ganache, orange marmalade and almond shell. What’s more, diners can also enjoy limited-edition cocktails in partnership with Grey Goose Vodka; our favourite is the Lucky Snake featuring yuzu sake, vanilla and lemon.

From £75 per person, visit yauatcha.com

Chop Chop at The Hippodrome, Leicester Square

For a dose of West End dazzle, celebrate at one of London’s most authentic Cantonese restaurants, Chop Chop by Four Seasons at The Hippodrome. Ring in the Year of the Snake from 20-30 January with a delicious selection of bite-sized buns and dumplings, filled with chicken chiu chow and spicy beef with sweet potato noodles. Plus, those born under the snake Chinese zodiac sign will be offered 20 per cent off the entire menu and those who book on the eve of Lunar New Year will receive a traditional hongbao red envelope as a symbol for good fortune, prosperity, and blessings for the new year.

Visit hippodromecasino.com

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