Wine & Dine: Romantic Wine Pairings That Set the Mood

Nothing sets the mood like great food, and a beautifully made dish can win you big brownie points with your romantic partner.

In fact, dining and romance go hand-in-hand for Brits, with 90% of Londoners desiring a partner who can cook and 23% of UK women preferring to share a good meal with a partner than good sex!

Romantic dining is as sought-after as ever, but the way we enjoy romantic dining is changing. The number of couples wanting to make romantic meals at home is rising – 40% of Brits planned to cook a special meal at home for this year’s Valentine's Day.

There’s a clear desire to bring the fine dining experience home for our loved ones, but knowing what to cook – and which wine to pair with our dishes – is a much more daunting prospect for the average Brit.

Not to worry, we’ve got the answers.

Using OpenTable’s database of the Top 100 romantic restaurants in the UK, we’ve worked out the top 20 restaurants by comparing ratings and review scores, flicked through every restaurant’s menu from 14th February 2025, and found the most common starters, mains and deserts presented to UK lovebirds by expert chefs.

To find out the perfect wine pairing for these romantic dishes, we’ve recruited the help of Yorkshire wine merchants House of Townend – who have been supplying retail and consumers with fine wine for over 100 years.

Combining the knowledge of expert chefs and experienced wine merchants, here’s what you should be cooking at home and the wine you should be pairing it with to impress your dinner date.

Starters

Are you looking to impress with a three-course extravaganza? Every romantic dining experience starts with a, well, starter – and here are two common starters couples were ordering last Valentine’s Day.

Seafood tartare

A dish made from raw, high-quality fish or shellfish, finely diced and seasoned with fresh vegetables – it’s easy to see why this dish is so favoured by romantic and fine dining restaurants. Well, that and certain shellfish are considered to be libido-boosting, if the rumours are to be believed!

For inspiration, this Valentine's Day, diners enjoyed a beautiful Isle of Harris scallop tartare at Core by Clare Smyth, complete with sea vegetable consommé. Core came out on top as the most romantic restaurant in the UK, so we feel confident saying this starter is likely to be a winner with your dinner date.

The perfect wine pairing: Alexis Teillay, Retail Manager from House of Townend, recommends pairing seafood tartare with…

Sancerre 2023, Domaine Sylvain Bailly

“This wine is best described as 'Minerality Mirrors the Sea,’” says Alexis. “Sancerre’s flinty, chalky minerality reflects the saline purity of raw scallops, creating a seamless harmony between wine and dish. It’s like tasting sea breeze in both glass and plate – perfect for seafood tartare.”

Velouté Soup

If seafood isn’t your date’s preferred dish, soups were another popular romantic starter offered by restaurants for Valentine’s Day 2025.

We saw plenty of velouté soups, a French-style dish known for its silky, velvety texture. Taking its name from the centrepiece of the dish, this soup is characterised by velouté sauce, which is made by thickening a light stock (meat or vegetable) with a roux.

It’s a balanced soup with a light and luxurious mouthfeel, thanks to the texture. You can add cream, herbs, pureed veggies and other ingredients to personalise your soup how you and your date see fit.

This year, the 4.9-star-rated Surbiton restaurant, The French Table, treated diners to a watercress velouté with ricotta and lemon tortellini, dressed with spiced yoghurt, sundried tomato tapenade and toasted seeds.

The perfect wine pairing:

Grüner Veltliner 2023, Domäne Baumgartner.

“This wine offers white pepper, saline minerality, citrus fruits, and orchard fruit that fold into the dish’s textures like a second sauce,” says Alexis. “There’s enough weight to meet the velouté, but without any heaviness.”

Mains

Now for the main course, in most cases, your showstopper. A good main can make or break a dining experience, so take inspiration from these romantic dishes ordered at luxury restaurants last February.

Roasted whitefish dishes

Impressive, decorative roasted fish dishes were popular on Valentine’s Day 2025, with restaurants such as Frog by Adam Harding offering a simple but beautifully prepared cod and pickled artichoke main, and Chester’s Sticky Walnut serving up a halibut fillet with rainbow chard, pissaladière and parsley sauce.

Our favourite from the top 20 most romantic restaurants has to be Smiths of Wrapping’s pan-fried Cornish lemon sole fillets, adorned with Scottish green scallops and Devon crab hollandaise.

The perfect wine pairing:

House of Townend White Burgundy 2022

“The citrus to mineral balance beautifully complements the hollandaise and the gentle sweetness of the sole and scallops,” says Alexis. “It’s clean and crisp, yet structured enough to support the creamy crab hollandaise without overwhelming the fish.”

Steak dishes

Steaks were a firm favourite on Valentine’s Day 2025, featuring on 17 of the top 20 most romantic restaurants’ menus. The steak dishes varied in the cut of meat, accompanying sides and relishes, but the core of the dish remained the same – hearty, classy and cooked to perfection.

Somerset’s Chez Dominique offered a French-inspired Onglet steak, with French mustard, green peppercorn and tarragon butter and pommes frites. On the other hand, Newquay’s The Tarton Fox offered a range of different steaks, including 600g sirloin on the bone, 900g T-bone, and a tender Chateaubriand.

The perfect wine pairing:

Crianza 2017, Oro de Castilla, Ribera del Duero.

“The T-bone and sirloin, with their fatty edges and bold flavour, are flattered by this wine’s blackberry richness, mocha spice, and smoky barrel tones,” says Alexis. “It’s a marriage made in heaven!”

Desserts

A sweet, sensual dessert is often considered to be the most romantic part of a dining experience – especially if you’re sharing. Here are the winning desserts from 2025’s romantic restaurants.

Fruit or sorbet-based desserts

Fruit and sorbet-based desserts were common in 2025, thanks to their light, sweet flavour profiles – the perfect contrast to a rich steak. The Greyhound Beaconsfield marked the occasion with a special strawberry and Champagne yoghurt, a luxurious take on a classic dessert.

Sometimes you just can’t beat simple, which is why Soho’s Andrew Edmunds offered a traditional lemon sorbet for their dessert. A refreshing, juicy dessert, perfect as a palate cleanser.

The perfect wine pairing:

Prosecco Valdobbiadene Millesimato DOCG, Villa Sandi

“Prosecco’s bright acidity, light body and fruity flavours from the Glera grape complement fruit and sorbet desserts perfectly,” says Alexis. “The gentle bubbles refresh the palate, while Extra Dry or Demi-Sec styles balance the sweetness, enhancing citrus, berry or peach notes without overwhelming delicate textures or flavours.”

Chocolate-based desserts

If you prefer a lighter main course, such as white fish, a bolder, chocolate-based dessert may be the perfect indulgent end to your romantic homecooked meal.

London’s famous Trinity, Michelin Star restaurant, offered guests a Yorkshire Rhubarb and Vanilla Mille Feuille, which for those who don’t know, is a French dessert made of three layers of crispy puff pastry and cream. If you attempt a dessert this complex, you are sure to wow your date, but make sure you practice before the big night!

For something without pastry, why not try a fluffy chocolate layer dessert or mousse? Another London-based restaurant, Gauthier Soho, served up a beautiful 70% dark Chocolate and praline dessert with marinated cherries on Valentine’s Day 2025.

This offers a great balance between the richness of the dark chocolate and the soft, silky texture of the creams or mousse – resulting in a rich, indulgent dessert that doesn’t sit too heavy on the stomach after your main course.

If you struggle with the form factor, adapt these inspirational dishes and use the same flavour profile in a traditional cake!

The perfect wine pairing:

Recioto della Valpolicella Classico ‘Le Arle’ 2020, Guiseppe Lonardi

“Recioto is a rare, naturally sweet red wine made from partially dried grapes,” says Alexis. “Unlike Port, it retains a brighter freshness and lower alcohol, which makes it perfect for pairing with bittersweet chocolate – no risk of syrupy overload. The flavours are dried cherry, fig, cocoa, toasted hazelnuts and spice, which beautifully mirror a chocolate dessert’s marinated cherries and nutty praline, creating a rather sensual palate,” Alexis explains. “It tastes almost like liquid Black Forest gateau, but with the added elegance only a good wine can provide.”

Will you be trying any of these dishes when you next cook a romantic meal? Let us know! If all goes well, your date will be head-over-heels impressed.