Christmas Eve · Christmas Day · New Year’s Eve
Christmas & New Year
Christmas Eve lunch and dinner, Christmas Day lunch among the vines, and New Year’s Eve to see the year out — thirty minutes from Canberra, fifteen from Bungendore.
24 December 2026 – 1 January 2027
Christmas & New Year Opening Hours
Thursday 24 December
Christmas Eve
Lunch 11am – 3pm
Dinner 5pm – 9pm
Christmas menu
Friday 25 December
Christmas Day
Lunch 11am – 3pm
Christmas menu · 10% public holiday surcharge
Saturday 26 December
Boxing Day
Closed
Sunday 27 December
Lunch 11am – 3pm
Dinner 5pm – 9pm
À la carte · 5% Sunday surcharge
Monday 28 December
Boxing Day public holiday
Lunch 11am – 3pm
À la carte · 10% public holiday surcharge
Thursday 31 December
New Year’s Eve
Lunch 11am – 3pm
Dinner 5pm – 11:30pm
New Year’s Eve menu · Open late
Friday 1 January
New Year’s Day
Closed
We are closed Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 December and Tuesday 29 to Wednesday 30 December, as on any normal week. From Saturday 2 January we return to normal trading, Thursday to Sunday.
Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Lunch
The Christmas Menu
Three separate menus run over the holidays — one for Christmas Eve, one for Christmas Day lunch, and one for New Year’s Eve.
All three are being finalised and will be published here next week. Bookings are open in the meantime, and everyone holding a booking will get their menu as soon as it is set.
On Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December the kitchen runs the usual à la carte.
Worth Knowing
Before You Book
- Three holiday menus — Christmas Eve, Christmas Day lunch and New Year’s Eve
- Closed Boxing Day and New Year’s Day — the two changes from a normal week
- Coeliac and allergy needs — catered as they are every other day of the year
- Surcharges — 10% on public holidays, 5% on Sundays
Free on-site parking, and the cellar door is downstairs if you need a bottle to take on somewhere else.
The Setting
Christmas Lunch That Isn’t Indoors Under Fluorescents
Twenty-five acres of vines and gums, a dining room with light on three sides, and a lawn to walk off the pudding on. The cooking is native Australian on a Goan and Portuguese backbone, the cellar list is Canberra District, and the whole thing is half an hour from the CBD and fifteen minutes from Bungendore. If Christmas at your place usually means somebody cooking all morning, this is the alternative.
Before You Book
Christmas Questions
Are you open on Christmas Day?
Yes, for lunch. Aranya Acres serves lunch from 11am to 3pm on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, with a Christmas menu. We are not open for dinner that evening. A 10% public holiday surcharge applies.
Are you open on Christmas Eve?
Yes, for both lunch and dinner on Thursday 24 December — lunch 11am to 3pm, dinner 5pm to 9pm. The Christmas menu is available at both sittings.
Are you open on Boxing Day?
No. We are closed on Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December. This is the one change from our normal week, since Saturday is usually a trading day — please do not turn up expecting us to be open. We reopen on Sunday 27 December for lunch and dinner.
What about the Monday public holiday?
Because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, NSW observes an additional public holiday on Monday 28 December. We are open that day for lunch, 11am to 3pm, from the à la carte menu. A 10% public holiday surcharge applies.
What is on the Christmas menu?
There are three: a Christmas Eve menu, a Christmas Day lunch menu and a separate New Year’s Eve menu. All three are being finalised and will be published on this page next week. Bookings are open now, and everyone holding a booking will be sent their menu as soon as it is set.
Can I book now even though the menu is not published?
Yes, and we would recommend it. Christmas Day lunch is a single sitting in a dining room that seats 80, so it fills well before the menu goes out. Book through the booking system or call 0481 911 122.
Is the Christmas menu coeliac friendly?
Yes. The kitchen runs separate preparation areas, separate equipment and separate handling for gluten free orders all year, and that does not change at Christmas. Tell us when you book so the chefs can plan. Vegetarian, vegan and other allergy needs are catered for the same way.
Are you open on New Year’s Eve?
Yes, and later than usual. Lunch runs 11am to 3pm, and we are open from 5pm through to 11:30pm — two and a half hours past our normal close. There is a separate New Year’s Eve menu for the evening, published here next week. New Year’s Eve is not a public holiday in NSW, so no holiday surcharge applies, and bookings are recommended; call 0481 911 122 for a late table.
Are you open on New Year’s Day?
No. We are closed on New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January 2027. Like Boxing Day, this is a change from our normal week, since Friday is usually a trading day. We return to normal trading from Saturday 2 January, Thursday to Sunday.
Do surcharges apply?
A 10% public holiday surcharge applies on Christmas Day and on Monday 28 December, and the usual 5% Sunday surcharge applies on Sunday 27 December. Christmas Eve is not a public holiday in NSW, so no holiday surcharge applies that day.
Can we bring the dog?
Yes, to the outdoor tables, as on any other day. Dogs on a lead are welcome in the outdoor seating but not in the indoor dining room or the enclosed deck. Assistance animals are welcome throughout.
Aranya Acres
Book Christmas
Christmas Day lunch is one sitting in a room that seats eighty. Book online, or call if you want to talk through numbers, dietaries or a larger table.
Also On
Around Christmas
Planning a work party before the day itself? See corporate functions and Christmas parties. For the full calendar, what’s on. For the coeliac kitchen, how it works.