Where to have Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve dinner in the south

Ark in Glyfada invites you to celebrate this year’s holidays in the south in the most impressive way. An all-day restaurant with award-winning Greek cuisine, it follows a philosophy that blends tradition with contemporary gastronomy, under the creative direction of renowned chef Giannis Baxevanis.

On Christmas Eve, Ark serves a refined festive menu (€115 per person) that opens with a wild mushroom tart, followed by organic stuffed turkey with pomegranate and chestnuts, beetroot and orange salad, and for the main course, black pork rack with braised lettuce, roasted pear, and goat cheese. Dinner concludes with a traditional Christmas log featuring Gianduja chocolate, Williams pears, and wild chestnut cream.

For New Year’s Eve, the menu (€135 per person) begins with a velvety chestnut–pumpkin soup, continues with crayfish ravioli, feta, and nettle, a festive salad with pear, spinach, and pomegranate, and as a main course, organic beef fillet stuffed with mallow, mushrooms, and quince–sweet potato tart. Dessert is a chocolate charlotte cream, Earl Grey tea crème brûlée, with citron marmalade and chestnut cream. A complete gourmet proposal to welcome the new year.

See the menus here.

In the heart of the Athens Riviera, Barbarossa Athens is an ideal choice for those who want to enjoy a festive dinner of high standards in an elegant, seaside setting.

For Christmas Eve, they have prepared a specially designed menu (€115 per person) promising delicate flavors and refined dishes for an unforgettable evening. It starts with a warm carrot soup with shrimp, chestnut, and sour cream, followed by grouper fillet as an appetizer and a refreshing green salad with walnuts, prosciutto, goat cheese, and pomegranate dressing. Lobster ravioli comes next, and for the main course there are two options: guinea fowl with parsnip and red fruit sauce, or grouper with celeriac purée, roasted artichokes, and butter sauce. Dinner closes with a beautiful Christmas roll with chestnut mousse and pomegranate, perfectly in tune with the season.

Barbarossa, known for its high gastronomy with an emphasis on seafood and Mediterranean creations, transforms during the holidays into a space where the simplicity of Greek island ingredients meets refined presentation. For New Year’s Eve, they are also preparing an equally elegant dinner, to be announced in the coming days.

See the menu here.

Bungalow 7 is one of the most elegant and atmospheric spots on the Athens Riviera to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve. With views over the Saronic Gulf and a design that brings a nostalgic mid-century charm, the space works perfectly as a setting for festive outings.

On Christmas Eve, Bungalow 7 serves a specially curated menu (€125 per person) that begins with pumpkin soup with goat cheese and almonds and continues with options such as duck salad with hoisin, beef tartare with crispy rice, ricotta ravioli with champagne sauce, and guinea fowl with chestnut and pumpkin ragout. The dinner ends with pavlova and fresh berries for a sweet finish.

On New Year’s Eve, chef Dinos Foteinakis prepares a rich menu (€145 per person), featuring topinambur soup with mushrooms and truffle, beef tartare with caviar, arancini with guanciale, beef Wellington, and for dessert, Mont Blanc with chestnut cream and gianduja. A gastronomic experience that marries tradition with haute cuisine.

See the menus here.

Colonial at the Glyfada Golf Club welcomes December in its warmest and most atmospheric version. Surrounded by the lush green landscape of the course and discreetly decorated, it is one of the most elegant destinations for festive dinners in the south.

At the heart of the experience are the holiday menus signed by chef Ilias Michalopoulos, designed especially for the season, with refined flavors and a festive character, as presented in the official Christmas and New Year’s menus.

On Christmas Eve, Colonial is set to a melodic tone with the voice of Naya Douka and the saxophone of Giannis Karanasios, creating the ideal musical backdrop for a truly festive evening. The menu (€85 per person) includes pumpkin soup, a salad of two-tone beets with goat cheese and mandarin segments, spinach-stuffed ravioli, and turkey breast fillet with dried fruits. A chestnut tart with raspberry and forest fruit sauce sweetly concludes the evening.

Likewise, on New Year’s Eve, the jazz sounds of Naya Douka and Michalis Zeis accompany the festive dinner through the countdown to 2026, adding atmosphere and elegance to the night. The menu (€100 per person) features carrot velouté with dried apricots, an avocado sphere stuffed with crab salad, mascarpone–truffle-filled ravioli, beef fillet with celeriac purée and glazed chestnuts, and to finish, a chocolate sphere filled with crème pâtissière and forest fruits.

See the menus here.

En Plo in Vouliagmeni welcomes the holidays with the familiar elegance that has established it as one of the most atmospheric restaurants on the Athens Riviera. With the sea as its backdrop and a space that exudes understated luxury, the Christmas Eve dinner takes on a distinctly “southern” character: refined, relaxed, and thoroughly festive.

The specially designed Christmas Eve menu (€85 per person) focuses on festive choices, with carefully selected ingredients, balanced flavors, and dishes that honor the occasion without excess. It begins with an amuse-bouche of mini brioche with smoked eel, followed by pumpkin soup with paprika and caramelized bacon. For the appetizer, shrimp with Jerusalem artichoke purée and beetroot salad with katiki Domokou cheese are served. The main course is beef short rib au jus with sweet potato purée, and the menu concludes in the most festive way with an outstanding chestnut tiramisu.

The festive experience is complemented by live music, which every Saturday at 21:30 sets the rhythm for the evening. Thanos Tzanis, Sozos Lymperopoulos, Thodoris Metaxas, and Despoina Georgakopoulou create a musical setting ideal for dinners with friends, romantic tables, and a festive mood that lasts late into the night.

For New Year’s Eve as well, En Plo is preparing an excellent menu for its guests, which will be announced in the coming days.

See the Christmas Eve menu here.

At the cosmopolitan Manko Athens, at One&Only Aesthesis, New Year’s Eve takes on a Latin American character and a strong gastronomic identity. With the signature of modern Peruvian cuisine and an atmosphere that balances fine dining with a high-energy party mood, Manko welcomes 2026 with an impressive New Year’s Eve menu.

The menu (€230 per person) opens with French oyster with choclo and ají amarillo cream and chalaquita, setting the tone with bright, spicy-fresh notes. This is followed by alalunga tuna tartare with leche de tigre, basil pesto, and yuzu ponzu gel, a dish that perfectly balances acidity and freshness. The experience intensifies with blue lobster, accompanied by oscietra caviar, leche de tigre, coriander, and coral oil.

For the main course, roasted lamb is served with black truffle duxelles, aromatic herbs, purple potato purée, and baby carrots, creating a dish full of winter warmth. A yuzu–huacatay sorbet with grapes and champagne gel follows, before dessert: a creative melomakarono tiramisu with rocoto compote and roasted walnuts.

See the menu here.

Matsuhisa Athens, the authentic Japanese restaurant within the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, in an atmosphere that perfectly combines luxury with relaxed elegance, welcomes the festive season this year with two signature dinners that blend the refined Nobu philosophy with a festive fine-dining experience by the sea.

Christmas Eve is shaped around a specially curated menu (€270 per person), where clean, elegant Japanese flavors take center stage, including shrimp dumplings in foie gras sauce, salmon stracciatella, a selection of Matsuhisa sushi, beef salad, spicy sea bass with lemon, Wagyu shabu-shabu, and a matcha Mont Blanc dessert.

For New Year’s Eve, Matsuhisa presents an even more impressive high-gastronomy menu (€290 per person), featuring caviar bomb, valley shrimp, a selection of Matsuhisa sushi, king crab salad, miso lobster, Kagoshima Wagyu with truffle and mushroom soup, and ending on a sweet note with miso caramel mille-feuille.

See the menus here.

Balkoni stis Kyklades in the area of Karea, Vyronas, with its panoramic view that has become its trademark, is getting ready to dress up for the holidays. Although its cuisine is famous for fish and seafood, during Christmas it prioritizes more festive, meat-based options, such as turkey, wild boar, and other Christmas dishes that will take center stage on the table.

For the Christmas Eve dinner, the restaurant offers an expanded menu and special dishes of the day, with a minimum spend of €60 per person.

Similarly, New Year’s Eve comes with a special six-course menu (€85 per person) from the restaurant’s chef, with two options for the main course: either beef picanha with blueberry sauce, baby potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms, or grouper fillet with beurre blanc sauce, mussel meat, celeriac cream, and romesco cauliflower.

Live music will be available both on the evening of the festive dinner and on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day at lunchtime, featuring art song, laïko, and rebetiko. A truly festive setting with one of the most beautiful views in Athens as its backdrop.

See the menu here.

Ora by Ettore Botrini at One&Only Aesthesis is one of the most distinctive choices for festive dinners in the south, combining high gastronomy with the elegance and warmth suited to the season. For Christmas Eve, the restaurant has prepared a refined gala dinner (€180 per person), featuring Marsala sabayon amuse-bouche, velvety chestnut soup, fresh scallop tartare, tender sole with smoked broccoli, and quail with raisins, finishing with panettone cubes accompanied by delicate vanilla espuma and a Mont Blanc dessert that blends mascarpone mousse with walnuts and citrus compote.

For New Year’s Eve, Ora offers a luxurious seven-course menu (€280 per person), including oysters and champagne, confit egg yolk with truffle, beef tartare, lobster tart, beef Rossini, and a festive “New Year’s Bell” dessert with apple compote, pistachio cake, and creamy caramel sauce.

See the Christmas Eve menu here.
See the New Year’s Eve menu here.

In the south of Athens, Sebastian Athens at Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens is one of the most interesting restaurants to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in style. Its modern French-American character—with Mediterranean influences and an emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients—transforms in December into a festive dining experience that blends a relaxed bistro atmosphere with holiday vibes.

On Christmas Eve, Sebastian welcomes guests with a special set menu, a gastronomic proposal where creative flavors and an extensive wine list frame the warmest festive evening. It begins with a glass of champagne, followed by bouillabaisse soup with the fish of the day, shrimp, and clams, beef tartare, and for the main course, a choice between grouper fillet and beef fillet. Dinner closes perfectly with chestnut Mont Blanc and mignardise.

On New Year’s Eve, Sebastian continues with another special set-menu dinner following the same philosophy. Champagne to start, Vichyssoise soup with smoked salmon tartare, scallops with citron dressing, two main course options between cod and guinea fowl, and the evening ends on a sweet note with dark chocolate cream and mignardise.

See the menus here.

The Margi Hotel on the Athens Riviera is one of the most refined destinations to celebrate the holidays with a fine-dining festive dinner and a unique atmosphere. This boutique hotel combines elegance and warmth with rich gastronomic experiences, ideal for those who want to enjoy the season in style in the south.

On Christmas Eve, The Margi serves a Christmas Eve Gala Dinner (€135 per person) with dishes such as tuna tataki with sesame and light tonnato sauce, beef croquette on celeriac confit, grouper with Oscietra caviar, and vol-au-vent with rooster and seasonal mushrooms. The evening concludes with a Mont Blanc featuring white chocolate, cassis, and crispy meringue. On Christmas Day, the Christmas Day Buffet (€95 per person) opens from midday with a generous spread offering options for the whole family.

For New Year’s Eve, The Margi offers two choices: the more formal New Year’s Eve Gala (€250 per person), featuring lobster, John Dory with wild mushrooms and Jerusalem artichoke purée, beef Rossini, and chocolate mousse with hazelnut praline and black truffle, and the New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance (€195 per person), a buffet accompanied by a DJ that sets the mood before and after the countdown. After midnight, the New Year’s Party (€40 per person) keeps the celebration going with music and rhythm until late, while on New Year’s Day the hotel also serves a New Year’s Day Buffet (€95 per person) to continue the festivities with loved ones.

See the menus here.