Practically by his own admission, Robert Burns is not the real star of Burns Night – that honour goes to the food.
While the annual celebration has commemorated the life and work of the legendary Scottish poet for more than 200 years, the heart of the matter is found – quite literally – in the haggis.
Serenaded by bagpipes as it enters the room, the offal-packed, sausage-like delicacy was given its own ode by Burns, and is celebrated with a reading of the "Address to a haggis" at traditional Burns Night suppers.
So if Rabbie Burns himself thinks food is important enough to pen poems about, you better make sure the fare you tuck into on January 25 is tip top.
From traditional dinners complete with neeps (swede) and tatties (potatoes), to salmon tacos and venison tartare, these are the best dinners at London restaurants to feast on this Burns Night.
Boisdale
Boisdale’s sophisticated Scottish restaurants will be celebrating throughout the week, putting on three nights of partying in Canary Wharf, Belgravia, Bishopsgate and Mayfair. Each restaurant will host Burns suppers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, all accompanied by pipers and additional live music. Dishes across the set menus include traditional haggis, neeps and tatties, as well as seared Scottish scallop with Stornoway black pudding.
How much? From £29.75
January 23-25, E14, SW1, EC2, W1, boisdale.co.uk
Mac & Wild
Mac & Wild loves haggis, serving it in the form of nuggets, Scotch eggs and mac and cheese all year round. Festivities at the City and Fitzrovia restaurants are taking place all week, with an array of events including whisky brunches and haggis-making masterclasses. The menu will also host Burns specials, featuring haggis, neeps and tatties tacos alongside Irn Bru cocktails.
How much? Events from £10 per person, dinners from £49 per person
January 21-25, W1, EC2, macandwild.com
The Harwood Arms
Michelin-starred Fulham pub The Harwood Arms is putting a fine-dining spin on Burns Night. For January, chef Sally Abe has created menus for both lunch and supper in the poet’s honour, all in keeping with the restaurant’s dedication to Scottish game. Three courses will include haggis faggots to start, followed by venison with neeps and tatties, and chocolate malt cake with whisky ice cream.
How much? £50 per person
January 25, Walham Grove, SW6 1QP, harwoodarms.com
12:51
Great British Menu-winning chef James Cochran will be channelling his Scottish heritage for a Burns Night dinner at his Islington restaurant. The five-course tasting menu will include the likes of treacle-cured salmon with smoked cod’s roe and venison tartare with oats and Douglas fir cream, while the address to the haggis will be given by south London author Candice Carty-Williams.
How much? £100 per person
January 25, 107 Upper Street, N1 1QN, 1251.co.uk
Hawksmoor Guildhall
Not only is this week Burns Night, but it’s also London Scotch Week (what a coincidence). Steak stalwart Hawksmoor has teamed up with Laphroaig distillery to host a whisky-paired Burns Night dinner, focusing on smokey flavours. Led by whisky expert Sinead O’Hagan, the menu will feature the likes of smoked salmon matched with Laphroaig 10-year-old, and a chateaubriand paired with Laphroaig Lore.
How much? £95 per person
January 25, 10 Basinghall Street, EC2V 5BQ, thehawksmoor.com
The Game Bird at the Stafford
The Game Bird, inside the The Stafford, will be hosting a luxurious three-course menu for Burns Night. Homemade haggis with all the trimmings will be doused in whisky gravy, and preceded with an Isle of Harris gin-cured salmon parfait served with oat milk bread. Dessert will be a white chocolate and whisky creme brulee served with raspberry sorbet and traditional Scottish shortbread.
How much? £49.50 per person
January 25, The Stafford London, 16-18 St James's Place, SW1A 1NJ, thestaffordlondon.com
Sussex
The Gladwin Brothers’ Soho restaurant is usually all about its namesake English county, but it will be turning its attention to Scotland for Burns Night. On Saturday evening, its daily Wellington special will be filled with Sussex lamb loin and haggis, served alongside hispi cabbage, whisky sauce, neeps and tatties. Each table that orders the Wellington will be treated to a reading of Burns’s Ode to a Haggis on its arrival.
How much? £64 for two people
January 25, 63-64 Frith Street, W1D 3JW, sussex-restaurant.com
Brigadiers
Spice up your Burns Night by taking supper at City restaurant Brigadiers. A feasting menu will fuse Scottish ingredients with Indian flavours across a variety of one-off sharing dishes, with plates including haggis nargisi kofta, saunfia Scottish salmon tikka and shahi Highlands venison biryani. Guests can either opt to add a whisky pairing, or choose their drams from Brigadiers’s whisky vending machines.
How much? £60 per person, optional whisky tasting for £30 per person
January 24-26, 1-5 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4N 8AR, brigadierslondon.com
Corrigan’s Mayfair
Celebrated chef Richard Corrigan may be proudly Irish, but he’s doing it for the Scots this weekend. At his eponymous Mayfair restaurant, Corrigan will be serving a five-course menu packed with Scottish flavours, including an Aberdeen Angus beef wellington with haggis neeps and tatties, Orkney scallops baked with seaweed butter, and a dessert of citrus-poached rhubarb with potted cream and a pumpkin crunch. The restaurant’s doorman, Paddy, will be on hand with the bagpipes.
How much? £75 per person, optional whisky or wine pairing for £35 per person
January 25, 28 Upper Grosvenor Street, W1K 7EH, corrigansmayfair.co.uk
Temper
The Covent Garden and City locations of barbecue favourite Temper will be celebrating with a five-course menu on the big night. Haggis, neeps and tatties make an appearance, but so do smoked salmon tacos, doughnuts with whisky cream, and a rare breed Scottish beef fillet with whisky peppercorn sauce and wood-fired, Ogleshield cheese-topped potatoes. Guests can also sip on the restaurant’s Irn Bru spritz, made with prosecco, tequila, and the cult favourite soft drink.
How much? £50 per person, optional whisky flight for £25 per person
January 25, EC2, WC2, temperrestaurant.com
Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings
The five-course banquet is just a small part of the Burns Night celebrations at Clerkenwell venue Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings. Following the likes of cullen skink, haggis and even a deep-fried Mars bar, guests will be invited to Strip the Willow in a group ceilidh, before dancing the night away with the house DJ spinning tunes until 1am.
How much? £80 per person
January 25, 42 Northampton Road, EC1R 0HU, bourneandhollingsworth.com
The Rubens at the Palace
Luxury hotel and neighbour to the Queen, The Rubens at the Palace will be putting on a suitably elegant soiree in honour of Robert Burns. The evening starts with drinks and canapes in the Leopard Champagne bar with drinks and live bagpipe music, before moving on to a six-course menu including Scottish beef fillet with lobster, cullen skink soup made with Orkney scallops, and the traditional Address to the Haggis.
How much? £95 per person
January 24, 39 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 0PS, rubenshotel.com
The Boulevard
Vegetarians and vegans looking for meat-free Burns Night kicks should head to The Boulevard, the new Soho venue that boasts a 50 per cent plant-based menu. Guests can tuck into either a traditional lamb haggis or a vegetarian version on the night, and choose between the traditional cullen skink fish soup, or a Cock ‘a’ leeky alternative. For those looking to party until the wee hours can join the ceilidh on the dance floor until late.
How much? £64.95 per person (ceilidh included), optional whiskey flight for £15.
January 25, 6 Walker's Court, W1F 0BT, boulevardtheatre.co.uk
Wiltons
If you want a foodie tradition honoured properly, head to one of the capital’s oldest restaurants. Wiltons – one of the few London restaurants to have been born before Robert Burns himself – will be putting on a six-course tasting menu in his honour, including the traditional haggis offering alongside smoked Loch Duart salmon with a potato scone and whisky spray, venison with turnips and kale, and Loch Ryan oyster with sea vegetable gin.
How much? £105 per person, optional wine and whisky flight for £78.75 per person
January 25, 55 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6LX, wiltons.co.uk
New Street Grill
If January has got your bank account in mild disarray, New Street Grill is offering pleasingly affordable Burns Night festivities. Dishes on the set menu include haggis scotch eggs with piccalilli and haunch of Highland venison with bashed neeps and blackberry sauce, and a traditional cranachan dessert, with vegetarian alternatives also available. All three courses will cost just £32, with drinks pairings starting at just £3.50.
How much? Two courses for £28, three courses for £32
January 25, 16A New Street, EC2M 4TR, newstreetgrill.co.uk
