We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.
This was published 5 months ago
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, which you inveterate romantics already knew. But what you probably didn’t know is what the most romantic restaurants in Perth are doing to help you celebrate the most loved-up day of the year.
Let’s put aside that Valentine’s Day, with all its cheesy tropes, bad chocolate and teenage mawkishness, was invented by a greeting card company to sell more cards. Get on board the V Day bus and spoil your significant other with gifts and scattered rose petals. Send unnamed bunches of flowers to your secret Valentine and, of course, book a romantic restaurant. But what sort of restaurant? Well, it’s not a gastro pub, a pizza bar or a loud Asian dumpling house. It should be a little bit posh, have moody lighting, have tables and booths in romantic corners and be mellow, the sort of place you might dress up for.
Our guide to the places to take someone you want to impress.Credit: Shutterstock
If ever there was a bar designed for star crossed lovers it’s the subterranean Bobeche below the Heritage Wine Bar on St Georges Terrace. It’s dark, moody, comfortable and intimate. There are even touches of velvet in the décor. You can eat a deux in one of their booths or at the bar and order spectacular cocktails from their list.
Unsure what to drink? Say after me, “Could I have one of your cocktails in a teapot please?” Trust me. It’s a perfect Valentine’s Day concoction as it’s meant to be drunk by two, or a footy team, depending on your capacity. Chef Gord Kahle’s food is among the best in town so, go on, spoil yourself.
Just up the road at the swanky State Buildings, the bosses have pushed out the Valentine’s Day boat. If you really want to spoil your other half at one of the city’s best dining rooms, Wildflower is for you. You can enjoy a four or six course tasting menu cooked by head chef Michael D’Adamo in Perth’s sexiest dining room.
Each course has paired wine for an extra price, or better still, Perth’s best – by a country mile – paired non-alcoholic cocktails. They are very good. And should you wish to end the night in style and say “I love you” and mean it, buy a $1,995 “suite celebration” which includes a stay in the Como Treasury Hotel’s studio suites, a bottle of French and a box of the legendary Sue Lewis chocolates in the room, valet parking, breakfast the next morning at Post Restaurant (if you have the strength to get out of bed) and late checkout. We actually saw a guy get down on his knees and propose one night at Wildflower. Aaaaaw. She said yes, by the way.
There’s something about romance and the French. It is, after all, the language of love. La Lune in East Freo is a bistro right down to its steak and frites bootstraps. It’s the perfect place to huddle away with your paramour, drink French wine and chow down on bistro classics. The owners are switched on, super lovely and their wines are very good.
Delicious and decadent.Credit: Robert Broadfield
Nothing says France like La Bastide. It’s so authentic one expects to see a philosopher at a corner table smoking Gauloises and necking pastis. It is a restaurant for lovers. The food is impeccable and the vibe … it’s so left bank chic. Everyone wants champagne, on V Day especially pink ones, so kick off with a bottle of the 2015 Pol Roger Épernay Rosé. They have lots of good wines by the glass, if you want to keep things tidy. The wine list is big and fabulous. Food wise, we recommend the duck breast (magret de canard) garnished with impossibly light and thin pommes dauphinoise and to begin, you can’t go past their grilled asparagus polonaise with sorrel.
The preparation is meticulous, and it shows in La Bastide’s duck breast.Credit: Rob Broadfield
Bistro Guillaume is the OG bistro for lovers. It ticks every box for an intimate, romantic experience. Beautiful décor, attentive, well-groomed floor crew, linen napkins, heavy cutlery and attentive table service. BG’s menu is crowned by its signature roast chicken with Paris mash and taragon jus. Team it with a cress and blue cheese salad.
And don’t even think of going to Bistro Guillaume and not ordering the passionfruit souffle. It’s the only souffle in town and it is superb. The only question for you is, “do I want a quenelle of house made vanilla ice cream on top of the souffle or on the side.” If you really want to show off, after dinner, book a room at Crown Towers, grab a bottle of champagne and watch a romcom with your BFF with benefits.
Santini is simply proper and adult. It’s casual and noisy sure, but it’s a little posh with great wine service, an impressive big city buzz and a menu you need in your life. It’s also perfect for a Valentine’s Day twosome at one of their banquette tables.
They make good wood fired pizza, but you’re not here for pizza, you’re at Santini for the best risotto in Perth, their creamy, dreamy squid ink risotto with flash seared squid, lemon and chilli. One problem. It will give you black teeth, so perhaps not the perfect big date night dish, but the ink stains quickly subside and you can move on. Also on our Santini favourites list is crispy lemon ricotta zucchini flowers with burnt honey dressing (amazeballs) and their Bistecca Fiorentina, a one kilogram monster T-Bone grilled in the Tuscan way.
Afterwards retire to the bar or your room upstairs at the QT Hotel, or both. Try one of their boozy classics – old fashioned or whisky sour – or go for the Devil’s Brew, a fetching stir down of hickory smoked dark rum and salted caramel coffee vinegar.
Fleur also follows the French Bistro trend and yes, it’s romantic in a post punk kinda way. The cooking is exceptional. The service is modern, friendly and no-nonsense and, wait for it, the waiters have personality. The crown roast of duck breast is one of the finest roast duck dishes in Perth and – we love this bit – the whole crown roast is presented to you at the table before being taken away and sliced off the bone for service.
The room is moody and just dark enough and their cocktails are very good. They make a mini-tini for those of us who want a martini but are well frightened about the effects of a full-size martini on one’s sobriety. V Day evening is not the time to be getting, ahem, over-refreshed. You have bigger fish to fry.
You want the ultimate? We’ve got it for you. Balthazar. Where to begin? Romantic. Tick. Sexy food. Tick. Intimate seating and lighting. Tick. The service is quiet and very competent. You are surrounded by the restaurant’s impressive wine collection while eating the simple, clever food of chef Luke Wakefield, who consistently plates up elegant, refined dishes at this CBD favourite. For the record: we’re massive fans. Balthazar is the perfect place to quietly slip an engagement across the linen. And, please, don’t get down on one knee. It’s so bogan and American.
Nieuw Ruin is a ring in. It’s a Freo Bar and it’s noisy and full of cool kids who all look like bass guitarists or baristas. But there’s something very sexy about this place. Sit at the bar with your bestie and order the best espresso martini in town, followed by a grazing dinner of some of the finest bar food you’ll eat in WA. Like all romantic spots, it has moody lighting and mellow vibes.
We’ve included this pub for no other reason than their anarchic media release. It’s anti-Valentine, if you like. Their dystopian publicity goes like this: “Valentine’s Day. We get it. You’re in love, or you’re not in love. Either way, celebrating love on one set day a year seems so 20th Century. So, why not come and do some serious partying?
“Bring your friends, your anti-Valentine or some random you met two days ago and join us for the best drag brunch in Perth!” Despite their seemingly jaundiced view of V Day, the Elford has created a special Valentine’s menu for the occasion. Bookings probably essential. Over to you.
Le Rebelle, Mount Lawley.
La Madonna Nera, Mount Hawthorne.
Coogee Common, Coogee.
Goody Two’s bar, Perth City.
Copyright © 2023