So much love, sooooo much choice! No idea what to do on February 14th? Lucky for you, many of London’s restaurants have special menus and cocktails running over a few days. So whether you’re looking for plant based, veggie, live music or spectacular views, here’s our bumper guide of where to celebrate Valentine’s day!
‘Love at Grand 34’ has launched at 34 Mayfair with a stunning installation and a new limited edition cocktail menu. Including the ‘Something Fresh with Vodka’ (mango infused vodka with citrus, cherry blossom vermouth, Dragon Well and Gunpowder green tea blend), and the ‘Something Spicy with Tequila’ (£17.00), an aromatic margarita with smoked ancho pepper infused tequila, pink peppercorn and coriander, there’s also a limited edition chocolate mouse with a raspberry centre – ‘The 34 of Hearts’ available from Friday 11th – Monday 14th February. Visit on a Thursday (or each night from 11-14th), and you’ll be treated to live music from the jazz band!
Theo Randall at the Intercontinental has launched a special Valentine’s Day menu – La Festa Degli Innamorati. Running for three days from 12th – 14th February, the limited edition sharer menu has been inspired by Italy’s best loved dishes. Enjoy a glass of Ruggeri Saltèr Prosecco, while tucking into delicious dishes – antipasti, primi, secondi and a selection of desserts. The menu is priced at £95pp and you can book here.
Boundary London has launched a bespoke menu which can be enjoyed in the restaurant or while snuggled under cosy blankets on the gorgeous rooftop terrace. The menu which is priced at £65pp includes starters such as duck rillettes with salted butter, parsley, shallots and capers, mains like spatchcock poussin with smashed slow-roasted squash and rose harissa, and the chocolate fondant for two for dessert. Fancy making a night out of it? Rooms start at £228pp.
Spice up Valentine’s with an exclusive set menu at Pahli Hill, Fitzrovia created by head chef Avinash Shashidhara. Priced at £50pp, guests can start with an addictive papadi chaat – deep-fried chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt, papdi, curd, and sev. For mains, it’s a sharer style chargrilled aged T-bone steak with Kerala black pepper and coconut marinade for two and for dessert, a refreshingly good blood orange ice gola. Book here.
Holy Carrot is opening up especially on Valentine’s Day to offer a plant based limited-edition three course Valentine’s Day menu including The Lover’s Cocktail, sushi sharing Plate, beetroot risotto, and the signature Pink Tits Dessert! Grab a drink in the Holy Bar with its warming fire and cosy candles.
Novikov’s seductive specials include lobster and prawns tortelli with asparagus sauce and black truffle along with burrata and ‘nduja tortelli and the special Cupido cocktail featuring Bacardi Superior, freshly squeezed pineapple juice, lime juice, homemade strawberry syrup and pink pepper.
Executive Chef Padam Raj Rai of Hot Stone, Islington has created a luxurious menu including award-winning and wagyu sukiyaki maki rolls, new-style seared salmon and fatty tuna sashimi, and a classic ten-piece sashimi box served with five-year aged Kamebishi soy and freshly grated wasabi. Pulling out all the stops, the main course – a selection of premium grade Japanese and olive-fed Yorkshire Wagyu alongside tiger king prawns and the certified rare Kobe beef will be served over hot stones! Priced at £150pp and available 12-14th February, there are also options for pescetarians.
Megan’s are offering lovebirds the chance to indulge in their happy hour on Monday 14th February with a selection of £5 drinks. There’ll also be a special take on their half baked cookie dough dessert with the Cupid Dough dessert including honey and pistacchios and a Nutella centre from the 11th – 20th February. Pre-order bubbles if you’re going all out!
Jason Atherton’s opulent restaurant The Biltmore in Mayfair is pulling out all the stops this Valentine’s Day with a special four-course Valentine’s tasting menu from £85pp and a gorgeous Valentine’s Afternoon Tea from £75pp. Black truffle risotto and braised ox cheeks are just some of the delights available on the menu from the 11th – 14th February, while there’ll be live music in the tea lounge on the 12th and 13th along with a fancy champagne trolley doing the rounds for an additional cost.
DC Inspired restaurant Park Row is celebrating the love story of the Bat and the Cat with its Twisted Love Valentine’s menu. There’ll be live music and a choice of three course (£65pp) or six course (£110pp) menu on offer including a welcome cocktail or glass of champagne on arrival. Featuring edible lipstick, a broken heart parfait and liquid nitro dipped roses, the menu can be enjoyed Friday 11th to Monday 14th February. The Monarch Theatre – Park Row’s fully-immersive, 10-course gastronomic experience will also be running two performances – 5pm and 8:30pm on Valentine’s Day, 14th February. Buy your tickets here from Open Table.
The holy grail of delicious desserts and cakes MY&SANNÉ will be serving up a limited-edition menu, bespoke cocktail offering and Valentine’s inspired dessert menu in Knightsbridge from the 12th – 14th February. With three courses for £38 or a wine pairing menu for £64, there’ll be luxurious rock oysters with smoked black caviar, lobster and sea fennel three-colour raviolo, bisque emulsio and pan seared duck breast with potatoes au gratin, braised endive in juniper berries jus. Sip on the delightful Love Star Martini with a twist on the Porn Star.
The Ivy Soho Brasserie is celebrating Valentine’s Day with Love Letters from The Ivy. Available from 11th – 14th February, the trio of cocktails honour some of the world’s most iconic love letters from days gone by including the LGBTQ+ community. From Napoleon to Joséphine (£9.75), a sparkling serve featuring Altos Tequila Blanco, passion fruit and a splash of prosecco, to Oscar Wilde’s Secret Affair (£9.50), incorporating Beefeater Gin, lemon juice and agave syrup, and His Immortal Beloved (£9.75), inspired by Beethoven and consisting of coffee liqueur, double cream and Amaretto; guests will be sure to fall for these limited edition-delights.
Smoke and Salt are doing things differently this year. They’ll be extending Valentine’s Day by a day to offer us an exclusive preview of their new Spring menu on Tuesday 15th February. Guests will get to enjoy a six-course sharing menu, including British wine pairing as well as a British Negroni to start, for £90pp.
Whether it’s Valentine’s or Galentine’s, Bill’s have got you covered with a special set menu and delicious cocktails. Available from the 10th – 15th February, guests can start with complimentary Lovestruck cocktail before enjoying halloumi fries, crispy chicken and sesame dumplings or vegetarian maple soup and a choice of mains which include creamy truffle chicken. Sharing profiteroles and carrot cake doughnuts round off the feast and all for just £24.95pp.
Sharing is caring this Valentine’s Day at BIBO Shoreditch as Dani Garcia launches the mahusive XXL Tortilla which is made up of a whopping 60 eggs and 3 kilograms of potatoes, priced at a total of £130 for an affordable £11 per head! Extras like padron peppers, chistorra al infierno, piparras, brava sauce, alioli, bread and picos are the perfect accompaniments, washed down with refreshing jugs of BIBO’s signature red and white Sangria.
The Ivy Chelsea Garden are getting romantic with their Love Letters inspired cocktails available from the 11 – February 14th. From Napoleon to Joséphine (Altos Tequila Blanco, passion fruit and a splash of prosecco), to Oscar Wilde’s Secret Affair with Beefeater Gin, lemon juice and agave syrup, Valentine’s night diners will also receive a complimentary copy of Love – a collection of passionate poems compiled by Shaun Usher.
It might sound cheesy, but Haugen in Stratford have the perfect date night food available with a fondue for two. The Fondue Experience for two priced at £135 offers up Swiss fondue, followed by chocolate fondue and a bottle of Nyetimber, while there’s also a three course menu available at £45.50. A live band will be jazzing things up for your romantic night.
Getting you in the mood this Valentine’s Day, Noilly Prat have teamed up with the Cadogan Arms for a martini cocktail and oyster pairing. Think beer battered Jersey oysters, topped with seaweed tartare paired with an Olive Oil martini cocktail, to a taste of the Irish coast with a Carlingford oyster, matched with a classic Gibson martini cocktail, priced at £14.
There’s a tempting Sicilian feast on offer at Norma in Fitzrovia this Valentine’s.. From 7th to 14th February, diners will get to enjoy Head Chef Giovann Attard’s special menu including Mersea oysters with dill and chilli, lobster and tomato tortellini with lemon butter sauce and basil, and scaloppine di vitello with marsala. Cardamom and rosewater panna cotta, pistachio crumb and crystallised rose petals will finish off the decadent five courses priced at £60pp or £90pp with matching wines.
Available on the 11th, 12th and 14th February at the awesome Arros QD is a special seven course Mediterranean feast including Quique Da Costa’s most popular dishes. With signature cheese stones, wood-grilled Mediterranean tiger prawns and Quique Dacosta’s famous eel and cherry rice for mains, there’s also tempting cheesecake with forest fruits syrup to finish. Priced at £80pp. Book here.
Fancy some sweet jazz on the most romantic day of the year? You’ll find it at Amazonico as they play host to The Palm Swing Jazz Club while guests enjoy a Latin American inspired menu including the delicious sounding hand dive scallops and purple potatoes served with an acevichado caviar sauce, along with pan fried wild caught sea bass, cassava and white tucupi, followed by Bocado de la selva – an irresistible coconut steam cake.
Feeling Anti Valentine’s? Temper have just the thing with a special menu created by David Lagonell including rock oysters with aguachile negro and pickles, ox tongue with barbecue sauce, and ox heart with anticucho, aji panca, peanut & aji amarillo, giant corn and burnt sweet Romaine. Being served at all sites, the menu will be available from the 11th – 14th February.
For one of the fanciest Valentine’s views on the day itself, head to Oblix East where there’ll be a gorgeous set menu on offer including burrata with olives and datterini tomatoes or crispy squid with chilli and lime to start, followed by signature dishes like spicy lobster and crab linguine with chilli, garlic and lemon, and Oblix pepper steak for main with accompanying sides. At Oblix West, there are two menus available with the signature menu priced at £130pp with a glass of champagne on arrival and delights like steak tartare with aged cheddar and beef tomato, crab cakes with watercress and wasabi mayo and whole lobster for mains. The premium menu includes rosé champagne on arrival for £160pp.
How about a romantic afternoon tea instead of dinner? We’ve got just the thing – head to Rosewood London’s Mirror Room for a fabulous treat – the Yayoi Kusama inspired Art Afternoon Tea. Expect Japanese sandwiches from chicken teriyaki and spring onion, to crispy rice cracker, yuzu avocado and keta caviar, as well as classic pastries and show stopping cakes influenced by Kusama’s works. Of course reimagining the offering for V Day means a red and pink colour palette, with a glass of fizz included at £75pp. Available from 12:00 – 17:45 on the 12th, 13th & 14th February. To book visit the website.
There’s also a fabulous afternoon tea on offer at TOKii, the Japanese fusion restaurant housed inside the 5-star hotel The Prince Akatoki London. Boasting Japanese flavours, savoury dishes include smoked salmon blinis with yuzu créme fraiche and dill and chicken teriyaki bunm tuna nigiri. Got a sweet tooth? You’ll love the scones with clotted cream, the yuzu and passionfruit macaron and buttermilk panna cotta with elderflower jelly, strawberries and sesame tuile. Priced at £32pp or £46pp with a glass of Thiénot Champagne.