Christmas Day from £54.99 in Walderslade to £110 at Upnor, December menus from £28.95: nine Medway pubs and restaurants with 2026 prices and deposits.

For Christmas Day in Medway, the menus most people land on are at the Command House by Chatham’s Riverside Gardens (£85 a head), Oliver’s on Rochester High Street (£90), the White Hart at Cuxton (£89.95) and the Tudor Rose beside Upnor Castle (£110). Festive menus earlier in December start at £28.95. Every entry checked against the venue’s own site on 29 October 2026.

We have not eaten at any of these places for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry gives the price on the venue’s own 2026 Christmas menu, what it includes, the dates and the booking rules, with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) hygiene rating. Christmas Day tables here all need booking, a non-refundable deposit and, in most cases, a pre-order, so read the terms before you pay.

Rochester, Chatham and Upnor

1. The Command House, Chatham

The Command House sits on Dock Road beside Riverside Gardens, in a Grade II listed building, and describes itself as blending “centuries of maritime history with a proper steakhouse welcome”. It is under new management, with a relaunch on Sunday 1 November.

Its Christmas Day 2026 menu is three courses at £85 a head, with Prosecco on arrival, Christmas crackers, and coffee and mince pies, in two sittings. Before Christmas it runs a Christmas Party Bottomless Brunch on Saturday 5 December, and a free Christmas dinner for local pensioners on Wednesday 16 December (details).

Open Christmas Day sittings at 12pm and 2.30pm
Price Christmas Day £85, under-12s £35; Christmas Party Bottomless Brunch £39.95 (5 December, 2pm to 5pm); pensioners' Christmas dinner free (16 December, 1pm, booking essential)
Booking pre-order and a £20 per person deposit secure a Christmas Day table
Call 01634 949337
Address Dock Road, Chatham, ME4 4TX
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 23 February 2026
Website thecommandhouse.com/menus/the-command-house---christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for riverside, Christmas Day sittings, free pensioners' lunch

2. Oliver’s, Rochester High Street

Oliver’s is a bar and restaurant at 186 High Street, run by Restaurants 4 Group, that calls itself a place to “dine, drink, dance”. Its Christmas Day 2026 menu is £90 for adults and £45 for children: starters include a festive Scotch egg and a baked Camembert, mains are roast turkey, beef or gammon with pigs in blankets and a Yorkshire pudding, a mushroom bourguignon pie or a glazed salmon fillet, and desserts include Kentish cheeses and a Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.

Its Christmas menu for other December days has turkey, a vegan butternut, kale and apricot roast, sea bass or sirloin.

Open Tue to Thu 5pm to 9pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 2.30am; Sun 12pm to 5pm; closed Mon (usual hours)
Price Christmas Day £90, children £45; Christmas menu Tue to Thu 2 courses £40, 3 courses £45; Fri and Sat 2 courses £45, 3 courses £50; cheese £5 extra
Booking through the reservations page on its site
Call 01634 847629
Address 186 High Street, Rochester, ME1 1EY
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 10 August 2024
Website oliversrochester.com/menus/christmasday2026
Listing Our listing
Good for High Street, vegan Christmas main, late bar

3. The Tudor Rose, Upper Upnor

The Tudor Rose is a Shepherd Neame pub on the cobbled High Street beside Upnor Castle, with a riverside beer garden and a real fire. Its Christmas Day menu is four courses at £110 for adults and £55 for under-10s, with Bucks Fizz on arrival, a choice of turkey crown, sea bass, a vegan Wellington or beef sirloin, then tea, coffee and mince pies.

The festive menu from 1 to 23 December is three courses. It has the highest Christmas Day price in this guide and the lowest hygiene rating, a 3.

Price Christmas Day £110, under-10s £55; festive menu 1 to 23 December, three courses Mon to Thu £32 (under-10s £16), Fri and Sat £36 (under-10s £18)
Booking Christmas Day £10 per person non-refundable deposit, full payment and choices by 12 December; festive menu £5 per person deposit, payment and choices at least 5 days ahead
Call 01634 714175
Address 29 to 31 High Street, Upper Upnor, ME2 4XG
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, 25 August 2026
Website tudorroseupnor.co.uk/menus
Listing Our listing
Good for river views, real fire, vegan Wellington

Cuxton and the edge of Strood

4. The White Hart, Cuxton

The White Hart is a Shepherd Neame village pub just off junction 2 of the M2, with a large beer garden and a fire in winter. Its Christmas Day menu is £89.95 for adults and £39.95 for under-12s: breads to share, then a choice of four starters, hand-carved roast turkey, salmon en croute, a festive game pie, a nut roast or a ribeye, and desserts or a cheeseboard, finishing with a mince pie.

Tables are kept for three hours. The festive menu also runs on Boxing Day.

Price Christmas Day £89.95, under-12s £39.95; festive menu 1 to 24 December and Boxing Day, 2 courses £28.95, 3 courses £33.95, under-12s 2 courses £16.95
Booking Christmas Day £40 per person non-refundable deposit, choices by 12 December; festive menu £10 per person non-refundable deposit, choices 7 days ahead
Call 01634 789969
Address 1 Rochester Road, Cuxton, ME2 1AD
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 8 November 2024
Website whitehartcuxton.co.uk/food
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, Boxing Day menu, children's menu

5. The Three Crutches, Old Watling Street

The Three Crutches stands on Old Watling Street on the edge of Strood, just across the boundary in Gravesham (the FSA lists it under Gravesham Borough Council). Its Christmas page prices Christmas Day at £95 for three courses with a glass of fizz on arrival, served from midday, with shared roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and creamed leeks for the table.

Mains are roast turkey, trout with garlic prawns, slow-roasted shoulder of lamb, duck breast, or a vegan butternut squash and lentil filo Wellington. Children have their own three-course menu.

Open Christmas Day from 12pm
Price Christmas Day £95, children £48; festive menu 18 November to 31 December (not Christmas Day), 2 courses £29.95, 3 courses £33.95
Booking through the book button on its site
Address Old Watling Street, ME2 3UG
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 19 May 2026
Website threecrutches.com/event/christmas
Listing Our listing
Good for vegan Christmas main, festive menu to New Year's Eve, children's menu

Greene King pubs: Walderslade, Bredhurst, Hempstead and Rainham

Four of Medway’s Greene King pubs publish a Christmas Day price. They share a menu style (starters such as smoked salmon and king prawn cocktail, a hand-carved turkey dinner, a meat-free main and Christmas pudding) and the same booking rules: a £10 deposit for each adult and child, menu pre-orders opened on 21 October, and the pubs take no Christmas Day bookings after 18 December.

6. The Oak, Walderslade

The Oak’s Christmas Day page has the lowest Christmas Day price in this guide, £54.99. The page calls it four courses; the menu itself lists three courses and a mince pie petit four.

Mains include hand-carved turkey, a turkey and ham hock pie, a surf and turf with sirloin and king prawns, and a mushroom and Camembert bake.

Price Christmas Day £54.99, kids £25.99
Booking £10 deposit per adult and child, non-refundable from 11 December; choices and payment due by 11 December (18 December for later bookings)
Call 01634 684433
Address 1 Robin Hood Lane, Walderslade, ME5 9NT
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 20 October 2026
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/oak/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for lowest Christmas Day price, kids' menu

7. The Cricketers Inn, Rainham

The Cricketers Inn is on Rainham High Street. Its Christmas Day page lists three courses for £60.95 and says there are meat-free options on the day.

The pub’s Christmas page also lists a festive menu, a kids’ festive menu and a festive menu with no gluten-containing ingredients.

Price Christmas Day £60.95
Booking £10 deposit per person
Call 01634 387272
Address 88 High Street, Rainham, ME8 7JH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 19 October 2026
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/cricketers/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for High Street, no-gluten festive menu

8. The Hungry Fox, Hempstead

The Hungry Fox stands on Hempstead Valley Drive, by the shopping centre. Its Christmas Day page lists three courses for £61, with meat-free options.

Its Christmas page also lists Breakfast with Santa mornings and a kids’ festive menu.

Price Christmas Day £61
Booking £10 deposit per adult and per child
Call 01634 387552
Address Hempstead Valley Drive, Hempstead, ME7 3PE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 12 May 2024
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/hungry-fox/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for Breakfast with Santa, kids' festive menu

9. The Bell, Bredhurst

The Bell is the village pub on The Street in Bredhurst, south of Gillingham. Its Christmas Day page lists three courses for £63, the highest of the four Greene King pubs here, with meat-free options.

Price Christmas Day £63
Booking £10 deposit per adult and per child
Call 01634 239239
Address The Street, Bredhurst, ME7 3JY
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 24 August 2026
Website greeneking.co.uk/pubs/kent/bell/christmas/christmas-day
Listing Our listing
Good for village pub, kids' festive menu

How we chose

We started with the Medway pubs, restaurants and hotels people find when they look for Christmas dinner, and kept only those that publish a 2026 Christmas Day price on their own website, so every price here could be checked. Several well-known places were left out because their Christmas details were not yet online on 29 October: the Ship and Trades at Chatham Maritime and the Ship at Lower Upnor show no Christmas menu, the King Charles Hotel lists Christmas tribute nights but no Christmas Day lunch, and we found no 2026 Christmas page for Bridgewood Manor. We will add them when they publish. Every place here has a Food Standards Agency hygiene rating of 3 or above on the FSA register, checked on 29 October 2026. Prices are as published that day and can change.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@medwaylive.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@medwaylive.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

For the rest of the season, see the Rochester Christmas Market, the Dickensian Christmas festival, Christmas at the Historic Dockyard and what’s on in Medway this month. For the rest of the year, try our guides to Medway restaurants, Medway pubs, Sunday roast in Medway and afternoon tea, things to do in Medway, or browse the Medway business directory.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Christmas dinner in Medway in 2026?

Christmas Day prices in this guide run from £54.99 a head at the Oak in Walderslade to £110 at the Tudor Rose in Upper Upnor. In between are the Cricketers Inn in Rainham (£60.95), the Hungry Fox at Hempstead (£61), the Bell at Bredhurst (£63), the Command House in Chatham (£85), the White Hart at Cuxton (£89.95), Oliver’s in Rochester (£90) and the Three Crutches on Old Watling Street (£95).

Where can I get a cheaper festive meal in Medway before Christmas?

Festive set menus on other December days cost much less. The White Hart at Cuxton charges £28.95 for two courses and £33.95 for three, from 1 to 24 December and on Boxing Day. The Three Crutches charges £29.95 and £33.95 from 18 November to 31 December, the Tudor Rose £32 to £36 for three courses from 1 to 23 December, and Oliver’s in Rochester £40 to £50.

Is there a free Christmas dinner for pensioners in Medway?

The Command House on Dock Road, Chatham, is inviting local pensioners to a free Christmas dinner on Wednesday 16 December at 1pm, with a roast, dessert, tea and coffee and a small gift. Places are limited and must be booked on 01634 949337.