At Christmas, London’s diners and hostelries pull out all the stops and guarantee revelry to rival anything the capital’s seen before. Here’s a selection to start the merriment. But carouse with caution: over-indulge. and you’ll not only have the sort of season you’ve never seen before, but will end up seeing it double. 

Christmas is a time of sublime excess bordering on the ridiculous. No matter how many mince pies you munch, or if you go back for seconds, thirds and fourths of festive fare til you bust your belt, you still end up binning more than you bargained for.

Street Feast has been all the rage in trendy Dalston for the past five weekends. With a final weekend of street food left, Marcus checks it out and find out whether it’s worth a visit.

Dalston street food venture Night Tales ends on Saturday night, after a successful run. Marcus goes along to see what the fuss is about, and to see whether it’s worth the trip.

Balthazar has done well in its short existence, despite a bit of sniffiness from some critical quarters. You can’t argue with bums on seats though; ask any restaurant owner –  great reviews or a full restaurant? There’s no prizes for guessing the answer.

Christmas is heaven for wannabe-GBBO contestants; the time when your kitchen (or at least every in-house supermarket bakery) emits a fug of spicy, buttery, cakey goodness. Stop mainlining mince pies, though – there’s a world of feative bakes beyond. Buy to give, or just to gorge, these are all gorgeous….