Valentine's Day Restaurants

Romantic Dessert Resaurants in New Zealand

Looking for a romantic place to take your partner this Valentine's Day? Check out NZS.com's top picks for best Valentine's Day restaurants in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch this year.

• Cafes and Restaurants

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, are you struggling to think of romantic gestures for your loved one? Year after year you often end up giving the same thing which you pick up at the last minute, normally consisting of an overpriced bouquet of roses and a box of supermarket caramels.

Valentine's Day flowers and chocolates are great for some but the clichéd red and pink variety might bore your Valentine out of the mood. Want to excite and delight your partner this Valentine's Day, but don't have time to go shopping? They say the way to your lover's heart is through their stomach, so why not make a reservation for dessert at a fine dining restaurant, sit back, and tantalise their taste buds without needing to lift a finger yourself!

We have selected the best Valentine's Day Restaurants for desserts from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - all of which are guaranteed to send your loved one into a daze of delight upon consumption of their delicacies. Here are the top picks:

Auckland Restaurants

SPQR - Take your lover out to Auckland's see-and-be-seen hotspot, located amongst the designer retailers of the top end on Ponsonby Road. SPQR is great for the younger set, as this Valentine's Day dinner destination is dark and full of corners to hide in. Nestle in for a cosy dessert eating session by ordering several of the desserts and spoon-feeding each other - first go for the Chocolate and Sour Cherry Pudding, then move onto the Raspberry and Vanilla Crème Brulee.

The French Café - Definitely not your standard café, this is contemporary European cuisine at its best, and the awards on the wall prove it. Among other notable winnings, The French Café received the Supreme Winner of the 2008 Metro Magazine Restaurant of the Year award. Everything on the menu will please your Valentine, as the chefs are regularly updating it in reflection of their customer's reviews. If Valentine's Day is a hot summery night, then order the Marinated Pineapple Sous Vide, which is accompanied by passionfruit, coconut and pina colada flavours and will transport your date to the islands for the evening.

Wellington Restaurants

Café Bastille - Voted Restaurant of the Year by both the Dominion Post and Cuisine magazine in past years, Café Bastille is a little French number which has put all its effort into the food and the dining experience, rather than the décor. While the restaurant looks like a kitchy French neighbourhood café, the magic-making chefs will whip up a Clafoutis (baked cherry) or Crepes with Orange Caramel and Grand Marnier with more love and enthusiasm than anywhere else in Wellington, and your date will certainly feel it upon ingestion. Coupled with a wine list with over 70% French tipple, your partner will certainly be impressed with a true taste trip to Europe just minutes off the waterfront.

Matterhorn - It's a Wellington institution and is keyed with world-renowned cocktail making staff, so for real soul food for your date this Valentine's Day, take a trip to this Cuba Mall hideaway. If fine dining isn't your thing, Matterhorn is your best option in Wellington with a menu full of fresh, unpretentious artisan eats and an atmosphere brought to life with some of New Zealand's most soulful live music. Your Valentine will be forever by your side if you order them the Expensive Chocolate Dish - a taste explosion of cocoa-infused pleasures which won't fail to fire up their libido for the night. Top off the night with one of the dessert cocktails, namely their Camomile Martini.

Christchurch Restaurants

Retour - Possibly the best French desserts out of France, Retour offers just a small menu but every bite is delectable and different. Try the Mascarpone Bavarois with summer fruit and berry coulis for a creamy, dreamy explosion. Positioned in an old band rotunda by the Avon River, this restaurant seats very few and is perhaps the most romantic eatery in the South. You're more than likely to have a French-accented waiter too, so this combination of service, atmosphere and immaculately presented food is sure to go down in history as your best date yet.

50 on Park - Nothing says romantic like walking into a luxurious hotel lobby, so the ground floor restaurant at the award-winning George Hotel is sure to make your lover's senses tingle. Floor-to-wall white marble gives the entrance a feeling of opulence, and the restaurant looks out to the luscious green park - the perfect juxtaposition of old-world international affluence and beautiful Kiwi greenery. Choose the small yet immaculate Petit Fours dish to share, and couple them with champagne to get a fizz-infused truffle sensation.

Looking for more cafes and restaurants in New Zealand? Check out the NZS.com directory.

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Seasons and Celebrations images from Flickr: Chocolate Pastry, Truffles and Christmas in Love.