Christmas Day 2026 in Dartford from £57.95 at the Bear and Ragged Staff to £145 at Rowhill Grange, plus December menus from £19.99: nine places, prices checked.

For Christmas Day 2026 near Dartford, the cheapest published menus are at the Bear and Ragged Staff in Crayford (£57.95) and the Bull at Horns Cross (£61.99 with a glass of fizz). Most village pubs sit at about £105 to £110: the Lion at Farningham, the Fighting Cocks at Horton Kirby and the Horse and Groom at Wilmington. Every entry checked against the venue’s own site on 1 November 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the price on the venue’s own 2026 Christmas menu, what that includes, and what the venue says about deposits and booking, plus the Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating. Prices are per adult unless we say otherwise, and service charges are extra where the venue says so.

Village pubs and a country hotel

1. The Horse and Groom, Wilmington

The Horse and Groom is a Shepherd Neame pub on Leyton Cross Road. Its online menus carry a five-course Christmas Day menu at £110 a head, “carefully crafted to showcase the finest locally sourced produce and our brewing heritage”.

It opens with two amuse-bouches (a smoked salmon roulade cured with the brewery’s Iron Wharf stout, and rarebit croquettes made with Spitfire ale), then mains of Larchwood Farm roast turkey, fillet of beef with a braised beef croquette, lamb cutlets, pan-seared halibut or a vegan beetroot, tofu and chestnut Wellington. Puddings include a Christmas ale pudding and a Folkestone tart.

The children’s Christmas Day menu is four courses for £60. Before the day, a festive menu is £30 for two courses or £38 for three.

The pub’s events page also lists Breakfast with Santa on 28 November and 12 December.

Price Christmas Day 5 courses £110, children's 4 courses £60; festive menu 2 courses £30, 3 courses £38
Booking book through the pub's website
Call 01322 290056
Address 15 Leyton Cross Road, Wilmington, DA2 7AP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 19 March 2025
Website horseandgroomwilmington.co.uk/menus
Listing Our listing
Good for children's Christmas menu, vegan main, Breakfast with Santa, dogs in the bar and garden

2. Rowhill Grange, Wilmington

Rowhill Grange is the Alexander Hotels country house and spa off Top Dartford Road. Its festive dining page offers two Christmas Days.

The family lunch in the Clockhouse, £110 for adults, £45 for children aged 5 to 12 and free for under-5s, is marked “now sold out”. The five-course lunch in RG’s restaurant, with canapés and a glass of fizz on arrival, is £145 and is “currently operating a waitlist”.

Seats remain on the hotel’s other dates: a three-course Christmas Eve dinner with a Champagne and canapé reception at £70, a Boxing Day tasting menu at £75, and a festive afternoon tea at £39.50 from 1 December to 2 January.

Price Christmas Day in RG's £145 (waiting list); Clockhouse lunch £110, children 5 to 12 £45 (sold out); Christmas Eve dinner £70; Boxing Day tasting menu £75; festive afternoon tea £39.50
Booking online through the hotel's festive dining page
Call 01322 615136
Address Rowhill Road, Wilmington, DA2 7QH
Hygiene rating 4, Food Standards Agency, 25 November 2025
Website alexanderhotels.co.uk/rowhill-grange/rowhill-grange-christmas-dining
Good for Christmas Eve dinner, Boxing Day, private dining rooms, hotel and spa

3. The Lion, Farningham

The Lion is a Vintage Inns pub by the River Darent that calls itself “a grand and ancient country inn”. Its Christmas Day menu is three courses for £104.95.

Starters include baked scallops, gin-cured smoked salmon and baked figs with blue cheese and prosciutto; the mains are hand-carved turkey breast with a pig in blanket, roast duck, noisette of lamb, monkfish, 50-day aged Black Angus beef and a truffled mushroom Wellington that is vegan. The children’s Christmas Day menu is £42.50.

From 27 November to 1 January (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve) the festive menu is from £34.95 for two courses and £37.95 for three. The menus say a deposit may be needed when you book.

Price Christmas Day 3 courses £104.95, children £42.50; festive menu 27 November to 1 January, 2 courses from £34.95, 3 from £37.95
Booking online through Vintage Inns; a deposit may be required
Call 01322 860621
Address High Street, Farningham, DA4 0DP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, Sevenoaks District Council, 13 March 2026
Website vintageinn.co.uk/restaurants/east/thelionfarningham/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for riverside, dogs welcome, children's Christmas menu, vegan main

4. The Fighting Cocks, Horton Kirby

The Fighting Cocks is a riverside pub and restaurant on The Street in Horton Kirby. Its Christmas page links this year’s Christmas Day menu at £105 a head: canapés on arrival, then starters such as smoked salmon and lobster mousse or haggis bon bons, mains of roast turkey with pigs in blankets, a dry-aged ribeye, pan-seared hake, a festive nut roast or a vegan butternut squash cannelloni, then Christmas pudding, and coffee with mince pies.

A 50% deposit is taken when you book and a 12.5% discretionary service charge is added. From 1 to 24 December the Christmas set menu is £34.95 for two courses or £39.95 for three, with a £10 deposit.

Price Christmas Day £105; Christmas set menu 1 to 24 December, 2 courses £34.95, 3 courses £39.95; 12.5% discretionary service charge
Booking Christmas Day 50% deposit; set menu £10 deposit; call, email thefightingcockshk@gmail.com or call in
Call 01322 862299
Address The Street, Horton Kirby, DA4 9BY
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, Sevenoaks District Council, 18 November 2025
Website fightingcockshortonkirby.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for riverside, canapés on arrival, vegan main, gluten-free options marked

Dartford, Stone and Crayford

5. Miller and Carter, Princes Road

Miller and Carter is the Mitchells and Butlers steakhouse on Princes Road. Its Christmas Day page links a Christmas Day menu at £109.95 a head, starting with sourdough to share.

The centrepiece is “the steak experience”, a choice of 50-day aged 10oz filet mignon or ribeye topped with sautéed scallops and samphire, alongside a festive turkey roulade stuffed with pork and a grilled sablefish. The young guests’ Christmas Day menu, for 12 and under, is from £49.95.

From 17 November to 24 December the brand’s festive set menu is from £35.50 for two courses and £39.50 for three. Tables of seven or more pay a £10 a head deposit between 12 and 24 December.

Price Christmas Day £109.95, young guests (12 and under) from £49.95; festive set menu 17 November to 24 December, 2 courses from £35.50, 3 from £39.50
Booking online; £10 per person deposit for tables of seven or more, 12 to 24 December
Call 01322 287766
Address 522 Princes Road, DA2 6NQ
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 10 June 2026
Website millerandcarter.co.uk/restaurants/london/millerandcarterdartford/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for steak, children's Christmas menu, Boxing Day menu

6. The Bull, Horns Cross

The Bull is a Greene King pub on London Road at Horns Cross, between Stone and Greenhithe, with an outdoor play area. Its Christmas Day page links a menu of three courses and a glass of fizz or orange juice for £61.99, and three courses with orange juice for £24.99 for children.

Mains include hand-carved turkey with the trimmings and grilled salmon with king prawns. The deposit is £10 per adult and £5 per child.

Before Christmas, the festive menu runs from 12 November at £19.99 for two courses, with a third course for £3 more.

Open Mon to Thu 11am to 11pm; Fri and Sat 9am to midnight; Sun 9am to 10.30pm
Price Christmas Day 3 courses and a welcome drink £61.99, children £24.99; festive menu from 12 November, 2 courses £19.99, 3 courses £22.99
Booking £10 deposit per adult, £5 per child
Call 01322 382006
Address 293 London Road, Horns Cross, DA9 9DA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 7 October 2026
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/bull/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for lowest-priced Christmas Day here, welcome drink included, play area, children's menu

7. The Bear and Ragged Staff, Crayford

The Bear and Ragged Staff is a Greene King pub on London Road in Crayford with a beer garden. Its Christmas Day page links a Christmas Day menu, “only available on the 25th December 2026”, at £57.95 for three courses.

Starters include smoked salmon, a cheddar soufflé and chicken liver pâté; mains include a hand-carved turkey dinner with a pig in blanket, surf and turf with an 8oz sirloin, a salmon Wellington, a cheese and leek pie and a cranberry-glazed nut roast. The children’s Christmas Day menu is £27.95, and a menu with no gluten-containing ingredients is published too.

A £10 per person deposit secures the table.

Open Mon to Thu 11.30am to 11pm; Fri and Sat 11.30am to midnight; Sun 11.30am to 10pm
Price Christmas Day 3 courses £57.95, children £27.95
Booking £10 per person deposit
Call 01322 522906
Address 2 London Road, Crayford, DA1 4BH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, London Borough of Bexley, 13 May 2025
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/bear-and-ragged-staff/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for lowest Christmas Day price here, no-gluten menu, children's menu, beer garden

8. Sedir, Lowfield Street

Sedir is a coal-fired grill restaurant on Lowfield Street, and the one town-centre independent in this guide. It is a party menu, not a Christmas Day lunch: its Christmas party menu is £45 a head for a starter (soup, sucuk sausage, halloumi, hummus or cacik), a main of chicken shish and adana, chicken shish, lamb shish, halloumi kebab or vegetarian moussaka with salad and rice or chips, a dessert of chocolate cake or baklava, and a drink: a glass of house wine, a pint of Efes, juice or a soft drink.

Groups of four or more, £10 deposit a head, from 1 November to 5 January.

Price Christmas party menu £45 a head including a drink
Booking groups of four or more; £10 deposit per person; available 1 November to 5 January
Call 01322 226421
Address 27-31 Lowfield Street, DA1 1EW
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 25 March 2026
Website sedirrestaurant.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for town centre, groups, drink included, vegetarian main

Bluewater

9. Côte, The Village

Côte is the French brasserie chain, and its Bluewater restaurant is in The Village on the lower level. Its Christmas page sets out a festive set menu at £34.95 for two courses or £39.95 for three, a festive children’s set menu, private and semi-private dining for groups, and vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes, with Coeliac UK accreditation.

The page advertises Christmas Day too, but neither it nor the Bluewater restaurant page says whether this branch opens on the day or what it costs, so ask before you plan on it. Browns, the other big brasserie at Bluewater, says it is closed on Christmas Day.

Price festive set menu 2 courses £34.95, 3 courses £39.95
Booking online through Côte
Call 01322 624447
Address Unit WVL19, The Village, Bluewater, DA9 9SE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 28 January 2026
Website cote.co.uk/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for shopping-day lunch, private dining, gluten-free, children's festive menu

How we chose

These are the places in and around Dartford that people search for at Christmas and that had published a 2026 Christmas menu with prices on their own website by 1 November 2026: the village pubs, a country house hotel, the town’s steakhouse and pub chains, one town-centre independent and a Bluewater brasserie. Each has an FSA hygiene rating of 3 or better. We left out the Ship Inn at Southfleet, whose only Christmas menu online is from 2025, and Brandshatch Place at Fawkham, whose festive page we could not load to confirm this year’s prices. The Malt Shovel and the Railway Tavern had not published a Christmas menu when we checked. The facts come from each venue’s own website and menus and the Food Standards Agency. Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@dartfordonline.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@dartfordonline.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

For the rest of the season, see the Dartford Christmas lights switch-on, the Orchard Theatre pantomime, the Dartford ice rink and what’s on in Dartford this month. For eating out the rest of the year, see our guides to Dartford restaurants, Dartford pubs and Sunday roast in Dartford, things to do in Dartford, or browse restaurants in our directory.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I have Christmas dinner in Dartford on Christmas Day 2026?

Seven places on this list publish a 2026 Christmas Day menu: the Bear and Ragged Staff in Crayford (£57.95), the Bull at Horns Cross (£61.99 with a welcome drink), the Lion at Farningham (£104.95), the Fighting Cocks at Horton Kirby (£105), Miller and Carter on Princes Road (£109.95), the Horse and Groom at Wilmington (£110) and RG’s at Rowhill Grange (£145, waiting list only). Rowhill Grange’s £110 Clockhouse lunch is sold out.

How much is Christmas Day lunch in Dartford for children?

On the 2026 children’s menus: £24.99 at the Bull, £27.95 at the Bear and Ragged Staff, £42.50 at the Lion, £49.95 at Miller and Carter for 12 and under, and £60 for four courses at the Horse and Groom.

Is Browns at Bluewater open on Christmas Day?

No. Browns’ own Christmas page says Browns Bluewater is closed on Christmas Day 2026. For a December meal at Bluewater, Côte’s festive set menu is £34.95 for two courses or £39.95 for three.