The Morning After

For my birthday we went to the Andaz Hotel which was a stone's throw away from the Liverpool Tube station. When we checked into the hotel, we were greeted by the concierge and checked in promptly.

They gave us a free King upgrade, it wasn't as nice as the photo, but the bed was large and comfortable, there was AC, the place was clean, and the staff was so nice and helpful. There were also a lot of amenities: complementary mini bar, free wi-fi, Ipod docking station, and a towel warmer (it didn't work but I don't have one anyway so it wasn't a big deal). There were also 4 restaurants that were associated with the hotel. The one that I really wanted to eat at was closed for the holiday. The breakfast was also included. We were instructed to order it the night prior and told to set up a delivery time. We each had the Belgium waffles, eggs, fruit plate, coffee, orange juice, and pineapple juice.

For lunch we ate at a pub. My husband had the fish and chips; I had a Cesar Chicken Salad. I didn't think it was anything to rave about, my husband thought that the fish and chips were really good. We each ordered a drink as well. My husband had a Stella and I had a Mojito.

The staff was nice enough to research and find a sushi bar that was open and not too far away. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of places were closed due to the time of the year.

We went to Matsuri:
Matsuri High Holborn
71 High HolbornLondon WC1V 6EA

(t) 020 7430 1970

(e) eat@matsurihighholborn.co.uk

When I first arrived, the place looked really nice. The menu was really exciting. I was really looking forward to eating at a different place than the same one I always eat at. We had the Tempura Shrimp roll, California roll, a special Marble Tuna Roll with special balsamic soy sauce, and a scallop Carpaccio.

Overall, I found that this was nice meal but nothing that knocked my socks off. I personally didn't like the carpaccio.

After dinner we went back to the hotel. We decided to stop off to get a drink and some dessert at Eastway. I had Cheesecake with mango. My husband had the brownie. I also had a raspberry martini which was made from fresh raspberries. It was very sweet but not compared to that of the cheesecake. ***The best raspberry martini I've ever had was at Bluepoint in Destin, Florida.

We also went down towards Trafalgar, but we didn't count on the delays with the tube stations. There were many stops that were closed. The tubes were also packed full of people drinking, which was prohibited. We did make it to Trafalgar in time for the stroke of midnight. Too bad for our poor planning we weren't able to see the fireworks. After midnight, it felt like a concert. The hoards of people pressed and pushed up against us as we walked along the streets. It was definitely an experience to see New Year's in London.

**We did not go to Simpsons in the Strand because it was booked and there was not an available time when we wanted to eat.