Romantic meals for two
There's more to a romantic meal than rocking up to your local kebab house before the closing time rush. If you're feeling the pressure to be perfect, here's everything you need to do to make romance run smooth.
Be prepared
Booking a restaurant at the last minute is inexcusable. It's an amateur's error and worst of all it makes it look as if you just don't care. Even if you do manage to get into your local curry house (everywhere else will be rammed), it's hardly the best start is it?
Instead, be smart. Decide where you'd both like to go and book well in advance asking for a table at 9pm or 9.30 pm. That means you can go for a quiet drink first and won't be rushing to get ready. And best of all the staff won't be hurrying you out straight after your dessert. As later customers, you'll probably have the run of the place until closing, or until they put on a Chris de Burgh CD to clear the building.
If you're eating out, make sure you order a taxi to get you both down to the restaurant. This will mean you arrive in a bit of style - your hair won't look like you've been pulled through a hedge backwards - and more importantly you'll both get there together, as it's no fun sitting on your own on Valentine's!
"If you book your table a bit later you'll probably have the run of the place until closing, or until they put on a Chris De Burgh CD to clear the building."
Be romantic
Flowers (guys secretly love them too) and presents are the obvious choice, but what if you're skint? The answer is cooking at home. Unlike just paying for a meal, this shows someone you really care and have gone to a lot of effort.
Conrad Gallagher, Ireland's answer to Jamie Oliver, suggests cooking something easy like a tasty stir-fry or a nice, light pasta dish. "These are pretty simple," says the Michelin-starred chef, who regularly cooks for Bono and Westlife, "and you can save time by doing some preparation in the morning and putting it in the fridge. Maybe use some chillies and avocados too, to make the dish more exotic. Short, easy cooking is best, plus it means you don't have to spend the whole evening slaving in the kitchen." Hurrah.
Be smart
If you really can't cook, try the dish out on your mates a couple of nights before Valentine's. If that doesn't work, swallow your pride, go down to your local M&S, and camouflage one of their meals-for-two as your own. The best way to do this is by transferring it all into your own kitchenware and preparing all the veg and sauce yourself. Then get rid of all the evidence, make a bit of a mess in the kitchen and voila!
Be sophisticated
If you're cooking at home think candles, a nice clean tablecloth and some suitable music, and get rid of any flatmates/family/hangers-on - remember this is about intimacy, and that means privacy.
