Thanksgiving in London

When you think about it, it’s amazing that celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday in England took so long to catch on. After all, the pilgrims were English. Nowadays, many venues in the City are serving Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. The Reading Room at Claridge’s and the Hard Rock Cafe in Old Park Lane (in the building that used to house Coutts Bank) are just two London restaurants that traditionally put on Thanksgiving menus. Here are a few others:

Babylon at the Roof Gardens (Kensington) – Overlooking the spectacular London skyline 100ft above Kensington High Street, diners at Babylon on Thanksgiving night (Thursday 26th November) can enjoy an evening of live American jazz whilst dining on a selection of sumptuous, seasonal dishes from the mouth-watering menu, with one or two extra special Thanksgiving themed dishes on offer. The talented vocalists and musicians from resident jazz band ‘The Ben Matthews Trio’ will be performing world-famous tracks from The Great American Song Book for an authentic and celebratory evening. From Cole Porter classics including ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ to Harold Arlen’s ‘Stormy Weather’ and Rodgers and Hart’s ‘My Funny Valentine,’ Babylon diners will be transported to the smoky basement New York jazz clubs of the 1930s and 40s.

HIX at the Albemarle at Browns Hotel – A delicious three course Thanksgiving Day menu celebrates the day with roast turkey with creamed sweetcorn and caramelised sweet potato and cranberry sauce.

Christopher’s American Bar and Grill – (Covent Garden) – Christopher’s can be found in an elegant Grade II listed Victorian Building located in the heart of theatre land.  The original Victorian features and high ceilings of the dining room also enjoys spectacular views of Waterloo Bridge and serves traditional and contemporary dishes from across the U.S.A.

Missouri Angel – (Tower) – Missouri Angel first opened its doors on Thanksgiving Day in 2007 in what was formerly the Angel Pub. Not in the mood for turkey? Try an aged ribeye steak carved from good old Nebraska beef. And don’t forget to order the pecan maple tart with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup for dessert, er, pudding. You can view the Thanksgiving Menu here.

Goodman Mayfair – (Oxford Circus) – A good, ole Yankee steakhouse, Goodman prides itself on prime beef from grain-fed herds that are matured in a dry aging room on the premises. At Thanksgiving, Goodman offers roast Holy Farm turkey with creamed sweetcorn, caramelised sweet potato and cranberry sauce.

This Thanksgiving, Vicky and I are grateful for all of you. Our Visitor Map shows that we’ve been consistently averaging well over 250 hits a day and have had over 15,000 visitors since we began posting in April. The blog has loyal followers located all over the world, including the UK, Germany, India, Australia, Iceland, Thailand, Israel and Greece, to name but a few. Therefore, no matter where you live, we want to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and offer you our personal thanks for your interest in Number One London.