Whether you’re looking for somewhere special to take your other half, or would usually rather dine on a doner than brave eating out during the festival of love – we’ve got a restaurant that's right for you. Alternatively you could see where the city's chefs would go for their own romantic evenings.
If you're really newly loved-up you'll be looking for a choice that both declares your love to the rooftops, yet doesn't place too much pressure on you both. So while Covent Garden's Clos Maggiore is officially London's most romantic restaurant™, it's might be a bit too much for a first Valentine's Night. So how about Bob Bob Ricard instead? Get yourself a booth, order a dozen oysters, make liberal use of the 'Press for Champagne' button and you can't go wrong.
Galvin La Chapelle meets every requirement of someone looking to be wined and dined on Valentine's Night. Its dark, candlelit interior sets the scene and the tables are well spaced so you can whisper embarassing sweet nothings without every word being heard by the couple on the next table. The gallic charm of the waiters finishes off the experience. This year's Valentine's menu, created by Jeff Galvin looks frankly amazing and they're even throwing in a box of homemade chocs to take home with you.
This year's best bet to eat out on Valentine's Day if you're not into PDAs or don't have a special someone has got to be either MEATLiquor or Pitt Cue Co. We can't imagine there are many brave souls out there who'd care to suggest to their loved one that they queue in the cold for a meal where they're bound to have burger juice or BBQ sauce dripping down their chins. That said, if you suggest it and they say yes - then they're clearly a keeper.
You don't need us to tell you there's a lot riding on where you do this - remember you're going to have to retell the story again and again (if he or she says yes). You'll be looking for somewhere special, somewhere classy, somewhere where the staff have been trained to within an inch of their lives to respond to this sort of caper and that'll be Le Gavroche. Yes, there are three star resturants in town you could book, but to be honest, you don't want too much flummery over the food, you just want the whole evening to be perfect - and you can pretty much guarantee that here.
Let's face it, you probably wouldn't be caught within a mile of a London restaurant on Valentine's Day, but this will have been a bloody hard week for you. Treat yourself to a counter seat later in the week at either Spuntino or Duck Soup where the banter is great, there's merry mayhem going on all around you and the food is the stuff that, if it won't mend a broken heart, will certainly make it hurt less.
According to Harden’s London Restaurant Guide 2012, Clos Maggiore is officially London’s most romantic restaurant. Served up in the blossom-filled conservatory, couples can spoil themselves with a five-course tasting menu with a glass of champagne on arrival (£125) or with paired wines (£164). And if you feel like popping the question, staff will hide your sparkling ring in a bespoke chocolate box ready for the big moment.
Dean Street Townhouse in Soho has created a new late night package - ‘Soho Sleepover’ for anyone whose Valentines Day goes really, really well. Diners who order after 11pm will be offered the opportunity to stay in a hotel room that night, subject to availability for just £50 per room. Best of all the hotel also provides a ‘Morning After’ kit with such necessities as deodorant, a razor and Alka Seltzer to allow guests to go straight to work, so it won't be a total walk of shame the next day.
If you're looking for the ultimate Valentine's experience, charter Gaucho's state-of-the-art 62-foot Sunseeker Predator from a London pier of your choice. Gaucho's chefs, sommeliers and mixologists will create a romantic private meal for two accompanied by unique Argentine wines and cocktails, whilst the Sunseeker's retractable roof slides open to reveal the London skyline in all its splendour - the perfect backdrop for a proposal to remember.
The Langham, has created a bespoke Laurent-Perrier champagne cocktail especially for Valentine’s Day named ‘The Love Potion’, aiming to capture the spirit of true romance. A few dashes of a secret ingredient - the ‘love potion essence’ - adds sultry notes of spice and hints of rose and white tea to complement the berry-fruit taste and salmon pink hue of Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé champagne. Served in a frozen flute that glimmers with a sugar pearl dusting, it's available throughout the month of February at £24 per glass.
Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley is always going to be a great destination for those looking to dine out somewhere special on Valentine’s Day. This year he's created a beautiful eight course tasting menu at £215 per person which reflects the finest seasonal ingredients. Add wines matched by the sommelier for a further £105 per person and you'll have a pretty amazing dining experience.
Running from 11-18 February, treat your someone special to one of two £75 tasting menus at intimate French restaurant Morgan M. Expect dishes such as fillet of Ikon Valley venison, pot-roasted with chestnut purée, liver ravioli and game jus.
Plateau is offering a five course set menu for £60 which includes a glass of complimentary champagne. Examples of dishes on the menu include Veloutté of white onions, caramized and crisp shallots. Truffled Goosnargh chicken supreme, raviol of mushrooms, light truffle jus and bitter chocolate marquise, black cherry sorbet, Oreo cookie crumb.
Fine-dining doesn’t get much finer (we couldn't help that, sorry) this Valentine’s Day than at The Rib Room Bar & Restaurant. They're putting on a five-course feast for couples to enjoy beautifully prepared British classics for just £75 per person.
For Valentine’s Day, Trishna is serving up ‘his and hers’ set menus. It’s the perfect solution for couples who are fed up with having to eat the same set Valentine’s meal. Each menu features four courses, with ‘Hers’ including Koliwada lobster and Tandoori stone bass tikka. ‘His’, meanwhile, includes delicacies such as guinea fowl biryani. The menus are priced at £35 per person, or £88 with wine pairings from sommelier Sunaina Sethi.
The Stafford London by Kempinski is offering lovebirds a little help in the kitchen this year with an exclusive Valentine's Day Cookery Class on Sunday, February 12, 2012, called Kitchen Chemistry. Led by Executive Chef Brendan Fyldes, it’s an intimate experience for just eight participants. The class costs £220.00 per person including three-hour hands-on cookery lesson, champagne, canapés and lunch with wines at The Lyttelton, and gift bag.
Burlesque and cabaret supperclub Volupté, which will be hosting a ‘Blitz Party’ to welcome all those sharp-suited soldiers and sailors home from war; women are encouraged to glam up for their macho military men, too, in glamorous 1920s attire. Expect air raid sirens, a surprise black out, performances inspired by the sultry era and a menu of oysters, lobster and chocolate fondue. Snag your own service sweetheart for just £75 for three courses and a show. Sounds like a bargain.
Cigalon on Chancery lane's a good place as any to go on Valentine's Day with its cosy booths and glass ceiling for gazing out at the stars at night. They're putting on a three course Provençal menu for £29.50 with starters including Warm Partridge Breast & Artichokes Barigoule, mains such as Home Smoked Salmon Pavé with Celeriac & Shallots Macaroni, Oyster “Sabayon” and the heavenly sounding Passion Fruit & Chestnut Baba for dessert.
For a meal with a view, the restaurant at RIBA, set in the Florence Hall of a magnificent art deco building, offers one of the most striking dining settings in Central London. They have a three course dinner menu served between 5.30-9.30pm at £49 per person including a glass of pink champagne. Dishes include an aphrodisiac platter of a dozen oysters served with shallot vinegar and soda bread, cote de boeuf-rare breed forerib of beef on the bone - with hand cut, triple-cooked chips and for dessert a poached quince & rhubarb pavlova served as a heart shaped for two. To book a table, call 020 7631 0467 or email
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Champagne lovers should head for L'etranger restaurant in South Kensington where a choice of three 5-course tasting menus (starting from £69.) will include a glass of Laurent Perrier Champagne, from the 2002 vintage to rose or Grand Siecle, all served from a Magnum. Menu highlights include roasted Hokkaido scallops with parmesan curd and truffle foam, pan-fried halibut with wild mushrooms, crispy potato and lime veal jus and rose water & coconut tapioca with green tea mochi and vanilla ice cream.
Sweep your loved one off their feet entirely with Valentine's Day at The Gun. Arrive by boat from central London and you’ll be greeted with Champagne followed by a five-course meal brought to you by your very own dedicated waiter, have an exclusive ‘Love Potion cocktail’ mixed at your table and end the meal with Charbonnel et Walker truffles, a dozen red roses and your choice of ‘rom com’ shown on your own personal 42 inch plasma to cosy up to at the end of your meal. The package is available between 11-19 February. The only downside is it costs £395 per couple, but then, what price can you put on love?
The Charlotte Street Hotel is putting on a rather special afternoon tea for Valentine's Day. Park yourself in front of their roaring fire and for £32.50 you can enjoy Chocolate dipped strawberry, Cherry cupcake with sherbet frosting, scones with all the trimmings, a selection of sandiches, teas and a glass of Pommery NV and a raspberry and rose bellini. To book call 020 7907 4000.
Over in Notting Hill, supperclub will have you wining and dining in bed side by side...and you'll also be handcuffed. Couples will be made to feed each other and have the option of staying handcuffed even for trips to the loo - clearly the age of romance is not dead. Those who manage to stay attached to their loved one for the entire night will win an apparently spectacular prize and former All Saint Mel Blatt will be DJ. To book call 020 8964 6600.
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