Valentine’s Dining for Budgets Large(ish) and Small

If you’re wondering where to take your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day, here are a few tasty—and wallet-friendly—options that will—hopefully—lead to late evening pleasures of a more flagrant nature.

North Main’s Campagnolo Restaurant is offering a four-course Valentine’s menu February 12-14 for $50 per person. The restaurant normally does not take reservations, but will be reversing its policy for one day only, on Monday, February 14. Menu options include burrata with house-cured ham, potato gnocchi with sage butter, poached steelhead trout with fried cauliflower, Polderside chicken with mascarpone polenta and king oyster mushrooms, mignardise and a chocolate and passion fruit platter for two.

Kitsilano’s DB Bistro Moderne is offering a five-course Valentine’s menu February 13-14 for $70 per person. Menu includes canapés, roasted chicken consommé, butternut squash risotto, a seafood platter for two that includes lobster, crab, mussels, prawns and clams, and a chocolate parfait.

Adesso Bistro in the West End is offering a three-course Valentine’s menu February 11-14 for $45 per person. Menu options include albacore tuna carpaccio, braised duck leg and ragu with pappardelle, seared scallops with Prosecco butter, pea and mint risotto, roasted pork tenderloin with in-house smoked bacon, chestnuts and Brussels sprouts, and crips pastry shells with chocolate ricotta and chestnut cream.

Yaletown’s 100 Days at Opus Hotel is offering a three-course menu for $35 per person. Menu options include tuna tartare in chilled avocado soup, shucked Kushi oysters, Brome Lake duck breast with braised red cabbage, chocolate ganache torte and honey-yogurt panna cotta with rosewater and candied rose petals.

Main Street’s Cafeteria will be taking reservations on February 14 only for their Valentine’s menu, which includes wagyu beef tataki in spicy ponzu sauce with sesame spinach and shiitake, fillets of sole stuffed with smoked salmon and spot prawns, and peanut butter pie with banana sauce. $47.50 per person.

Pied-a-Terre on Cambie is offering a $59 four-course menu that includes canapés for two, foie gras parfait with sour cherry preserves and brioche, duo of beef shortrib and tenderloin with braised vegetables and pommes Anna, and pain perdu with vanilla ice cream and maple caramel.

For the ultimate chocolates-roses-dinner combo, Le Gavroche is once again offering their famous five-course Valentine’s menu for $85 per person ($135 with wine pairings). In addition to the food, the menu includes a glass of champagne on arrival, and roses and chocolates for the ladies. Menu options include lobster pave, brie cheese filo with garlic cream sauce, Portobello crab terrine with caper beurre blanc, lobster bisque, Dijon-crusted lamb rack with minted gnocchi, free-range chicken confit with parsnip, raspberry cheesecake and chocolate panna cotta.

And if oysters and champagne are more your thing, Oyster Seafood and Raw Bar is offering two glasses of Piper Heidsieck champagne along with a half dozen oysters for $30 on Valentine’s Day.

Happy dining and much love!