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Roses, a negroni, and radicchio with burrata and caviar on a dark wood table
Roses, a negroni, and radicchio with burrata and caviar
Leigh Brown/Ombra

The Best Meal Kits for Valentine’s Day at Home

The worst dining out day of the year is cancelled! Here’s what to order, whatever the situation

by James Hansen Updated
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Roses, a negroni, and radicchio with burrata and caviar
| Leigh Brown/Ombra
by James Hansen Updated

Valentine’s Day is arguably the most Marmite of occasions and, it must be acknowledged, can be a pretty awful day for dining out.

This year, there is no dining out at all, no hordes of couples fighting tooth and nail to secure the right booking to have their “special” dinner alongside hundreds of others doing the same. Instead, whether celebrating self-pleasure, friendship, or yes, or preparing a candlelit meal for two in the kitchen, here are some outstanding meal kits for every situation.

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Luca

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A four-course stonker from this Clerkenwell Italian, including sea salt and rosemary focaccia; strozzapreti with truffle and wild mushrooms; and a Florentine bistecca with a nifty sounding Chianti butter. Delivers on 12 or 13 February, via Big Night.

88 St John St, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 4EH, UK
020 3859 3000
020 3859 3000

Also featured in:

Ambassadors General Store

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Influential restaurant group JKS has taken advantage of the hybridisation on offer at its Ambassadors General Store with a menu of biryani; duck egg burji; and a mixed seafood korma. Delivers on the day itself, nationwide.

49 Frith St, Soho, London W1D 4SG, UK
020 3319 8110
020 3319 8110

Andrew Edmunds Restaurant

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This storied Soho nook’s Valentine’s menu has unsurprisingly sold out, so — if it can be counselled — its date night menu, delivered on 26 February, could make a worthy late-in-the-day replacement. It’s non-conformist, yeah? The centrepiece is a wing rib of beef with dauphinois and Swiss chard, ably supported by velvet front and back — parsnip soup for starters and chocolate terrine for dessert. Delivers nationwide, via Dishpatch.

46 Lexington St, Soho, London W1F 0LP, UK
020 7437 5708
020 7437 5708

Also featured in:

The Wolseley

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London’s masters of low-key luxury have a typically understated, classic menu of shrimp cocktail; fillet of beef with peppercorn sauce, dauphinoise, purple sprouting broccoli, and chervil carrots; and a silken cremeux made with Madagascan Manjari chocolate and orange. The fish alternative puts baked salmon with lemon and dill at the helm. Comes with a bottle of decent champagne and some swish truffles as extras. Delivers on 12 or 13 February, nationwide.

160 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9EB, UK
020 7499 6996
020 7499 6996

Also featured in:

Clipstone

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Whether for two or for one, the Italian-style roast chicken and fudgy, chicken dripping potatoes from Nick Bramham’s Arrosto will warm up a cold February night. Highly recommended: ordering some gelato con brioche for dessert, or — much — better, the next morning,

5 Clipstone St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 6BB, UK
020 7637 0871
020 7637 0871

Chishuru

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Joké Bakare’s confident, cheeky brand of hospitality would in normal times be an ideal ~mood~ for a romantic dinner, so bring the vibes home with her pork asun meal kits. Bookended by cassava fritters and a dessert of degue-spiced millet, it’s a braise that tastes of the barbecue, smoky with charcoal-singed onions and peppers. Delivers on 12 February, nationwide.

Unit 9 Market Row, Coldharbour Ln, Brixton, London SW9 8LB, UK
07960 002150
07960 002150

Also featured in:

Gelupo

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Whatever purpose it serves, ice cream is a good idea and Gelupo’s is a very good idea indeed. Steer classic with ricotta and amarena cherry or stracciatella, or head towards a Valentine’s-inspired cardamom and rose number. Accessories are available for maximum pleasure, in the form of ... Cherries in syrup.

7 Archer St, West End, London W1D 7AU, UK
020 7287 5555
020 7287 5555

Also featured in:

The Quality Chop House

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If Come Dine With Me is the urtext of food reality TV in the U.K., then Dinner Date is its awkward cousin, sharing some structure — rounds of dinners, sassy narration — but adding in a new kind of prize wherein the winners go to a Romantic Restaurant and the losers get sent a ready meal on a silver cloche, in a sequence hellbent on emphasising the Sadness of Being Single. Well, sod that, and turn to the urtext of meals-for-one-in-lockdown: The Quality Chop House. Get a pouch of Dexter beef mince; short rib; or pot au feu, add on some cod’s roe, and luxuriate.

88-94 Farringdon Rd, Farringdon, London EC1R 3EA, UK
020 7278 1452
020 7278 1452

Also featured in:

OMBRA

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Perhaps the MVP of restaurant lockdown, Ombra’s Valentine’s Day menu packs in house-cured salmon; agnolotti with winter truffle; a whole sea bream with artichokes and monk’s beard; and the restaurant’s by-now fairly legendary tiramisù. Its unofficial Valentine’s Day menu involves a 2.2kg tray of lasagne and an empty diary. Delivers nationwide, cut-off 10 February.

1 Vyner St, Cambridge Heath, London E2 9DG, UK
020 8981 5150
020 8981 5150

Also featured in:

Forza Win

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This Peckham favourite’s four-course menu comes in a trio of iterations, making it easy to get just the right set-up. There’s sourdough toast graced by crab mayo; a beef shin ragù to go with tagliatelle, and a chicken cacciatore — with an aubergine version on the vegetarian menu that also swaps beef shin for a mushroom and crème fraîche sauce. Dessert features negroni-soaked cherry brownies. Ready for collection on 12 February.

4.1, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, Peckham, London SE15 3SN, UK
020 7732 7500
020 7732 7500

Also featured in:

Marcella

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This delivery option from siblings Marcella and Artusi takes the choose-your-own-pasta-adventure approach, with diners able to build combinations to their preference from a range of fresh pastas and sauces. There are mains for the indecisive, currently aubergine parmiagana or pork and beef meatballs, and a canny sounding campari cheesecake; or there’s the blow-out four-course feast option. Order w/c 8 February for delivery by 13 February.

165A Deptford High St, Deptford, London SE8 3NU, UK
020 3903 6561
020 3903 6561

Also featured in:

40 Maltby Street

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40 Maltby Street’s heat-at-home dinner menu changes weekly, and its restrained, clever comfort food is a winning option for the occasion. There’ll be a seasonal salad that lives on its contrasts, a ribsticking centrepiece, and a selection of highly snackable starters — with an array of wines ready to pair. Collection Wednesday — Saturday, 12 — 5 p.m., with preorders available by phone.

40 Maltby St, London SE1 3PA, UK
020 8076 9517
020 8076 9517

Also featured in:

Spring

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Skye Gyngell’s Spring trades in pastel elegance, and its current range is well set to deliver not just dinner, but a truly luxurious breakfast, perhaps of quince pocket pies or even some cookie dough to be baked off. There are set boxes, too, if pushing the boat out, and a range of dinner options from pastas and sauces through to tubs of caviar and a swiss chard pie. Delivers Saturday 13 February, within London.

Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA, UK
020 3011 0115
020 3011 0115

Also featured in:

Monty's Deli

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Salt beef is true love, and salt beef delivered with some of the best bagels to be found in the U.K. is truer still. Whether pastrami or salt beef, bagels or the reuben sandwich pack, this is a top choice for breakfast or a deli-style dinner, with babka and sodas available too. Delivers nationwide, Tuesday to Friday.

Market Halls Victoria, 191 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 5NE, UK
020 3773 9350
020 3773 9350

Also featured in:

Sabor

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Sabor divides between a choose-your-own tapas offer and a box that tips into the luxuriously absurd, with caviar; foie gras and chicken liver pâté; scallops; black truffle rice; and chocolate fondant with lime. The choose-your-own option is the chance to build up a range of tapas, including pulpo gallega; gambas al ajillo; arroz negro; and iberico presa with mojo verde. Orders placed for Valentine’s delivery will arrive on Saturday 13 February.

35-37 Heddon St, Mayfair, London W1B 4BR, UK
020 3319 8130
020 3319 8130

Also featured in:

Decatur

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Tom Zahir’s New Orleans-inspired seafood boil is a winning option for the romantic and the platonic, the kind of messy fun perfectly suited to the occasion. Add some chargrilled oysters and things are away. The kits will be available to order from 6 p.m. Sunday 7 February, and delivered on Friday 12 February.

Leyton, London, UK

Also featured in:

Juici Jerk

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Centred around a butterflied whole jerk chicken with macaroni cheese; rice and peas; coleslaw; and plantains, Juici Jerk’s meal kit also packs in a dessert box; garlic prawns; Prosecco; rose petals; and tealights. Boxes will deliver nationwide on 13 February, with an order cut-off of 10 February.

Suite C023, Tooting Works, 89 Bickersteth Rd, Tooting, London SW17 9SH, UK
020 8355 3407
020 8355 3407

Also featured in:

Bright

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The London Fields restaurant has partnered with fishmonger Fin and Flounder for a centrepiece of turbot with a sauce made from its bones, alongside smoked mackerel pâté, a mackerel and barley broth, and some candied orange chocolates to finish. Collection or local delivery, Friday 11 February — Sunday 14 February.

1 Westgate St, Hackney, London E8 3RL, UK
020 3095 9407
020 3095 9407

Also featured in:

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Luca

88 St John St, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 4EH, UK

A four-course stonker from this Clerkenwell Italian, including sea salt and rosemary focaccia; strozzapreti with truffle and wild mushrooms; and a Florentine bistecca with a nifty sounding Chianti butter. Delivers on 12 or 13 February, via Big Night.

88 St John St, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 4EH, UK
020 3859 3000
020 3859 3000

Ambassadors General Store

49 Frith St, Soho, London W1D 4SG, UK

Influential restaurant group JKS has taken advantage of the hybridisation on offer at its Ambassadors General Store with a menu of biryani; duck egg burji; and a mixed seafood korma. Delivers on the day itself, nationwide.

49 Frith St, Soho, London W1D 4SG, UK
020 3319 8110
020 3319 8110

Andrew Edmunds Restaurant

46 Lexington St, Soho, London W1F 0LP, UK

This storied Soho nook’s Valentine’s menu has unsurprisingly sold out, so — if it can be counselled — its date night menu, delivered on 26 February, could make a worthy late-in-the-day replacement. It’s non-conformist, yeah? The centrepiece is a wing rib of beef with dauphinois and Swiss chard, ably supported by velvet front and back — parsnip soup for starters and chocolate terrine for dessert. Delivers nationwide, via Dishpatch.

46 Lexington St, Soho, London W1F 0LP, UK
020 7437 5708
020 7437 5708

The Wolseley

160 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9EB, UK

London’s masters of low-key luxury have a typically understated, classic menu of shrimp cocktail; fillet of beef with peppercorn sauce, dauphinoise, purple sprouting broccoli, and chervil carrots; and a silken cremeux made with Madagascan Manjari chocolate and orange. The fish alternative puts baked salmon with lemon and dill at the helm. Comes with a bottle of decent champagne and some swish truffles as extras. Delivers on 12 or 13 February, nationwide.

160 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9EB, UK
020 7499 6996
020 7499 6996

Clipstone

5 Clipstone St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 6BB, UK

Whether for two or for one, the Italian-style roast chicken and fudgy, chicken dripping potatoes from Nick Bramham’s Arrosto will warm up a cold February night. Highly recommended: ordering some gelato con brioche for dessert, or — much — better, the next morning,

5 Clipstone St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 6BB, UK
020 7637 0871
020 7637 0871

Chishuru

Unit 9 Market Row, Coldharbour Ln, Brixton, London SW9 8LB, UK

Joké Bakare’s confident, cheeky brand of hospitality would in normal times be an ideal ~mood~ for a romantic dinner, so bring the vibes home with her pork asun meal kits. Bookended by cassava fritters and a dessert of degue-spiced millet, it’s a braise that tastes of the barbecue, smoky with charcoal-singed onions and peppers. Delivers on 12 February, nationwide.

Unit 9 Market Row, Coldharbour Ln, Brixton, London SW9 8LB, UK
07960 002150
07960 002150

Gelupo

7 Archer St, West End, London W1D 7AU, UK

Whatever purpose it serves, ice cream is a good idea and Gelupo’s is a very good idea indeed. Steer classic with ricotta and amarena cherry or stracciatella, or head towards a Valentine’s-inspired cardamom and rose number. Accessories are available for maximum pleasure, in the form of ... Cherries in syrup.

7 Archer St, West End, London W1D 7AU, UK
020 7287 5555
020 7287 5555

The Quality Chop House

88-94 Farringdon Rd, Farringdon, London EC1R 3EA, UK

If Come Dine With Me is the urtext of food reality TV in the U.K., then Dinner Date is its awkward cousin, sharing some structure — rounds of dinners, sassy narration — but adding in a new kind of prize wherein the winners go to a Romantic Restaurant and the losers get sent a ready meal on a silver cloche, in a sequence hellbent on emphasising the Sadness of Being Single. Well, sod that, and turn to the urtext of meals-for-one-in-lockdown: The Quality Chop House. Get a pouch of Dexter beef mince; short rib; or pot au feu, add on some cod’s roe, and luxuriate.

88-94 Farringdon Rd, Farringdon, London EC1R 3EA, UK
020 7278 1452
020 7278 1452

OMBRA

1 Vyner St, Cambridge Heath, London E2 9DG, UK

Perhaps the MVP of restaurant lockdown, Ombra’s Valentine’s Day menu packs in house-cured salmon; agnolotti with winter truffle; a whole sea bream with artichokes and monk’s beard; and the restaurant’s by-now fairly legendary tiramisù. Its unofficial Valentine’s Day menu involves a 2.2kg tray of lasagne and an empty diary. Delivers nationwide, cut-off 10 February.

1 Vyner St, Cambridge Heath, London E2 9DG, UK
020 8981 5150
020 8981 5150

Forza Win

4.1, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, Peckham, London SE15 3SN, UK

This Peckham favourite’s four-course menu comes in a trio of iterations, making it easy to get just the right set-up. There’s sourdough toast graced by crab mayo; a beef shin ragù to go with tagliatelle, and a chicken cacciatore — with an aubergine version on the vegetarian menu that also swaps beef shin for a mushroom and crème fraîche sauce. Dessert features negroni-soaked cherry brownies. Ready for collection on 12 February.

4.1, Copeland Park, 133 Copeland Rd, Peckham, London SE15 3SN, UK
020 7732 7500
020 7732 7500

Marcella

165A Deptford High St, Deptford, London SE8 3NU, UK

This delivery option from siblings Marcella and Artusi takes the choose-your-own-pasta-adventure approach, with diners able to build combinations to their preference from a range of fresh pastas and sauces. There are mains for the indecisive, currently aubergine parmiagana or pork and beef meatballs, and a canny sounding campari cheesecake; or there’s the blow-out four-course feast option. Order w/c 8 February for delivery by 13 February.

165A Deptford High St, Deptford, London SE8 3NU, UK
020 3903 6561
020 3903 6561

40 Maltby Street

40 Maltby St, London SE1 3PA, UK

40 Maltby Street’s heat-at-home dinner menu changes weekly, and its restrained, clever comfort food is a winning option for the occasion. There’ll be a seasonal salad that lives on its contrasts, a ribsticking centrepiece, and a selection of highly snackable starters — with an array of wines ready to pair. Collection Wednesday — Saturday, 12 — 5 p.m., with preorders available by phone.

40 Maltby St, London SE1 3PA, UK
020 8076 9517
020 8076 9517

Spring

Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA, UK

Skye Gyngell’s Spring trades in pastel elegance, and its current range is well set to deliver not just dinner, but a truly luxurious breakfast, perhaps of quince pocket pies or even some cookie dough to be baked off. There are set boxes, too, if pushing the boat out, and a range of dinner options from pastas and sauces through to tubs of caviar and a swiss chard pie. Delivers Saturday 13 February, within London.

Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA, UK
020 3011 0115
020 3011 0115

Monty's Deli

Market Halls Victoria, 191 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 5NE, UK

Salt beef is true love, and salt beef delivered with some of the best bagels to be found in the U.K. is truer still. Whether pastrami or salt beef, bagels or the reuben sandwich pack, this is a top choice for breakfast or a deli-style dinner, with babka and sodas available too. Delivers nationwide, Tuesday to Friday.

Market Halls Victoria, 191 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 5NE, UK
020 3773 9350
020 3773 9350

Sabor

35-37 Heddon St, Mayfair, London W1B 4BR, UK

Sabor divides between a choose-your-own tapas offer and a box that tips into the luxuriously absurd, with caviar; foie gras and chicken liver pâté; scallops; black truffle rice; and chocolate fondant with lime. The choose-your-own option is the chance to build up a range of tapas, including pulpo gallega; gambas al ajillo; arroz negro; and iberico presa with mojo verde. Orders placed for Valentine’s delivery will arrive on Saturday 13 February.

35-37 Heddon St, Mayfair, London W1B 4BR, UK
020 3319 8130
020 3319 8130

Decatur

Leyton, London, UK

Tom Zahir’s New Orleans-inspired seafood boil is a winning option for the romantic and the platonic, the kind of messy fun perfectly suited to the occasion. Add some chargrilled oysters and things are away. The kits will be available to order from 6 p.m. Sunday 7 February, and delivered on Friday 12 February.

Leyton, London, UK

Juici Jerk

Suite C023, Tooting Works, 89 Bickersteth Rd, Tooting, London SW17 9SH, UK

Centred around a butterflied whole jerk chicken with macaroni cheese; rice and peas; coleslaw; and plantains, Juici Jerk’s meal kit also packs in a dessert box; garlic prawns; Prosecco; rose petals; and tealights. Boxes will deliver nationwide on 13 February, with an order cut-off of 10 February.

Suite C023, Tooting Works, 89 Bickersteth Rd, Tooting, London SW17 9SH, UK
020 8355 3407
020 8355 3407

Bright

1 Westgate St, Hackney, London E8 3RL, UK

The London Fields restaurant has partnered with fishmonger Fin and Flounder for a centrepiece of turbot with a sauce made from its bones, alongside smoked mackerel pâté, a mackerel and barley broth, and some candied orange chocolates to finish. Collection or local delivery, Friday 11 February — Sunday 14 February.

1 Westgate St, Hackney, London E8 3RL, UK
020 3095 9407
020 3095 9407