Places offering Christmas Day lunch with refundable deposit?

beckstar1975

Hello

MIL has an aggressive brain tumour with a terminal diagnosis - but is currently managing well at home. She wants totake us all away at Christmas but realistically think this won't happen, and so we are gently discouraging her from this.

We though instead we would like to take her out for Christmas lunch - it was her turn to host and I think she would manage better being out than at our house.

Do you know any places - not bothered about whether high-end or not - that would accept a booking for us but would refund the deposit if she has deteriorated too much to be able to come?

We are in S London/Surrey/Kent if any help.

Thanks

Nicki

I am sorry to hear about your mother in law.

I really doubt that anywhere which asks for a deposit would then refund it if you had to cancel. The whole point of making people pay a deposit is so that the restaurant does not lose money by reserving a table for people who do not turn up on the day. If they can't resell the table, then they aren't likely to refund the deposit and Christmas is a bad time of year because there is no walk in/last minute trade usually and restaurants get booked up a long time in advance.

I think you either need to look for places which don't ask for a deposit at all, or alternatively somewhere you can afford to lose the deposit if it turns out not to be viable to go on the day.

Mrs_Huggett

Try looking at your local independant pubs, many now do really good food and probably will be very understanding of your circumstances.

Savvy_Sue

Mrs_Huggett wrote: »

Try looking at your local independant pubs, many now do really good food and probably will be very understanding of your circumstances.

I'd agree with this: I suspect the chains will all have a 'no refund' policy but a local might be prepared to do this for you. How many would you be?

Two other suggestions: for several years we went to Flavourz on Christmas Day - no need to book and it suited our gannets as it's an 'all you can eat'. Sadly our local has closed, and the only other one I can see is in Birmingham. None of the other 'world food' buffet style restaurants I know locally open on Christmas Day, but it may be worth you asking around that style. They used to make an effort with both roast turkey and all the trimmings available, and a salmon option, and even Christmas pudding, but I have to say it's not terribly traditional if that was important.

The other suggestion, even if MIL has died by then, would any venue you'd book for her still be convenient for the rest of you to get together, and would that be something you'd like to do? I ask because my Dad died just before Christmas, a few years ago now, and it was not long before their diamond wedding anniversary. We'd planned a meal out for all of us in the January, and still went ahead with it.

It might be hard to work out NOW what you'll want to do THEN, but hope the suggestions are helpful.

onlyroz

Apparently the Toby Carvery is open on Christmas day:


http://www.tobycarvery.co.uk/Christmas

gettingtheresometime

onlyroz wrote: »

Apparently the Toby Carvery is open on Christmas day:


http://www.tobycarvery.co.uk/Christmas

Don't know what yours is like but I'd rather starve (and I like my food) than eat at our local one

I personally have wondered about going out for Christmas dinner but the thought of being in a place that has multi sittings (so they've got one eye on the clock) or not being able to have that 3rd glass of wine because of drink driving laws not to mention the cost has always put me off

An alternative may be to have the meal at her house but you all chip with cooking & prep. Whether this be the food is cooked at your MiL's or people bring the cooked food over is something you can decide.

Peter333

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Don't know what yours is like but I'd rather starve (and I like my food) than eat at our local one

I personally have wondered about going out for Christmas dinner but the thought of being in a place that has multi sittings (so they've got one eye on the clock) or not being able to have that 3rd glass of wine because of drink driving laws not to mention the cost has always put me off

An alternative may be to have the meal at her house but you all chip with cooking & prep. Whether this be the food is cooked at your MiL's or people bring the cooked food over is something you can decide.

JMO but I wouldn't even be having a SECOND glass of wine! Not if I was going to be driving! :eek: (Probably not even a first actually.)

Re the OP, don't book anything, and just go to a carvery or something, a few days before Crimbo. No need to book, just roll up say the Wednesday or Thursday before Christmas day (the 21st or 22nd,) around half eleven a.m, and just grab a carvery, and maybe have a dessert after with a coffee.

Then on Christmas day, just have a buffet for her/with her at someone's house, at lunchtime... Someone can do without booze for an afternoon surely, so you can get home, and then have a drink at night.

I am really sorry about your MIL by the way

Spendless

I've seen that Indian restaurants do both an Indian meal and a Turkey dinner on Christmas Day, priced a lot cheaper than your usual restaurants. More likely to be Independent too, don't know if they'd refund a deposit and might not be your 'thing' but worth throwing in as a suggestion.

beckstar1975

Thanks all - sadly going to hers will just not be an option, we will only be 7, DH, 3 DCS me, MIL and her husband. DH is an only child, and we would really prefer to go out if possible as it's going to be an odd Christmas so would rather make the most of it being different if that makes sense, doing it at hers would just make her sad it wasn't like her usual ones she could do, whereas if we go out it's neutral and there is no expectation. The not drinking thing is not a problem.

Will try pubs, thanks, sadly where I am ALL pubs are some kind of chain, the only one that's truly not does not do Christmas dinner. Will look at Toby Carvery as two in between us both and the food is fine, and more to the point is jolly and will be able to cater for us.

And, yes, I think going out will be better even more so if she has died by then - her OH is much younger and came into her life way after DH had left home so is no kind of father, so it would be MUCH better if we did CHristmas out than at their house without her - sorry if that sounds mean but it would be most odd to do it there without her

Thanks again

sooty&sweep

Hi

Some may be willing to refund a deposit if you give them some notice.

So say at the beginning of December you decide you can't go they may consider it due to circumstances & they still have time to resell the table.

Jen

SandC

I would also suggest a curry house, my hairdresser has done that for years - they do put on turkey and trimmings also and I would imagine if you explained when you book what the circumstances are and that you will do your best to cancel as early as possible IF you need to, one of my fave locals are doing their Xmas day meal for £27.95 per person for indian and £24.95 for english and only £5 deposit (less for children). Something like that you wouldn't lose out by much at all if the worst should happen.

Good luck with it anyway, keep us posted!.