Five fantastically festive feasts for Chanukah 2024

Coming to the end of December I thought I’d share a few treats I’ve enjoyed and can recommend for Chanukah treats and festive outings:

Quality Street-themed cocktails at Sopwell House Hotel

I’ve sampled some of this colourful cocktail menu and the super sweet and sticky drinks are a chocoholic’s dream. They include Strawberry Delight; Caramel Swirl and (my favourite) Coconut Éclair each delivered with the chocolate that inspired that drink.

The Coconut Éclair comprised gold chocolate, coconut liqueur and a layer of cream. Utterly indulgent and perfect for festive celebrations.

The hotel’s Octagon Bar is also a lovely spot for meeting friends as it’s not too noisy and has plenty of cosy corners to hunker down with your drink. There’s also a short menu of bar snacks from the Omboo menu. We loved the crisp, tempura-style mushrooms and spring rolls.

Matty’s Kitchen cookies

I’m a huge fan of this Bushey bakery and make a point of heading there for my favourite mince pie cookies. Matty has managed to roll a layer of the festive fruit mix into the chewy/crunchy biscuit and it’s one of our family’s favourite treats.

For a more Chanukah-centric treat, he also has (until December 29) gorgeously decorated cookies complete with a chanukiah motif and Happy Hanukkah (sic) message and showered with blue and white sprinkles.

Beit Café doughnuts – fantastic flavours announced for Chanukah 2024

The Golders Green café has announced this year’s doughnut flavours which include the Tiktok viral Dubai chocolate bar (expect white chocolate, pistachio cream and kadaif pastry topping); blueberry cheesecake; peanut butter and jelly (topped with pieces of Bamba); cereal milk (with a layer of Frosties-style cereal on the top) and, returning for a second year, crème brulee — with its crunchy layer of sugar and crème patisserie filling. I’ve tasted them all and cannot pick my favourite.

Owner Emi has added latkes to her menu this year which were also a crunchy treat.

I’ll also be heading to Karma bread to catch one of their daily chanukiah lightings and to get my annual fix of Tami’s amazing doughnuts. (Not kosher)

The Pita Guy’s arayes

I make arayes a LOT. I love the crunchy coated, meat-filled pita so much I could eat it daily. Mazal in Camden do a delicious version and I’m sure other of the kosher restaurants also now offer the Middle Eastern snack.

I’m beyond excited though that you can now get find it in St Albans. The Pita Guy, a food truck operated by professional chef Guy Gelman — who was previously cooking at The Hub on Verulam — has started trading at the top end of town — close to The Beech House. He serves the meat stuffed pitas (not kosher) and does a vegan version, stuffed with Quorn mince. They vegan one isn’t done with the pita toasted — it’s in a fresh, soft pillowy pita – and the filling is richly flavoured and delicious. Both come with a side of slaw (vegan or regular) and you can top up your treat with tahini dressing or tzatziki. It was such a treat, and I hope he does well.

Delamina Townhouse

This, the third in the growing family of restaurants run by Amir and Limor Chen is not only stunning looking but is serving up the most delicious food. No surprise if you’ve eaten at either their Shoreditch or Marylebone venues.

Full review to follow in the new year, but for now, know that my son declared the kubaneh the best bread he had EVER eaten and every single one of the small plates we ordered, which included arak-cured chalk stream trout with pistachio cream and barberries and crispy oyster mushrooms with truffled artichokes — both insanely tasty. Full review to follow.