A Very Spanish Christmas: Eight Culinary Experiences You’ll Want to Book Now
Six standout gastronomic experiences worth crossing borders—and dinner tables—for this festive season
Spain has always known how to throw a good party, but when December arrives, the country slips effortlessly into its most irresistible form: dazzling lights, long lunches, late-night toasts, and food—beautiful, abundant, gloriously comforting food. This year, a handful of restaurants across the country are pushing holiday dining into new territory, offering menus that feel both celebratory and refreshingly unexpected.
If you’re ready to trade home cooking for something a little more stylish (and far less stressful), these six culinary experiences—from seaside feasts to Michelin-anointed tastings—promise a Christmas season worth savoring.
Frou-Frou, Marbella
Where Mediterranean ease meets coastal glamour
Just steps from Puerto Banús, Frou-Frou is one of those places you wander into for lunch and accidentally stay until sunset. The room is all soft light and seaside warmth, a Mediterranean cocoon that makes celebrations feel instantly effortless.
This season, the restaurant offers three shareable menus (€70–€90), each anchored by dishes that flirt between classic and contemporary: silky ibérico ham croquettes, yuzu-kissed fried calamari, veal carpaccio with truffle, duck confit, vongole sea bass, and lamb chops glossed with chimichurri.
It’s the kind of Christmas meal that’s elegant without posturing, indulgent without excess—perfect for anyone looking to celebrate the holidays out on the town while keeping things charmingly low-pressure.
Eva Estepona, Costa del Sol
Sunlit, sea-loving, and gloriously Mediterranean
Perched on Playa del Cristo with postcard views of Gibraltar and the Moroccan coast, Eva Estepona blends Greek, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean influences into something deliciously transportive.
Its festive group menus (€65–€85) begin with shared starters and give way to mains like smoked scallops with pumpkin cream, grilled turbot with pil-pil, or a beautifully comforting artichoke moussaka. Desserts—a honey-drizzled baklava, vanilla mille-feuille, or a ruby-chocolate mousse bar—bring a polished, decadent finale.
With its infinity pool, olive trees, private cabanas, and 5,000 square meters of beachy elegance, Eva isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a destination wrapped in sunshine and sea breeze, even in December.
https://www.evaestepona-sp.com/
Thompson Madrid
For sophisticated holiday soirées in the heart of the capital
If your festive season includes a company party or a large-group celebration, Thompson Madrid has mastered the art of making corporate gatherings feel chic. Right on Plaza del Carmen, the hotel offers sleek flexible spaces for up to 300 guests, elevated by the brand’s signature blend of contemporary design and cultural edge.
The €85 holiday menu includes refined plates such as wild sea bass confit with caviar beurre blanc and national beef tenderloin with winter truffle duxelles. A cocktail-style format—also €85—is ideal for mingling, featuring bites like salmon tartare with avocado cream, white-chocolate foie bonbons, and mini ibérico-secreto focaccias.
This is Christmas dining for those who prefer their festivities with a side of Madrid sophistication.
https://www.hyatt.com/thompson-hotels/madrp-thompson-madrid/dining
Shôko Barcelona
A beachfront blend of Asian flair and Catalan holiday tradition
Shôko is part restaurant, part nightlife institution—an oceanfront enclave where Barcelona’s Mediterranean breeze meets a sleek, Asian-inspired aesthetic.
In December, groups of 15 or more can book a €49 menu featuring options like citrusy stracciatella crowned with prawns or slow-cooked beef cheeks served with sweet potato purée.
On December 24, 25, and 26, Shôko shifts into full Catalan holiday mode with a traditional Christmas menu (€49), offering classics such as escudella i carn d’olla and truffled pularda cannelloni. And for New Year’s Eve? Expect live music, entertainment, a festive cocktail menu starting at €120, and direct access to the club after midnight—a sophisticated, high-energy farewell to the year.
Pelican, Alicante
Japan meets the Mediterranean—at the beach or in the city center
Pelican is Alicante’s most exciting hybrid: a fusion restaurant where Japanese finesse merges seamlessly with Mediterranean soul. With locations on San Juan Beach and in the city center, the restaurants offer three holiday menus (€45–€65) designed for those who crave creativity with their Christmas cheer.
Expect dishes like miso-marinated black cod and teriyaki-grilled salmon, served in spaces that balance stylish design with wanderlust-inducing cocktails. Pelican’s approach is polished yet playful—ideal for groups who want a festive meal with global flavor.
https://www.pelicanalicante.com/
Kamezí Restaurant, Lanzarote
A 14-course volcanic love letter to the island
At Playa Blanca, inside one of Lanzarote’s most exclusive villa enclaves, Kamezí Restaurant presents a Christmas experience rooted in local heritage and extraordinary technique. Chef Rubén Cuesta’s 14-course tasting menu (€160) is an homage to Lanzarote’s landscapes and ingredients: La Santa prawns, sama fish, calamar, and contemporary interpretations of island tradition such as cabrito embarrado and fula with potatoes.
With more than 400 wines in its cellar and house-baked bread from its own workshop, the experience is meditative, thoughtful, and deeply connected to the island—perfect for travelers seeking a quieter, soulful holiday celebration.
Contraban, Wittmore Hotel — Barcelona
Creative luxury, Gothic Quarter charm, and a Christmas menu with personality
Tucked inside the Gothic Quarter’s most discreet luxury hideaway, Wittmore Hotel, Contraban is what happens when a restaurant becomes the soul of a creatively driven boutique hotel. Wittmore itself embodies “creative luxury”—an elegant, quietly sensual, female-minded approach to hospitality built around inspiration, spontaneity, and the magic of serendipity. Its rooms overlook the tallest vertical garden in Barcelona, and the hotel’s library feels like a curated cabinet of curiosities for artists, writers, and wanderers.
Contraban channels that same spirit into its cuisine. Designed by chef Alain Guiard, the Christmas menus unfold like a journey through the emotions of the creative process. Each dish represents a mood: “impaciencia” (quick, playful bites), “libertad” (food you can enjoy anytime), “sorpresa,” “nostalgia,” and even “frustración,” where the diner must break a playful barrier before eating. It’s inventive without being esoteric—fun, clever, and genuinely delicious.
Expect bold flavors, unexpected textures, chef-driven cocktails, and rare wines that appear on the list for only a few weeks. For a festive celebration that feels intimate, stylish, and mischievously different, Contraban offers a Barcelona Christmas as only the Gótico can: atmospheric, timeless, and a touch rebellious.
https://www.wittmorehotel.com/contraban
A Restaurant, Hotel Neri Relais & Châteaux — Barcelona
An intimate Gothic sanctuary serving soulful, beautifully grounded Catalan cuisine
Across the Gothic Quarter from its sister property Wittmore sits Hotel Neri, Barcelona’s only Relais & Châteaux member and a masterclass in boutique hospitality. Nestled beside the postcard-perfect Plaça Sant Felip Neri, the hotel blends medieval stone, artisan craftsmanship, and Mediterranean warmth into one of the city’s most romantic hideaways. Most rooms feature original wooden ceilings, balconies, or terraces; the rooftop garden—Roba Estesa—offers views over a maze of rooftops and laundry lines that feel pulled from a film.
Inside, A Restaurant is a serene, intimate space where chef Alain Guiard (yes, again—he’s the creative force behind both) cooks with a deep respect for Catalan tradition and simplicity. His holiday menu leans into the fundamentals: honest recipes, locally rooted ingredients, and minimal intervention to let flavors shine. It’s the kind of food that feels both comforting and quietly sophisticated, served in a dining room that encourages you to linger long after dessert.
Guests can wander through Neri’s atmospheric spaces—the velvet-woven lounge created by the Campana Brothers, the library, the tranquil bar—and finish the meal with a cocktail under the soft hum of the Gothic Quarter below. For travelers seeking a Christmas steeped in Barcelona’s historic soul, A Restaurant is as authentic and elegant as it gets.
