NYE London 2023

What a day! We had plans, but they fell through so we were left to improvise and it proved to be a NYE for the books!

We were told that The Brass Rail in Selfridges is a great place for pastrami sandwiches, matzo ball soup, and latkes. I grew up on Canter’s in L.A. and am a big fan of Sarge’s and Katz’s in NYC (each for very different reasons) so the prospect of trying one of my favorite meals in London was thrilling. We were staying in Westminster, so Selfridges was about two miles from our hotel. We decided to walk and spend some time in Hyde park.

I’m glad we decided to walk because the park is massive and there is so much to take in. It was a beautiful drizzly day and walking through the park in the mist was very romantic.

We arrived at Selfridges and what an experience! The frangirán es that greet you when you walk through the door are some of the finest perfumes in the world. It is quite an intoxicating experience! We found the que and waited for about ten minutes for a table. It didn’t take long for our food to arrive and to enjoy our meal. The matzo ball soup here is a chicken noodle soup with a matzo ball in it. It was delicious.

We finished our meal and explored the department store. By the time we left Selfridges the streets were packed! We had reservations at the Wahaca restaurant in Shoreditch for later, so we decided to take the tube over and find a pub to have a drink while we waited. I had a cocktail with a rhubarb and raspberry gin and it was the most delicious drink I had the entire time we were in London. If you come across this type of gin, give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

We grabbed a couple of street tacos a Wahaca. I was expecting more of a Oaxacan influence in the food given the name, but I was very wrong. I love a good mole sauce and was excited to see what London’s take on it, but there was no mole sauce in this restaurant. I know that growing up in Southern California I am spoiled by the thousands of delicious Mexican restaurants which represent all the different flavors of the different states in México, so I try my best to refrain from criticizing. I did wind up having the halloumi al pastor tacos and they were the perfect combination of sweet, spicy, salty, and savory.

Then, we had the brilliant idea of walking the five miles back to our hotel. We figured we would stop at pubs along the route and have a lovely time ringing in the new year. We were sadly mistaken because our route was entirely obstructed by the fireworks show and almost all the pubs were closed for private parties. We came across an oasis in the middle of our walk. Joe Allen’s in the theatre district proved to be the most incredible place to spend NYE. The staff was incredible kind, the drinks were incredibly strong, and the piano player was incredibly talented. We spent the evening drinking in the merriment of the people around us. If you are ever in the theatre district give this place a try. I can’t speak to the food, but I can to the rest and it was wonderful

Eventually, we had to continue our walk to our hotel. We walked through Trafalgar Square and it was packed with people waiting to see the fireworks. We continued on to Buckingham Palace where we were finally able to cross and made it just in time to see the fireworks. They were gorgeous and the perfect way to bring in the new year. Happy 2023 to you London! Thank you for showing us a great time and to all a Happy New Year! See you in Belgium next!