Sarah Ward

Cocktails, lights, presents, festive-themed movies, enjoying time with your nearest and dearest: when it comes to Christmas cheer, they're all on the nice list. Tucking into a hearty meal ranks high up there, too, but actually doing all that home cooking — and shopping for it, then washing up afterwards — doesn't always make all of us feel especially jolly. That's where Brisbane's culinary scene comes in, complete with Christmas Day lunches to suit all tastebuds — and even a Christmas Eve dinner if you'd like to double your fun. Spend this year's merriest days eating five-spice turkey spring rolls, drinking bottomless spritzes or treating yo'self to a French feast, all thanks to these six Brissie spots that you can still book right now. CIELO ROOFTOP, FORTITUDE VALLEY Whichever Christmas carol you get tend to stuck in your head at this time of year, none of them croon festive words about sitting on a Fortitude Valley rooftop, sharing a seafood tower, soaking in the sun — it's summer in Brisbane, after all, so bright skies usually come with the territory — and drinking wine and beer for two hours. Here's a jolly little task for you, then: coming up with a merry ditty about this exact experience. All of the above will take place at Cielo Rooftop, with its Christmas in the Clouds lunches taking seatings at 12pm and 2.30pm on Saturday, December 25. For $99 per person, you'll tuck into prawns, scallops, oysters, ceviche, calamari and grilled catch of the day, then wash it all down with vino and brews. Spend $128 each and free-flowing Aperol spritzes will also be on the menu. NAGA THAI, EAGLE STREET PIER Fancy all of the food but none of the hassle? Then you clearly want to gather the gang — friends, family, whoever fits — and book in for a shared banquet lunch. At Naga Thai at Eagle Street Pier, you have two options. So, you just need to work out if you'll all be hungry for a $150-per-person six-course feast or ravenous for the $180-a-head eight-dish version. The colourful inner-city Thai restaurant's smaller lunch kicks off at 11am on Saturday, December 25, while the larger option sits at 1.15pm — if that helps your decision. Whichever you choose, you'll be getting merry with oven-baked barramundi with scallop chilli mousse, cranberry and five-spice turkey spring rolls, bavette wellingtons, and mango and coconut trifle, all right by the river in the middle of the CBD. Only a few time slots are left, so booking ASAP is recommended. CRYSTALBROOK VINCENT, HOWARD SMITH WHARVES What starts with champagne upon arrival, pours drinks for three hours, serves up a three-course Italian meal and lets you soak in some of Brisbane's absolute best views? That'd be Christmas lunch at Crystalbrook Vincent at Howard Smith Wharves. By now, every Brisbanite should've checked out this waterside precinct, but this is your excuse to spend some time at its luxe hotel if you haven't gotten around to staycationing there yet. Crystalbrook Vincent's onsite restaurant Polpetta will be taking care of the food, which'll include prawn salads, slow-roasted porchetta with rosemary and sage potatoes, and mango, passionfruit and panettone parfait — all served share-style between 12–3pm on Saturday, December 25. And, your $289 ticket also includes live entertainment, which'll be better than listening to your relatives sing Christmas carols. [caption id="attachment_837435" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mitch Lowe[/caption] C'EST BON, WOOLLOONGABBA We're not saying that you can't whip yourself up a lavish French dinner for Christmas — Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking sprawled out on your kitchen bench, obviously — but letting someone else do all the hard work for you is a big festive treat. Woolloongabba's C'est Bon isn't just ready, willing and able; it's one of Brisbane's go-to French restaurants, and it's taking care of your Christmas Eve. At 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, you'll indulge in one of the most crucial parts of the French holidays, all without forking out to visit Europe. For $165 a head on Friday, December 24, you'll start with champagne, spanner crab vol au vents with roe and duck parfait and Davidson plum eclairs, which is a mighty fine way to begin any meal. Next, your tastebuds will enjoy rainbow trout with champagne caviar, pork with chestnut and apricot, and a boûche de noël (aka sweet chocolate roulade) for dessert. CROWN HOTEL, LUTWYCHE Looking forward to spending a hefty heap of your summer break at the pub? You've heard of beginning the year as you mean to go on — so why not apply that idea to Christmas, too? Get a jumpstart on all those hours you're planning to while away in beer gardens with your besties by hitting up Lutwyche's recently renovated and reopened Crown Hotel. As an added bonus, you'll be celebrating the season in a 140-year-old watering hole. Oysters, prawns, turkey, ham, brandy snaps, mince pies, boozy eggnog — they're all on the menu here for $150 per person, which includes a glass of bubbles to start things off. There's a vegetarian version as well, and you can choose between 11.30am and 2pm sittings on Saturday, December 25. BISOU BISOU, FORTITUDE VALLEY Christmas lunch is the favourite child of festive meals, hogging all the attention and hitting all the expected marks. Here's an option for everyone who's a bit over the midday fuss, would honestly prefer to sleep in instead of rush to make a noon booking, and is happy to kick into gear once afternoon hits: a late-in-the-day sitting at Bisou Bisou's Célébrez Noël Au on Saturday, December 25. Mark the occasion Parisian-style with a four-course menu, which starts with prawn and crab on melba toast, then includes duck rillette, sugar-cured salmon, rolled pork belly porchetta, turkey cooked on the rotisserie, and plum pudding, parfait and poached cherries. It'll set you back $169 a head and, at the time of writing, you can choose between 3pm, 3.15pm, 3.30pm, 3.45pm and 4pm time slots.