LONDON'S TOP 12 VALENTINE’S DAY RESTAURANTS
The Capital’s Most Romantic, New Food and Drink Experiences
London has so many sexy spots to eat the food of love, it’s difficult to know where to aim Cupid’s arrow.
But fear not, our intrepid team has scoured the capital for the most seductive and exciting new Valentine’s food and drink experiences.
With everything from bespoke poems, aphrodisiac tasting menus, mysterious locks and keys, oyster bars, sky high dining, boozy bears and inventive, Valentine’s dishes, our top ten will ensure you wine and dine like Bacchus himself.
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Personalised Poetry and Valentine’s Cocktails at The Coral Room
This Valentine’s, head to the heart of London's literary quarter at The Coral Room, where much-loved poet, Luke Davis will be crafting bespoke poems, tailored to the individual, on a vintage typewriter.
Then sample a special, Valentine’s cocktail, or three, like The Land of the Heart’s Desire, made with Talisker 10-year-old whiskey, oyster leaf, Mancino Vermouth Secco, Dry Curaçao, and White Penja Pepper.
The Coral Room, 16-22 Great Russell St, London WC1B 3NN. Luke will be creating poems from 12.30 - 8.30pm on 14 February
Get Locked up at Mint Leaf London
Unlock your beloved’s heart this Valentine's Day at fine dining Indian restaurant, Mint Leaf London.
Couples can attach their love lock to a gate, which will be kept safe until Valentine’s Day next year, when it can be unlocked to reveal a special offer.
Toast the occasion with two cocktails, adorned with a love lock and key and enjoy a five course set-menu, featuring an amuse bouche of Gol Gappa; followed by a Vegetarian or Meat Platter with Badami Aloo Tikki or Sofiyani Salmon.
A Passion Sorbet refreshes your palate before mains such as Chicken Chettinad, Hariyali Seabass or Anjeeri Malai Kofta.
Mint Leaf London, 12 Angel Court London, EC2R 7HB. 10, 14, 16 & 17 February. £65pp with prepayment required.
Hithe + Seek's Aphrodisiac, Valentine’s Wine Pairing Menu
Hithe + Seek collaborates with wine guru and Dalston Wine Club Founder, Hannah Crosbie for a six course wine-pairing menu, featuring aphrodisiac-imbued dishes.
Head Chef Fabio De Paolis has created the ambitious and exciting new menu, with playfully named dishes like ’The Booty Call’ and ‘My-Type-On-Paper.’ Ingredients such as scallops and Chilli mango mousse with a dark chocolate sphere are sure to get hearts racing. Menu highlights include torched king oyster scallops, oyster leaf, parsnip purée with Taittinger and the sea bass carpaccio, compressed tomato, basil crumble with Champagne granita.
Diners can enjoy suitably romantic views across the River Thames while they dine at the hotspot in the heart of the City of London.
Hithe + Seek. 60 Upper Thames St., London EC4V 3AD . 8 February - 2 March. £99pp
Boozy Bears and Oysters at Fenchurch Restaurant
Fenchurch Restaurant combines Caribbean flavours with British ingredients for its super sexy, six-course Valentine’s tasting menu. Start with a glass of champagne and snacks, including native oyster with blood orange and cucumber; pumpkin cappuccino; taco and smoked duck, before mains of Cornish crab; Lumina lamb and Wagyu. The meal ends with Fenchurch’s famous, soursop and pink peppercorn whisky gummy bears followed by brown butter shortbread with white chocolate and prosecco jelly.
1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF. Prices start from £165pp, available 14 February only
Yaatra invites you to Lick 'n' Bite with your Lover
Yaatra invites lovers to their Indian restaurant at Old Westminster Fire Station for a playful, luxury five course meal, from 12 to 17 February. Toast your partner with a love potion cocktail and then share the saucy “Lick ’n’ Bite” amuse-bouche, followed by dishes including crab croquettes in coconut butter sauce; langoustine momos, seafood Shorba, and grilled spiced Welsh lamb rump.
Yaatra, 4 Greycoat Pl, London SW1P 1SB. 12 - 17 February
Buon San Valentino at Bocconcino Soho
Have a Buon San Valentino at Bocconcino Soho’s La Festa di San Valentino. The Valentine's three-course set menu features truffle burrata, Osso Buco with creamy polenta and gremolata or Baked celeriac with truffle beurre blanc and pickled vegetables. Finish the evening with a decadent, gold leaf wrapped éclair or the limited-edition Bocconcino Heart with sweet lychee crème and strawberry.
Bocconcino, 59 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7JY. Prices start from £85pp, available on 14 February only
From India with Love at Colonel Saab
Colonel Saab - the current title-holder of the UK’s Best Asian Restaurant award - is a bricks-and-mortar testament to the power of love, packed with precious Indian art, artefacts, family heirlooms and love letters between the restaurants’s namesake, Colonel Saab and wife, Binny.
This Valentine’s they invite you to bathe in the glow from a canopy of antique chandeliers at their Trafalgar Square or Holborn restaurants for a five-course Valentine’s Tasting Menu, which includes a glass of Rose champagne, complimentary roses and live musicians.
The menu features dishes like grilled lamb chop, beetroot and carrot chutney and green apple salad, and Confit duck, malabar sauce with ghee rice. Afterwards, enjoy the Shikanji rose tart, red wine poached figs, Thandai crumble and vanilla ice cream followed by Valentine’s chocolates with tea or coffee.
Colonel Saab, Trafalgar Square, 42 William IV St, London WC2N 4D and Colonel Saab, 193-197 High Holborn, London WC1V 7BD. 14 February. £140 per couple
Live Oyster Bar & Music at 108 Brasserie & Bar
Marylebone institution, 108 Brasserie & Bar will mark Valentine’s with live music, a specially curated sharing menu, live oyster bar and cocktails.
Start the evening with a visit to the oyster bar, where you can dive into a selection of freshly shucked oysters including Jersey Rocks, Irish Carlingford and West Mersea.
Then enjoy sharing plates like the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina or the 1kg T-bone steak.
And listen to live jazz while sipping a '108 Kiss,’ made with 108's signature gin, strawberry, and rose shrub, crowned with Champagne.
108 Marylebone Ln, London W1U 2QE. 14 February
Sky High Dining at Bōkan 37
With floor-to-ceiling windows across London’s skyline, Bōkan ia one of the capital’s most romantic dining spots. And this Valentine’s, you can enjoy a glass of champagne and a five course Valentine’s tasting menu. Alternatively, take your other half to the bar on the 38th floor, for a candlelit window table with sweeping views of the capital’s most iconic landmarks, while you share a four-course sharing menu and a bottle of bubbly.
40 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9TP. Prices start from £150pp, available 14 February only
Music is the Food of Love at 100 Wardour Street
Let music be the food of love at 100 Wardour Street. Enjoy live R&B, pop and soul love songs from Sol and The Gang while enjoying the Valentine’s three course menu featuring dishes like burrata served with pear, walnut and honey chilli oil; king prawns pil pil; and rib-eye steak with pickled mushroom, tomato and shallot salad and peppercorn sauce.
100 Wardour Street, London, W1F 0TL. Prices start from £89pp, available 14 February only
Theo Randall’s La Festa Degli Innamorati
The four-course La Festa Degli Innamorati menu at Theo Randall uses the best of seasonal ingredients and is inspired by traditional Italian dishes. Expect Devon crab with shaved fennel dandelion; ravioli with black truffle; and roasted Lake District lamb rump with an Amarone sauce. End the night with the vanilla panna cotta with poached rhubarb orange and Moscato.
The Intercontinental, One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London, W1J 7QY. Price £110pp, including welcome glass of prosecco, available 14 February only
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