Christmas dinner disaster

[parsnipandpotato]

Posting for traffic.. no shame

Christmas dinner.. we are rapidly running out of options..

We are a family of 5 and usual additions for Xmas day dinner is My sister, BIL, and DH's brother.

Christmas is usually, and has been for the past 7 years, held at my other brothers (large) house however this year he's decided to go to Scotland to his in laws.. how selfish!! (Lighthearted)

Issue is.. what do the rest of us do!

None of our houses are large enough to accommodate the whole group really.. certainly not for dinner.

What are people's experiences of eating out for Christmas dinner?
Personally I've never done it..

Does it still feel Christmassy ?
How expensive is is?
Do you have to book 6 months in advance ?
Is it ok to take a 9,7 and 2 year old?

Other option is we all cram into our 2 up 2 down and be cosy!

Looking for advice/previous experiences!

Thanks

We would and have crammed in. We bring in the table from the garden, matching cloths to make it look nice and use chairs from all over the house/garden.
We always have a lovely time.

Just cram them all in yours and serve oven chips in breadcakes.

That's the saddest thing I've ever read.

I grew up in a 3 bed semi. My mother hosted Christmas every year and on occasions there would be about 20 for dinner. It was brilliant. The kids were put sitting around a foldy up table and the adults squashed up around the dining table. Brilliant memories.

That's not sad red ,you are being a snob! I think the sentiment is that being together and eating whatever is what is important.

Family, friends, food. What's sad about that!!!

Aren’t you only adding 3 people to the number you have day to day? I’d probably have the kids eat picnic style and put the adults round the table.

Apologies if I’ve got the number of ppl wrong!

This thread first appeared a few weeks ago.

It’s another one that’s risen from the grave.

Squeeze everyone in! I've catered for 14 once with a mixture of garden furniture in a small house. It was good fun.

I've eaten out once and it was a disaster. It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking. But none of us could be bothered to go in the end, my DS was bored and just wanted to be at home playing with his presents and the food wasn't great either (and this was a nice hotel!).

Anywhere good to eat out by me- at any budget- sells out by July 😱 I think people just rebook straight away before it’s even advertised!

Cram in, but get people to bring parts of the dinner with them to save oven space.

We did it once , never again ! We had Sunday lunch at this pub and on the back of that we booked Xmas day lunch for five of us ! The pub was packed , our table in the dining room wasn't ready , once we were seated we had to go to the bar to ask for someone to take out drinks order , the room was cold and were told they would have to light the fire as the heating wasn't on ! Our drinks took ages to come , the food which was pre ordered was disgusting , dry turkey to the point of curling , need so fatty most was left ! the desserts were dry and inedible .The fire never did get lighted ! We managed to make an expensive home about it .Then we saw the manageress entertaining her own party in a separate room ! We complained we were offered removal of the drinks and dessert off the bill ! Not good enough we complained to the brewery and got a full refund .

Squeeze everyone in! Some of my fondest memories are of the huge family gatherings (including sit down Christmas and Easter dinners) that my grandparents hosted in their tiny 2 bedroom bungalow. A bit bonkers but so much fun.

Do you never have anyone over for dinner or coffee at all in your house? Cos if you do where do they all sit?
Can you not squeeze anyone in at all?

We squeezed up with an extra five on Christmas. I think it was all quite jolly though we ended, for instance, drinking out of jam jars when we ran out of drinking vessels, and it was a bit hard sometimes to have nowhere to go in the house for peace, but it wasn't for long.

I'd go squashed and cosy in one of your houses - more intimate than going to a restaurant. Can you put long trestle tables down the middle of the living room or dining room with a bit of furniture rearrangement?

I've eaten out at Christmas twice. It was pretty expensive but very stressfree and the food at the places we went to was good. I enjoyed it but felt bad for the staff!

I don't think it would have been great fun for kids though. Dinners go at a set and leisurely pace, there's nowhere for them to disappear off to to be distracted, their new toys aren't nearby. It was a more adult atmosphere.

Cram in and be cosy. You may surprise yourself at how much you may enjoy it.

We’re going to my nieces, who’s having a bbq! No idea what that means, but expect to be sitting in the garden, or on the floor etc. I have been asked to bring lots and lots of crackers.

We either get the kids to eat first or in the living room.

We’ll be eating at a local pub with dh’s large family.
No one has a house to fit us all in comfortably and it wouldn’t be fair on pil’s cooking for 20+ of us (not that they’ve ever had to, we’ve always eaten out when it’s ‘their’ Christmas.
In all the pubs and restaurants we’ve eaten in it’s usually a set ‘Christmas’ menu with a few choices of starters, mains and puddings. It tastes fine and the multitude of children now aged 3 to teens have always been welcomed.
Costs have been anything from £25 per (adult) head up to £70. Kids have always been much lower. I reckon you’ll be fine booking a table now.

We’ve also gone out to eat Christmas dinner. Very nice, but very expensive and no where near as much fun as being with family or friends sitting on a rickety chair balancing a plate on my lap.

Homestly lunch out isn't the same, especially when you have children who want to stay home and enjoy their toys. It is also expensive, although you don't begrudge it for the poor staff who have to work. I'd squeeze in personally, but it's also nice having xmas just your little family and then get to nether for a big family meal in Jan

Word to the wise, I run a pub and we are booked up for Xmas Day lunch and have been for 3 weeks now. We are having 2 sittings and they were booked pretty much as soon as we announced we were taking bookings. So you need to make your mind up ASAP what you are doing.

Personally, having worked Xmas lunch a few times, I would prefer to be crammed in at someones house, you cant muck about and play silly games and misbehave when you are out, which is the fun of Xmas day!

just cram everyone in - no fun going out to eat for the children. If you have no room at all - adults round the table, children picnic style on the floor. My lost used to love this

My late in-laws always went to a local hotel and it was superb. Since that time, i have eaten out once or twice with varying degrees of success. If you can afford a really expensive restaurant it should be fine but i would never go to a carvery or some such. The vegetables (the best part for me) are over cooked and mushy.