Rev up the romance with these Valentine’s Day menus

With its neoclassical interior and old-school gueridon service, where food is presented via a trolley, this modern European restaurant is a lovely spot for a quiet, relaxing dinner. It has designed a five-course menu for Valentine’s Day: Start off with an appetiser of smoked oysters bedecked with syrupy-sweet Singapore Sling granita, before digging into a platter of melt-in-the-mouth foie gras and tart plum compôte. These are followed by executive chef Armando Aristarco’s spin on risotto, which replaces rice with riso di semola pasta that’s cooked in octopus stock and drizzled with celeriac purée. It’s creamy without being cloying, and studded generously with tender octopus chunks.

For mains, choose between a succulent beef tenderloin with truffle jus and white, gold and red baby beetroots, or a confit black cod that’s topped with crunchy purple potato chips and paired with a moreish anchovy sauce. Round these off with a dessert of deconstructed tiramisu, which diners can try their hand at assembling.

8 February to 16 February
6pm to 10.30pm
S$168++ per couple
S$198++ per couple (with 2 glasses of champagne)
S$268++ per couple (with 1 bottle of champagne Lanson)

Can’t squeeze in a quick romantic vacation? Whisk your partner off to Sentosa for a meal at The Knolls, squirrelled far away from the city’s bustle. Best paired with wine, the four-course meal begins with Hokkaido scallop carpaccio that’s served with porcini mushrooms ragout and Avruga caviar, and spiced with paprika and garlic oil. Next, move on to a green asparagus velouté, plated with Iberico ham and lifted with fresh herbs and pine nuts for a buttery crunch. Your meal’s main highlight is a choice between an Australian wagyu beef striploin with foie gras or a silky Atlantic black cod confit with fennel compote, crispy leek and a champagne sauce. The night ends with a dessert-sweet glass of wine, and a morello cherry and earl grey infused white chocolate mousse.

14 February 2020
6:30 pm to 10:00 pm
S$148++ per person; additional S$88++ per person with wine pairing

Dine on the bay on the special day at Forlino, an Italian fine dining restaurant boasting panoramic views of the Marina Bay waterfront. Two seatings are available, with the first being the prime seats by the window. The six-course menu is a spectacular ode to seafood, with Obsiblue prawns with stracciatella cheese and toasted black figs as an appetiser, Hokkaido scallops in a basil-infused cold melon soup, and mains of lobster risotto and butter-poached tooth fish with avocado, salmon roe cream and roasted baby beets.

14 February 2020
6.30pm to 11pm
$198++ per guest (first row, window seating) or $178++ per guest (second row)

Perched 57 stories atop Marina Bay is Spago, the Singapore offshoot of the Beverly Hills stalwart. For Valentine’s Day, its Dining Room is offering a three-course menu that begins with a starter of a creamy risotto with Alaskan king crab, caramelised zucchini and uni butter, and followed by a main of an American wagyu New York sirloin steak with roasted fingerling “Patatas Bravas”, celeriac puree, pickled mustard seeds and Bordelaise sauce. End the date on a good note with a light and fluffy salted caramel soufflé paired with a Fuji apple sorbet and a bottle of rosé to toast to new heights.

14 February 2020, $205++ inclusive of a glass of champagne 

If it’s a more casual dining experience you’re seeking this Valentine’s Day, head to Porta, a modern European restaurant hidden in a secret warehouse and residence with treasures aplenty for guests. The Map Room welcomes you to a library of globes, books, and trinkets at the entrance, before you proceed to the Veranda Room for your celebration. On the four-course menu is Thai sweet potato and carrot soup with chorizo and herbs, mains of Kurobuta pork belly with romesco purée, pork crackling and asparagus, or Norwegian salmon with celeriac puree, plump tomatoes and crispy basil, and a multi-textured chocolate dessert.

14 February 2020, two seatings at 6.30pm, and 8.30pm

Italian establishment Basilico has prepared a massive feast comprising an antipasti buffet alongside entrées and mains that are served at the table. Guests are presented with a glass of sparkling rosé, before loading up on mouthwatering antipasti such as champagne-poached oysters topped with caviar, and cured ham with black figs and Barolo red wine reduction. At their table, they’ll be served a risotto entrée of Acquerello rice with Hokkaido scallops and foie gras mousse, and mains such as lamb tenderloin wrapped in pancetta, and baked salted cod with marinated candy cane beets. End the evening on a sugar high at the restaurant’s dedicated chocolate room, which is filled with decadent desserts ranging from After Eight gelato to pistachio cherry tartlets.

14 February 2020, 6.30pm to 10pm, $138 per person

Contemporary Cantonese cuisine isn’t exactly what one would have in mind for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner, but Mitzo’s intimate, dimly lit space makes it an underrated choice for when you’ve had enough back-to-back steak and wine meals. The five-course meal begins with an appetiser platter of barbecued pork, truffle prawn and carrot and seafood dumpling, before it continues with a soothing bowl of double-boiled chicken consommé with fish maw and maca. The hearty mains are a choice of Korean-style cheese baked lobster or wagyu beef served with salted egg vermicelli. Finally, cutting through all that (delicious) fat, grease and spice is a lovely rose syrup granita topped with mixed berries and a lotus paste puff.

 Available during lunch and dinner from 10 February to 16 February

Against the backdrop of the lush Southern Ridges, head to the historic Alkaff Mansion to basque in romance within its three venues this Valentine’s Day. Una leads the way with its five-course meal that begins with Love Potion cocktails, and an amuse bouche of vermouth jelly filled olives and Salpicon de Pulpo, a combination of octopus, prawn, crab and compressed watermelon. The seafood theme continues with Carabineros prawn, with lime and wasabi aioli gently lifting its flavour. Gazpacho consommé follows next as a palate cleanser, before the mains of confit salted cod or grilled beef tenderloin. Dessert is a luscious white chocolate mousse.

14 February 2020, 6pm onwards, $298++ per couple

You can’t go wrong with a hearty steak and wine for Valentine’s Day, especially when it’s prepared by one-Michelin-starred restaurant Cut by Wolfgang Puck. Pick from two menus, with a four-course menu for the first seating (S$198++) and a five-course menu for the second seating (S$250++). Highlights of the menu include a Kaluga caviar with eggs benedict Vol Au Vent, and starters of Austrian oxtail bouillon with chervil, bone marrow dumpling and Perigord black truffles, and sautéed jumbo lump crab cake with basil aioli, tomato relish and micro cress. Its award-winning steaks are, of course, the only options for mains. Dig into the USDA Prime Illinois corn-fed 21-days aged steak, or slide your fork into the Hokkaido snow sirloin steak with yuzu Kosho butter for an addition of $100++. Finish with a Valrhona chocolate soufflé with crème fraiche cream and Gianduja ice cream.

14 February 2020, $250++ per person

Dressed in a palette of black and gold and decorated with Calligraphy paintings, Wan Hao is an elegant venue for classic Cantonese fare. It has prepared a delectable six-course dinner of highlights such as stewed beef short rib in spicy Sha Cha sauce, braised prawn with ramen and sea urchin sauce, and double-boiled morel mushroom and fish maw soup. Cap off the indulgent evening with a refreshing dessert of chilled lemongrass jelly with lime sorbet and avocado vermicelli.

13 and 14 February 2020, S$108++ per person

Enjoy a sumptuous dinner with a view at Stellar at 1-Altitude, which is perched on the 62nd floor of One Raffles Place and offers glorious, unobstructed views of the city skyline. The modern Australian restaurant has put together a six-course repertoire of whimsically named dishes such as The Ocean (Brittany blue lobster with Sturia caviar, red currant gel and shellfish cream) and A Cow Loves to Graze (Mayura wagyu oyster blade smoked in apple wood). A vegetarian-friendly menu featuring burrata and beetroot risotto is also available. For an extra memorable evening, opt for the champagne pairing (S$200 add-on), which comprises two glasses of Dom Perignon and a flower bouquet.

14 February 2020
6.30pm to 10pm
$194++ per person (non-window seat)/ $244++ per person (window seat)

Housed within a beautifully restored 1930s chapel with a high ceiling and stained glass windows, The White Rabbit is easily one of the prettiest and most romantic restaurants around. For Valentine’s Day, it has created a degustation set with dishes like Ibêrico pork collar, wagyu carpaccio, and roasted barramundi with clams and bouillabaisse jus. Save space for dessert, which comprises house-made sorbet and apple tart with vanilla ice cream. All of these items, which are also part of the restaurant’s upcoming à la carte menu, will be offered over two seatings. Diners in the later seating at 8.30pm can also look forward to an additional bonus course of lobster bisque with Shadi Schrenckii caviar.

14 and 15 February 2020
first seating starting from 6 or 6.30pm (S$108++ per person, wine pairing at S$50++)
second seating starting from 8.30pm or 9pm (S$128++ per person, wine pairing at S$55++)

The high life lures lovers in at Club 55, where elevated Japanese cuisine is the start of the show. This Valentine’s Day, the five-course dining experience starts with a cocktail, and ends with a divine dark chocolate praline mousse with raspberry curd and coulis, passionfruit jelly, almond sable, frozen rose parfait and 66% dark chocolate shard. In between, the courses include foie gras with berries, walnut and port wine, Japanese ocean cod and blue lobster with apple-celery, mentaiko aioli and sea urchin emulsion, and a Kygo wagyu beef cheek and sweetbread with savoy cabbage, baby carrot, porcini soil and truffle jus. Each couple will leave with a complimentary rose and box of pralines.

14 February 2020, $238++ per couple