Highxtar Christmas Guide | Where to eat in Madrid this holiday season

Madrid changes pace in December. The streets light up, plans are extended, and the table becomes the real meeting point. Beyond the classics, the city unfolds a gastronomic scene that understands Christmas as an experience: Christmas Eve rituals, New Year’s Eve with views, and brunch plans that stretch into the afternoon.

This is the Highxtar Christmas Guide, a selection of restaurants where you can eat (and celebrate) in Madrid during the holidays. Suggestions range from Japanese fine dining to contemporary grilled cuisine, including hotels, palaces, and new openings that you should keep on your radar.

Hielo y Carbón

The New Year’s Eve Gala Dinner at Hielo y Carbón elevates the last night of the year with a menu created by chef Iván Jiménez, where international technique and top-quality ingredients set the tone. The menu starts with lobster alongside blue tomato tartare, dates, and almond cream, followed by roasted foie gras with tart apple, morel mushrooms, and glazed chestnuts.

The main courses include baked sea bream with sage and orange beurre blanc and suckling pig shoulder with rib juice and winter vegetables, before a sweet finish based on chocolate textures and Christmas sweets. All accompanied by a refined pairing with Viña Pomal, La Vicalanda, and ARS Collecta Grand Rosé.

With privileged views of the illuminated Gran Vía, this New Year’s Eve is a safe bet for those seeking an elegant, well-executed and understated experience.

Makáá

For its opening, Makáá is celebrating New Year’s Eve with a menu designed as a journey through fire. Fresh oysters, Cantabrian turbot, buffalo butter beurre blanc, and Wellington sirloin steak create a gastronomic narrative centered around grilling and the ingredients themselves.

The panoramic views of the Puerta del Sol make dinner one of the most special experiences for seeing in the New Year in the front row.

Kabuki

Kabuki is once again one of the capital’s great gastronomic temples. For New Year’s Eve, chef Alejandro Durán has created a menu that combines Japanese precision, Mediterranean produce, and Mexican touches in a high-end experience. Sakizuke, high-quality sashimi, iconic nigiri, and robata-style main courses turn the last night of the year into an impeccable gastronomic ritual.

In addition, throughout December and until January 4, the restaurant offers its Christmas Brunch: a technical and sophisticated take on the traditional brunch, with sushi, otsukuri, pancakes, and carefully selected beverages.

ABYA

Located in the Palacio de Saldaña, in the heart of the Salamanca district, ABYA offers a Christmas experience that goes beyond the menu. Its kitchen, open all day, its festive décor, and its collection of contemporary art make the restaurant an elegant refuge after a stroll among the lights or an afternoon of shopping.

The Special Christmas Menu (available until January 6) combines tradition and seasonal produce with the signature touch of chef Óscar Castellano, while each floor of the space offers a different atmosphere, from informal tapas to intimate celebrations.

Gran Vía 18

At the top of WOW Concept, Gran Vía 18 turns Christmas Eve into a gastronomic event. Chef Jairo Jiménez has created a menu that blends tradition and creativity with a clear narrative: high-end appetizers, wood-fired fish, refreshing sorbets, and a Wellington sirloin steak that serves as a grand festive finale.

All accompanied by signature pairings and a warm atmosphere that transforms dinner on the 24th into a complete experience, with Madrid lit up as a backdrop.

Smoked Room

As a grand finale, Smoked Room offers a unique omakase experience on the last night of the year. Available exclusively on December 31, the proposal places the product as the absolute protagonist, in an immersive format that combines precision cuisine, fire, live music, and a sensory narrative designed to celebrate the arrival of the new year from an intimate and exceptional location.

The attention to detail also extends to the drinks. Luis Baselga, sommelier at Smoked Room, has been recognized with the Michelin Guide’s Sommelier Award 2026, a prize that reinforces the experience as a whole and underlines the importance of pairing within Dani García’s creative universe.

With this experience, Dani García invites you to welcome 2026 from one of his most personal and radical perspectives: uncompromising creativity, emotion, and extreme attention to every detail.