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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

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Roses, a negroni, and radicchio with burrata and caviar
| Leigh Brown/Ombra

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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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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Luca

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.

Ambassadors General Store

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.

Andrew Edmunds Restaurant

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.

The Wolseley

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.

Clipstone

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,

Chishuru

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.

Gelupo

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.

The Quality Chop House

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.

OMBRA

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.

Forza Win

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.

Marcella

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.

40 Maltby Street

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.

Spring

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.

Monty's Deli

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.

Sabor

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.

Decatur

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.

Juici Jerk

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.

Bright

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.