Thistle Hotels' Grand Imperial London Creates 'Good Luck' for Chinese New Year

LONDON, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Thistle Hotels' The Grosvenor hotel in London has launched a new signature mandarin orange based cocktail called 'Grand Imperial Lucky 8' at its newest luxury Cantonese restaurant, for those who want to celebrate the Chinese New Year in style.

The idea of the Chinese New Year is to sweep out any bad luck from the old year and clear the way for good luck, and the new Grosvenor Hotel London Restaurant believes the best way to do this is to sip some good fortune at the Grand Imperial.

The 'Lucky 8' cocktail is mixed with Stolichnaya, Ketel One Citroen and Limoncello, fresh lemon, Angostura bitters as well as the important 'lucky' mandarin orange and orange juice to give it a refreshing zesty flavour perfect for casting off any bad luck.

Mandarin oranges are the most popular fruit during Chinese New Year and the name 'mandarin' in Cantonese dialect is a homophone of 'luck' or 'fortune'. The number 8 is also considered a lucky number in Chinese culture – the perfect mix to create a lucky cocktail.

Joining London's luxury Asian restaurant scene, the Grand Imperial restaurant - located within the landmark heritage hotel, The Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria, provides a wide selection of Cantonese food to see in the start of 2011, or 4709 as it is on the Chinese New Year calendar. The new restaurant specialises in seafood dishes including 'Sauteed Lobster with Superior Stock and Egg White' and 'Deep fried Sea Bass with Pine Nuts' as well as traditional delicacies like 'real' Peking Duck which is served in three courses and special steamed or fried Dim Sum parcels.

Grand Imperial will be the latest addition to restaurateur Rand Cheung's Asian gastro empire; Grand Imperial Restaurant group. Rand Cheung is regarded as a culinary 'legend' by many food connoisseurs across Asia, and the opening means that head chef Leung Chi Keung will now be able to tantalise Londoners with his authentic, delicately prepared, Hong Kong Cantonese menus.

The 'Grand Imperial Lucky 8' cocktail will be available until 18th February 2011.

About Thistle:

Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited which operates a number of UK Hotels. Thistle has 33 hotels across the country, many in superb city centre locations, including eleven London Hotels, with a selection of restaurants and a choice of excellent health and leisure facilities, Thistle has something to offer everyone.

Thistle Hotels is the first hotel group to achieve Hospitality Assured accreditation, across its entire UK portfolio. Created by the Institute of Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured standard measures the quality within customer facing businesses across the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry.

SOURCE Thistle Hotels