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Strange though it may seem, on New Year’s Day many people will feel delicate, and possibly a little tired. One way to treat yourself and restore your vigour is to let someone else take care of the cooking and washing up. Thousands of restaurants are shut on January 1, but with a little effort you can still find a brilliant meal to put you back on your feet.
 We’ve compiled a list of ten favourites, from plush five-star gourmet experiences to cheap and cheerful pub blow-outs. Treat yourself and your loved ones with a meal out at one of these places, and start the year in style.  Rhodes W1 Tuck into a hearty British meal at this exceptional new restaurant whose head chef is the spiky haired one from TV's 'Hell’s Kitchen'. The Cumberland is an extremely posh hotel with a relaxing art gallery foyer. The restaurant itself is an oasis of calm a few steps from Marble Arch, decked out in plush leather furniture, with excellent service and an impressive cellar should you fancy a hair-of-the-dog. The steaks and brunch options here are extensive for New Year’s Day, but it is fish that Gary Rhodes is justly famed for – and fish is a very good hangover cure. Tuck into a simply grilled, beautifully presented morsel from this kitchen and get your new year off to a satisfying start. This is a really excellent place. Venue: Rhodes W1 Address: The Cumberland Hotel, W1 Phone: 020 7479 3838 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch 12:00 – 15:30 Price: Brunch menu around £40/head a la carte Nearest Station: Oxford Circus Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information Book a room at The Cumberland [OVER 70% OFF!]   Gordon Ramsay at Claridges If Gary Rhodes has gained international fame from his appearance on TV's 'Hell’s Kitchen', Gordon Ramsay is in danger of overloading our senses through every channel. The temperamental former footballer somehow finds time to appear on virtually every reality show going – and maintain a record three Michelin starred restaurants in the city. And he’s not giving his staff a break on New Year’s Day. Claridge’s is justly famed as the best of all Ramsay establishments. A meal here will stay with you for the rest of the year. Lucky diners will be treated to a five-course lunch, perfectly tailored to fragile appetites, with deliciously light starters and a substantial British roast for the main course. The sommelier will guide brave souls through a selection of accompanying wines, and despite the excesses of the previous night you can expect immaculate, friendly service and a refined atmosphere. Claridge’s is an expensive, indulgent treat. What better way to kick off 2006? Venue: Claridge’s Address: Book Street, Mayfair, W1 Phone: 020 7499 0099 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch and Dinner sittings Price: 3 courses, £60/head Nearest Station: Bond Street Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Savoy GrillThe Savoy Grill virtually never closes and always features on our list of New Year’s Day recovery spots for that reason. Furthermore, the simple but perfectly sourced steak meals are the ideal restorative after a hard party the night before, and their barman makes one of the best Bloody Mary's in the world. Take shelter from the elements and give your body and senses a treat with a blow-out at the Grill. By the time coffee and dessert arrives, you’ll feel ready to take on the world. Venue: The Savoy Address: The Strand, WC2 Phone: 020 7240 2065 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch and Dinner sittings Price: Around £40 per head including wine Nearest Station: Embankment Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  City Café Another Bloody Mary specialist is the City Café, whose bar actually runs cocktail courses for aspiring Tom Cruises throughout the year. You won’t find any showing off at this understated, beautifully-run hotel restaurant – just mountains of tasty food on the buffet and an a la carte brunch menu that has been specifically designed to rescue lost souls on New Year’s Day. We’ve had the pleasure of a brunch here and recommend checking out some of their American twists, like waffles, pancakes or grits as part of your meal. The City Café is a perfect refuge, hidden away in this chic hotel, and combines impeccable service with an unusual flair in the kitchen. They will look after you. Venue: City Inn Hotel Address: 30 John Islip Street, SW1 Phone: 020 7932 4600 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Brunch 11:00 – 15:30 Price: Brunch menu around £40/head a la carte Nearest Station: Pimlico Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  BoxwoodScrooge himself, Gordon Ramsay is keeping all his staff on the hop for both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Staff will probably feel a little tired at this place at the beginning of 2006, but you can expect brilliant service anyway – these guys are top notch. Boxwood is Ramsay's take on an American style diner and has a hearty, life-restoring New Year menu. For £45, diners can enjoy a superb three-course feast that will get them back on their feet in style. On New Year’s Day there are guaranteed to be a few crowds of city types in here, celebrating loudly, and this is not a good place for an intimate meal, but if you’re in a group or don’t care about quiet, you won’t get a better feed in the city. Venue: The Berkeley Hotel Address: Wilton Place, SW1 Phone: 020 7479 3838 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch and Dinner sittings Price: 3 courses, £45 per head Nearest Station: Oxford Circus Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Fish!Borough Market will be eerily quiet on the first day of the year, but we contacted Café Fish to check if they were staying open, and we are delighted to recommend this place as the ultimate place for an affordable, filling and healthy meal. You can’t beat a fish ’n’ chip feast for healthy, restorative eating and this cool café is a lovely spot. Give yourself time for a couple of courses and let the lovely staff steer you to a nice bottle of wine, then finish off with a dessert before rolling yourselves out onto the streets around the market, for an inspiring stroll through a beautiful, ancient ghost town. Venue: Fish! Borough Market Address: Cathedral Street, Borough Market, SE1 Phone: 020 7407 3803 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch 12:00 – 15:30 Price: Lunch around £30/head with drinks Nearest Station: London BridgeTube / Rail Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  ZetterIf you find yourself in Clerkenwell on New Year’s Day (which seems entirely plausible if you partied there) then you could do a lot worse than check out Zetter, a new Italian restaurant right at the heart of this busy, trendy area. It’s a chic, airy space with friendly staff and a hip music policy – and the food is both affordable and authentically delicious. Italian cooking is good for the soul, and you can decide for yourself whether to pig out on a huge lamb shank or Italian sausage, or simply graze on delicious pasta. Everything here is simply cooked in a way that highlights the great ingredients – after all, they are surrounded by some of the best markets in the world. A savvy, inexpensive choice for a rescue meal on New Year’s Day. Venue: Zetter Hotel Address: 86-88 Clerkenwell Road, EC1 Phone: 020 7324 4455 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch and Dinner sittings Price: Around £25 per head including wine Nearest Station: Farringdon Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  GunThis historic pub is the place where Nelson is said to have taken his lover Lady Hamilton. Take a stroll on the veranda and marvel at the still beauty of the Thames before tucking into a traditional English feast fit for an Admiral of the Fleet. This place is run by a couple of brothers who really know what it takes to make a pub feel close to your heart. Tuck into their hearty winter menu over a bottle of wine from an impressive cellar. If you’ve got a huge appetite, we recommend the pint o' prawns as a starter. If you’re not quite so greedy, then you must leave room for mains – the steak and fish pie are both superlative British dishes. Wash it all down with a couple of pints of real ale and you’ll never want to leave. Venue: The Gun, Docklands Address: 27 Coldharbour, E14 Phone: 020 7324 4455 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch and Dinner sittings Price: Around £30/head with drinks Nearest Station: North Greenwich Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  The Easton Another fine pub with a great cellar is this trendy venue a few minutes walk from King’s Cross. It will be packed to the rafters for New Year’s Day with rowdy locals, so ring ahead for a table, but if you can get one the brilliant staff will give you a meal to remember. The kitchen seems to follow a Nigel Slater line. Nothing is too rich or indulgent, and you’ll need half an hour before being able to move afterwards. But it’s a great place to sit around. At our last meal, we ate a steak layered over roast potatoes and pancetta. It nearly made our eyes pop out but we finished every morsel. You can’t beat a rich, creamy feast like this for driving away the January blues. In fact, it made us feel like a king! If you want to start the year by pigging out in style, and possibly getting drunk afterwards, The Easton is the place to go. Venue: The Easton Pub Address: 22 Easton Street, WC1 Phone: 020 7278 7608 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Lunch only 12:00 - 15:00 Price: About £25 per head with drinks Nearest Station: King's Cross Tube / Rail Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  10 BelgosEvery year we recommend Belgos for New Year’s Day dining – because they are always open, always serve hearty food in big portions, and invariably tempt their customers into the purchase of delicious imported beer. Perhaps you shouldn’t go here, but you will love it. House specialties include a huge plate of mussels and chips for a fiver, a cracking set of Belgian sausages, and a huge, rare steak. And of course, there are the beers, lovingly prepared by Trappist monks in faraway monasteries and freighted direct to our tables in London to ensure a righteous start to 2006. Lovely stuff. Venue: Belgos Address: 50 Earlham Street, WC2 Phone: 020 7813 2233 New Year's Day 2006 Meals: Open all day from 12:00 Price: About £35 per head with drinks Nearest Station: Covent Garden Tube Click here for Local Travel and Hotel Information  Did You Know? The recipe for Jeeves' magical hangover cure, from the Jeeves and Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse, includes a raw egg and is known in America as a Bloody Prairie Oyster: Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 measure brandy, whisky, vodka or spirit of your choice Dash Worcestershire Sauce 1 tbsp tomato ketchup Salt 1 whole egg yolk Preparation: 1. Rinse out a half-pint glass with the olive oil, discarding the oil. 2. Add all the ingredients except the egg yolk and mix by swirling the glass. 3. Separate the yolk and carefully slide it into the glass. 4. Drink in one, without breaking the yolk You can add pepper and tomato juice instead of ketchup. |
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