Whether you fancy multi-course truffle feasts or seafood platters washed down with fizz, say goodbye to 2021 with dinner at one of these celebration-worthy restaurants.
One of Australia’s most beloved restaurants, Quay is known as much for its postcard worthy views – out to Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House – as it is for the intricate dishes crafted by chef Peter Gilmore.
So where better to take in the Australian city’s famous New Year’s Eve harbourside fireworks? The seven-course menu is certain to feature superb Aussie ingredients (perhaps, marron crayfish or Maremma duck) and the Asian flavours that Gilmore is so fond of, as well as sublime wines to match. And, just because it’s NYE, your evening will be bookended by Champagne on arrival and at midnight.
Looking for a restaurant that combines classy eats, a bit of entertainment and a proper midnight countdown all in one? This recent London opening in St James’s, a favourite of the smart set, has just what you’re looking for.
Book in for the restaurant’s second NYE seating between 9:30 and 10pm, and as you feast on French classics you’ll be serenaded by the Ivo Neame jazz trio. Once midnight approaches, descend below to Frank’s Bar, clinking glasses of complimentary bubbles with friends before enjoying the DJ set until 2am.
In the heart of Stockholm – and therefore in the heart of the action come New Year’s Eve – Tak combines twinkly views over the Swedish capital with Japanese-inspired cuisine. Depending on your budget and tastes, choose between the more casual 14th floor izakaya (a scrumptious seafood and sushi platter) or the 13th floor restaurant with crafted four-course menu (including plenty of vegetarian options). The latter includes the likes of salted waffle with seaweed, smetana and bleak roe, as well as beef Wellington with shiitake, truffle and winter veg.
Between the epic feasts, regular DJ appearances and prime views across one of the world’s most electric skylines, there are many nights of the year that it could be New Year’s Eve at Felix. Set high in the swish Peninsula Hotel, at the southern tip of Kowloon, the restaurant oozes a sense of occasion, from its vaulted ceilings to its illuminated bar.
You’ll have to see what delicious nibbles await you on New Year’s Eve, but on ‘regular’ nights the Felix Experience tasting menu features luxe ingredients such as blue lobster ravioli and butter-poached halibut.
Celebratory New Year’s Eve restaurants don’t always have to be in the city. For a more low-key affair – but no less indulgent – book into this Italian vineyard hotel restaurant where December 31st is spent cheers’ing chilled glasses of crisp glasses of biodynamic Gavi white wine.
Michelin-starred chef Tommaso Arrigoni will up a decadent feast to match La Raia’s tipples, including veal ravioli with almond milk and dates, and venison loin with Barolo-baked pears and black truffle mash. The midnight toast is served with tortello parcels stuffed with lentil and cotechino, the star dish.
Getting up high is a good rule of thumb in any city on New Year’s Eve – all the better for seeing those fireworks filling the sky. And when it comes to Istanbul, Mikla is your place. Perched on a rooftop in central Beyoglu, the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows afford views to the jumble of buildings and the snaking Bosporus River.
But you’ve not only come for the good looks. On December 31st expect a gourmet feast, featuring lobster with caviar, lamb loin with salted yoghurt and pear with phyllo, pistachio and clotted ice cream.
This new restaurant and bar in Berlin – opened by an Israeli hospitality group – will be celebrating its first New Year’s Eve in the heart of Mitte this year. And it’ll be doing it with a 10-course tasting menu, featuring the likes of truffle and yuzu hamachi and lobster seafood ptitim (Israeli couscous).
Because Bellboy is serious about its drinks, there will be signature cocktails and fine fizz to sip alongside the spread, naturally. After dinner, carry on the party in the moody space, which evokes the glamour of Berlin’s 1920s Golden Age with shocks of red and brass light fixtures.
