You can’t put a price on love – but many of us need to put a price on Valentine’s Day.
While your love for your date might be endless, the depths of your pockets are likely not, and you’ll need to draw a line somewhere if you’re footing the bill on February 14.
We've set the bar at £50 per head, but have managed to dip well below that too – without resorting to the likes of a night out at Nandos.
From decadent tasting menus to fondue fun, we’ve rounded up the London restaurants where you can dine (and, on some occasions, wine) your better half for £50 and under.
Galvin HOP - £49
Brothers and Michelin-starred restaurateurs Jeff and Chris Galvin are catering for lovers with all budgets across their London restaurants. At Galvin HOP, their casual bar-style outfit, they’ve created a five-course menu that comes in at just under £50 a head. For that, diners get a meal of poached Jersey oysters, Galloway beef with truffle and potato terrine and a warm chocolate tart with Baileys ice cream and honeycomb.
Galvin Hop, 35 Spital Square, E16 6DY www.galvinrestaurants.com
Carousel - £35
At ever-changing Carousel, the restaurant’s series of residencies mean you never know what you’re going to get. The restaurant has extended this philosophy to its Valentine’s Day offering this year, with the team offering a Let Us Choose menu, where the team curate the meal for £35 a head. with additional wine pairings available.
71 Blandford Street, W1U 8AB, carousel-london.com
Kutir - £50/£55
Rohit Ghai earned himself a Michelin star while at Mayfair’s Jamavar, before opening his first solo venture Kutir in Chelsea at the end of last year. You can try a six-course vegetarian menu at the new spot for £50 per person, while omnivores can pay just another £5 to get the meat-filled version. Dishes across the menus include paneer with morels, tandoori lamb chops with black cumin and a Valrhona chocolate dessert with banana and chilli.
10 Lincoln Street, SW3 2TS, kutir.co.uk
Tibits - £75 for two
Do meals get more romantic than fondue? At Heddon Street's vegetarian restaurant Tibits, couples can cosy up on the winter terrace over a bubbling pot of cheese fondue – vegans can even get in on the act with a dairy-free option available too. Alternatively, both Tibits sites are offering a selection of the restaurant’s winter menu with the Love Boat package. Both deals include desserts and a bottle of vegan prosecco, and both come in at £75 for two.
W1, SE1, tibits.co.uk
Gotto - £22.50
Head out to the most easterly parts of Hackney and you’ll find a stellar deal courtesy of Gotto. At the follow-up restaurant to Soho’s Mele e Pere, Valentine’s diners can get three courses of Italian favourites for £22.50 per person. Dishes on offer include lamb meatballs with pecorino, linguine with clams, garlic and chilli, and a passion fruit pannacotta with fresh raspberries and a cherry sorbet.
27 East Bay Lane, Canalside, E20 3BS, gotto.co.uk, hereeast.com
The Jones Family Kitchen - £95 for two
Sharing is caring, and The Jones Family Kitchen are bringing that spirit into your Valentine’s meal. The Belgravia restaurant will be serving up a sharing-style menu for you and your other half, priced at £95 for two. The surf and turf menu starts with wild scallops and confit pork belly, followed by chargrilled filet mignon and native lobster, before finishing up with a luxurious chocolate fondant. Try not to fight over who gets what.
7-8 Eccleston Yards, SW1W 9AZ, jonesfamilykitchen.co.uk
Craft - £48
If you’re looking for slick surroundings, Craft is it. The Tom Dixon-designed Greenwich restaurant will be offering customers a four-course menu for £48, starting with a glass of Crémant on arrival. Inventive dishes include tempura oyster with apple, ponzu and pickled cucumber, lamb saddle with smoked quinoa and quince, and a Pump Street chocolate mousse with smoked bacon ice cream.
Peninsula Square, SE10 0SQ, craft-london.co.uk
Bone Daddies - £20 for two
Has your idea of a romantic date been framed since childhood by the famous spaghetti kiss in Lady and the Tramp? The Valentine’s Day offering at Bone Daddies could have you recreating that very moment as the St Christopher’s Place outpost will be selling a special dish of Mega Mega Big Boy chashu ramen, which clocks in at twice the size of its standard ramen, ideal for slurping up with your loved one. Will your lips lock around the same noodle?
46-48 James Street, W1U 1HA, bonedaddies.com
El Pirata - £35
Spanish restaurant El Pirata is bringing a whole lot of amor to Mayfair this Valentine’s Day – 10 courses of amor to be precise. Two people can share 10 tapas dishes between them for just £35 per person, with a glass of cava each included. The selection include jamon serrano, grilled lamb cutlets, Spanish tortilla, calamares and pan fried steak medallions with red peppers, white wine and parsley.
5-6 Down Street, W1J 7AQ, elpirata.co.uk
Wahaca - £19/£20
Thomasina Miers’s wildly successful Mexican restaurants will be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year with a street food feast. Diners can choose between a vegetarian spread featuring black bean and cheese quesadillas, mushroom tostadas and poblano pepper tacos, or a meat-filled fiesta, including duck croquetas, buttermilk chicken tacos and Trealy Farm chorizo quesadilla. Each menu is designed to fill the stomachs (and hearts) of the two of you for either £19 or £20 per person.
Various locations, wahaca.co.uk
Sood Kitchen at Bottles - £40
This Valentine’s experience is one for wine-lovers. Spitalfields wine bar Bottles will be hosting a supper club with regular collaborators Sood Kitchen, who will cooking up a storm for couples on the night in the Piedmont bar. A romantic menu of Italian small plates will be on offer – including cacio e pepe rice balls and handmade tortelloni with candied radicchio – with a glass of prosecco included on arrival. At £40, diners will left with change from a £50 budget to use towards perusing Bottles’s wine selection with the help of staff, all of whom are trained sommeliers.
67 Brushfield Street, E1 6AA, bottleswine.bar. Tickets available at designmynight.com
