Bang on: watch the New Year’s fireworks from Madison’s rooftop terrace
(Picture: Press handout)Drinking rather than eating may be the traditional approach to New Year’s Eve, if only because a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne is not something any sensible person should attempt sober. And yet what could be more civilised than spending the biggest night of the year at a restaurant table with drinks on tap, food from one of the capital’s top chefs and a guaranteed seat once auld acquaintances have been forgotten for another year?
Skyscraper restaurants are an obvious place to start; many will provide a bird’s eye view not only of the London Eye fireworks but the explosions of colour in the night sky all over London — just expect to pay through the roof for the privilege.
If budget is a concern, or you have a party to get to after dinner (or a babysitter to get home to), it’s worth noting that at many restaurants the bill can almost be halved by booking an earlier sitting for New Year’s Eve.
So, from sky-high Chinese to three-Michelin-starred French, Mayfair party palaces and immersive food and music matches — to say nothing of DJ sets from the biggest names in electro to bagpipers and marching bands — here are the 12 best restaurants to be when the clock strikes midnight. Start the year as you mean to go on!
Hutong
A contender for the most spectacular vantage point to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks as the clock strikes midnight, Hutong, on the 33rd floor of The Shard, offers fiery northern Chinese cooking to match the explosions on the skyline. Expect the likes of wagyu beef stuffed with marinated purple cabbage and garlic chilli dressing, deep-fried king crab with stir-fried Sichuan pepper, dried chilli and hot bean paste, as well as one of the best Peking ducks in London. A DJ is playing downstairs in Aqua Shard Bar until the wee small hours; bar tickets only include a dim sum platter and a glass of Champagne. If you’re not fussed about the fireworks, there are early evening tables in the adjoining Aqua Shard.
How much? Dinner menu, £345 (vegetarian menu, £300); bar tickets, £150
Level 33, The Shard, 33 St Thomas Street, SE1 9RY, hutong.co.uk
Spring
Skye Gyngell’s ultra-seasonal, organic and biodynamic cooking feels joyful at any time of year but it will be particularly celebratory on New Year’s Eve when dinner in Spring can be followed by watching the fireworks from the adjoining terrace of Somerset House. Dishes will be decided on the day according to the best produce available, but think along the lines of slow-cooked pork with sage, fennel and blood orange, sirloin with Jerusalem artichokes, grilled leeks and cime di rapa aioli, and chocolate pavé with bourbon, rye and marmalade ice cream.
How much? Four/five courses, £150/£175
Somerset House, New Wing, Lancaster Place, WC2R 1LA, springrestaurant.co.uk
Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
The three-Michelin-starred outpost of Gallic superchef Alain Ducasse — overseen by fellow Frenchman Jean-Philippe Blondet — is offering two sittings on New Year’s Eve, the only difference being that not kicking back at a table in The Dorchester as the clock strikes midnight will knock £320 off the bill. Still, it’s not difficult to see where all that money is going, with luxury ingredients including Scottish sea scallop, Kristal caviar, seared duck foie gras, white truffle and Cornish turbot. Wine pairings such as 2004 Dom Pérignon P2 are no less sybaritic, while suave staff deliver smooth-as-silk service.
How much? Seven courses, £250 and £570 (first and second sittings)
The Dorchester, 53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA, alainducasse-dorchester.com
Sexy Fish
This pan-Asian extravaganza feels like a party whatever the night — that’s sort of its thing — but New Year’s Eve promises to welcome 2023 with a bang. Things don’t get started until 9pm, with live music and dancers segueing into a DJ set from Italian duo Neverdogs playing house and techno until 3am. The £380 entry fee can be spent on the usual à la carte or tasting menu as well as wines, cocktails and malts from what is claimed to be the world’s largest Japanese whisky collection. Pick and mix between cold and hot small plates — tuna tataki and salmon tartare, prawn gyoza and pork belly yakitori — plus larger dishes of caramelised black cod with spicy miso, sticky iberico pork ribs with green onion and chilli, and USDA prime rib-eye and Australian tomahawk wagyu.
How much? £380
Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, W1J 6BR, sexyfish.com
Carousel
Fitzrovia’s revolving door of chef residencies is serving up a double whammy of creative talent on New Year’s Eve. “Paired” is a new series of one-off events between Carousel and electro festival AVA which sees chefs paired with DJs throughout the entire building for an immersive food-and-music matching. For NYE, that means seven-course menus from Rosio Sanchez (of Copenhagen taqueria Hija de Sanchez) and Emme Prieto (of Mexico City’s Taverna) and a live soundtrack from London DJs Yung Singh and Call Super. Expect the likes of sardine puttanesca tostada, lobster with masa and pickled radish and mackerel crudo with turmeric and ginger aioli, plus another 150 guests turning up for the New Year’s Eve party from 10.30pm.
How much? Early sitting, £145; late sitting, £195
19-23 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RW, carousel-london.com
Oxo
The South Bank fireworks might not be visible from this north-facing stretch of river but Oxo’s eighth-floor position means it’s likely diners will see other displays exploding behind the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Three courses will be served in both the Brasserie and more formal Restaurant, all washed down with wines from Oxo’s owners Harvey Nichols. Expect aged fillet steak with braised Jerusalem artichoke and white onion purée in the Brasserie, turbot with butternut squash purée and truffle gnocchi in the Restaurant, served to a soundtrack of live music, a dancefloor for boogying between courses and a DJ until 2am.
How much? Brasserie, £225; Restaurant, £300
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, SE1 9PH, oxotowerrestaurant.com
The Ritz
Who needs fireworks when there’s a bagpiper, a 14-piece military marching band counting down to midnight and half a bottle of Bollinger Champagne on each table in a restaurant that looks like a dining room at Versailles? Needless to say, The Ritz’s gala dinner is a black-tie affair, though the six-course supper is worth dressing up for: native lobster, ballotine of duck liver, Cornish turbot, Anjou pigeon, tournedos Rossini and a dessert of 70 per cent dark chocolate; there’s a vegetarian menu, too. What’s more, this New Year’s Eve, the Ritz Club is open to non-members for one night only for dinner and dancing, though don’t book a table in either space if you’re not fully committed: the eye-watering cost of the evening must be paid upfront and is non-refundable.
How much? The Ritz Club, £1,650 (children £800); The Ritz Restaurant, £1,900 (children £850)
150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR, theritzlondon.com
Allegra
Chef Patrick Powell’s dining room and terrace on the seventh floor of Stratford’s Manhattan Loft Gardens will provide a fine vantage point for any firework displays sparking up over east London as the clock strikes midnight. Two tasting menus for early and late sittings promise the clever modern British likes of a Waldorf tart with pickled walnuts and Colston Bassett blue cheese, hand-dived scallop with baked potato and caviar, and aged duck breast with red cabbage, parsnip and pear and a duck-leg cottage pie; 8pm late sittings include a table until 2am and live music from alt-soul singer Kadija Kamara.
How much? Early-sitting six-course dinner, £95; late-sitting eight-course dinner, £145; late bar entry, £20
The Stratford, 20 International Way, E20 1FD, allegra-restaurant.com
Amazónico
Tarzan meets Halston is perhaps one of the more unexpected mashups on the New Year’s Eve party scene but Amazónico’s annual Jungle Fever party takes for inspiration Studio 54, the legendary Manhattan discotheque. No Bianca Jagger on a horse, alas, but there is Grammy-award winning DJ Roger Sanchez and an open bar for cocktails. Early-evening bookings (from 5pm) come with a set menu and a glass of Ruinart Champagne; the full Jungle Fever shebang includes A5 wagyu sirloin with caviar, native lobster with achiote chilli butter and 70s anthems from live bands. Note there’s a suggested dress code of “tropical disco glamour attire”.
How much? Jungle Fever, £550; early evening booking, £135
10 Berkeley Square, W1J 6BR, amazonicorestaurant.com
Madison
The terrace of this City bar and restaurant might have been decked out like an Alpine retreat but the setting could not be more London, with the dome of St Paul’s dominating the skyline and the South Bank fireworks exploding behind. The three-course dinner kicks off with a glass of Champagne ahead of margarita lobster taco, fillet steak with truffle confit potato and Mississippi mud pie before revellers head outside for cocktails. For something more sedate, D&D stablemate Coq d’Argent at the other end of Poultry is offering a six-course menu (£160) of crowd-pleasing Franglais cooking and Rémy Martin Cognac cocktails.
How much? Three courses, £250
Rooftop Terrace, One New Change, EC4M 9AF, madisonlondon.net
Savoy Grill
The Savoy Grill might not have a view of the fireworks on the other side of the river but diners will at least hear them when the clock strikes midnight. Before then, the Gordon Ramsay-run restaurant is offering a seven-course menu as timelessly classic as The Savoy itself: chicken liver and foie gras parfait, vadouvan-spiced Orkney scallop, tournedos Rossini of aged beef fillet, 36-month aged Comté cheese and baked Alaska. A live harpist will strum away during the meal and there is Champagne and cocktails to see in the new year.
How much? £350
100 Strand, WC2R 0EZ, gordonramsayrestaurants.com
Seabird
This 14th-floor hotel restaurant’s off-piste perch on an unprepossessing stretch of Blackfriars Road should afford one of the best views in town of the South Bank fireworks following its 9pm late sitting, while the 6pm early sitting is a short walk to the river for ticketholders. Things kick off with a glass of Perrier-Jouët champagne and a bump of Exmoor Caviar ahead of octopus croquetas and whole turbot with fennel Champagne sauce; for non-fish eaters, there is cep mushroom with smoked butter and suckling pig with bitter greens. Already eaten? There are spots on the terrace for drinks and blankets to wrap up with, plus DJs playing until 2am.
How much? Early sitting, £85; late sitting, £150; drinks only, £100 minimum spend
The Hoxton, 40 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NY, thehoxton.com
