Where to dine on Valentine's Day in Sydney

• Valentine's Day recipes

Some say St Valentine's Day is for schmucks. But rather than rushing out to buy heart-shaped balloons, a card with a saccharine message or a wilting bunch of dianthus caryophyllus from the servo, why not embrace the day as an excuse to go on a dinner date with your plus one? Here are a few dine-and-date ideas that win hearts for the very fact they (mostly) steer clear of the cherubs and cheesiness of the Hallmark holiday.

It's business time @ Pei Modern
It's apt that Pei Modern is in the heart of the city. It also helps that the split-level restaurant has lots of moodily lit nooks purpose-built for canoodling. Rather than gross out any neighbouring V Day grinches with a PDA, you can actually "get a room" becausethe restaurant is housed in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel. Talented head chef Matt Germanchis has put together a special six-course feast for $150 per lover. The menu starts with Clyde River rock oysters and a glass of NV Louis Roedere Champagne and finishes with a dessert of meringue chocolate sorbet and raspberries.
199 George Street, Sydney, (02) 9250 3160, peimodern.com.au

For a by-the-sea serenade @ Watson's Bay Boutique Hotel
Toast your temptress with a candlelit Fifty Shades of Bay feast ($100 per person), which includes cocktails, a chilled seafood platter, whole-roasted snapper and slow-cooked lamb served with roasted vegetables and salads and a smashed pav with summer fruits. The package also includes personalised love notes and a special gift and is available as a takeaway picnic hamper, which can be enjoyed while playing tootsies in the sand on Watson's Bay Beach.
1 Military Road, Corner of Marine Parade, (02) 9337 5444, watsonsbayhotel.com.au

For some neighbourhood nookie @ The Italian Stallion Bar and Griglia Named after the low-budget erotic film starring Sylvester Stallone, this is the place to go for a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. Chef James Watson (who also has Peacock Trattoria and Hazelhurst Café) has given Gymea a bit of a giddy-up with a seductive menu that reads like food porn. Whet your appetite with Planet of the Grapes mojito at the bar before enjoying scallops with pumpkin pancakes or prawn ceviche with barbecued flatbread that is so good it might prompt you to lick your companion's fingers.
11 Gymea Bay Road, Gymea, (02) 9542 8008, facebook.com/italianstallionbarandgrill

For singles who want to mingle @ Lunar Streets, Chinese New Year Festival
If you're looking to meet someone new, put yourself out there at Lunar Streets, which will see the roads around Haymarket transformed with long outdoor tables and roving entertainers. The best thing about this option is that, if Cupid's arrow doesn't strike, you can just say kung hei fat choy and focus on the Chinese New Year Festival event instead. Diners can choose from $20 yum cha to $95 per person for Spice Temple's special banquet menu. When you've finished slurping on noodles, or a plate of sashimi under the soft glow of lanterns, get your groove thing on with performances from PopAsia.
For more information, visit sydneychinesenewyear.com

For a game of dress-ups @ glass brasserie
Earn serious brownie points when you take your partner out for a tête-à-tête at this glass-walled brasserie. Start with a cocktail in the Zeta Bar – done up with dark wood paneling and overlooking the copper dome of the iconic QVB building – before moving to a private table where you can ogle at the soaring ceilings and spiffy clientele and of course the ooh-la-la Mod Oz cuisine with a French twist. The three-course meal ($180 per person) includes options such as Moreton Bay bugs, confit pork belly, pickled green mango, papaya and chilli or lamb rack, braised neck, salt-baked celeriac, parsley puree and beets.
Level 2, 488 George Street, Sydney, (02) 9265 6068 or email eat@glassbrasserie.com.au

For that over-the-top marriage proposal @ Altitude Restaurant
Nothing screams over-the-top indulgence more than a five-course degustation ($270 per person) with an eye-boggling view of the glittering Sydney Harbour. You will have plenty of time to flirt over the feast, which includes Fraser Island spanner crab, compressed watermelon, macadamia and avocado mousse and crispy skin chicken, textures of cauliflower, burnt butter sauce and pickled kombu. Keep your eye out for an engagement ring nestled in the pistachio soil served with vanilla-poached peaches. Literally, next level stuff.
Level 36, Shangri-La Hotel, 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, (02) 9250 6123, shangri-la.com

A is for Aphrodisiac @ The Morrison Bar and Oyster Room
Loved-up couples can flaunt their In A Relationship Status at a corner table for two at The Morrison Bar and Oyster Room. The set menu on the day includes a cocktail on arrival, a dozen oysters, two courses and a bottle of Bollinger ($99 per person). Ponder the aphrodisiac qualities of the Saccostrea glomerata (Sydney rock oyster) versus the Crassostrea gigas (Pacific Oyster).
The Morrison Bar and Oyster Room, 255 George Street, Sydney, (02) 9247 6744

For the budget-conscious @ Moonlight Cinema
Tap into your inner schmaltz and lure your loved one on a surprise date to see Breakfast at Tiffany's at Moonlight Cinema, in Centennial Park. If you're going to go cheesy, keep it classy with a wedge of Billie Valentine cheese made from goat's milk and sprinkled with herbs and edible flowers (available from Salt Meats Cheese). You can design your own hamper at Salt Meats Cheese or have them do it for you ($49). Alternatively, go all out with a Gold Grass ticket and order pulled pork brisket burgers from the LA-style food truck parked on site. Handy hint: bring candles, a snuggly blanket, bottle of red and a handmade card that reads Owl Be Your Valentine. Woot-woot.
Gold Grass tickets are $35 and can be bought online at moonlight.com.au. Belvedere Amphitheatre, Centennial Park, cnr Loch and Broome Avenue. Salt Meats Cheese, 41 Bourke Road, Alexandria, (02) 9690 2406

For that matcha made in heaven @ Devon on Danks
If you are trying to woo someone via their stomach, you will want to give thanks to Devon on Danks. No matter what time of day, it's hard not to feel emotionally affected by the food served in the second DoD outlet in Waterloo. Order the naked bruschetta will make you want to grin and, well, bare it, the matcha cake may force you to ditch the date all toghether in favour of the pea-green treat. What will also make you whimper with joy is Dr Seuss's green eggs and ham, which is considered a DoD special. If you have children, this is also a top spot to share the love.
2 Danks St, Waterloo, (02) 9698 7765, devoncafe.com.au

Do whatever floats your boat @ Regatta, Rose Bay Marina
What could be more romantic than gazing out over the water, from a table at Regatta, at Rose Bay Marina? Sit back, with a glass of bubbles in hand, and enjoy the show: soaring sea birds, boats bobbing about in the marina and the gentle churning of the sea, threaded with turquoise and silver. Of course, given the location, chef Claudio Morales has put the focus on seafood for his special Valentine's Day menu ($150 per person), but there is also a pan-roasted beef fillet with a bone marrow reduction as an option. If the date is a disaster, exit stage left via your super yacht and know there are plenty more fish in the sea.
594 South Head Road, Rose Bay, (02) 9327 6561