The best date-night restaurants in Melbourne

Neil Perry's marble shrine to pasta is ludicrously opulent, and that's what Valentine's Day is all about. NB: Expect to drop a bomb on your crab pasta.

There are still a few tables left in the restaurant at the top of the Rialto, but if you can't drop that much cash on dinner, you should at least hit up Lui Bar next door for a sky high cocktail at sundown.

On one night, we've seen a 20-something couple and (we swear to god) an 80-something couple both getting misty-eyed over Ben Shewry's potato. That says it all.

It's a restaurant overlooking a motherlovin' lake friends. And we all know that wagyu, wine, and actual love is nothing if not enjoyed beside a large body of water.

Mod-Oz in an Art Deco diner. This is the hottest piece of eating action north of Fitzroy if you like all things molecular.

Classic food, modern venue. The place to go if you want to do the Italian restaurant thing without feeling like a cheesy twat.

So pretty it hurts. This restaurant has the sort of effortless vintage-charm that makes singles proclaim through gritted teeth, "I'M SO HAPPY I'M FREE" and then cry into their soup.

Tiny, hidden, intimate; this 13-seater tempura bar in a side street of South Melbourne is our pick for dining without a circus around you.

The city has a golden glow from the deck here, and the Spanish snacks are the business.

Salume and natural wine. Sit on the street and hit Gelateria Primavera afterwards.

Order a lamb chop, have a Prosecco, listen to Andrea Bocelli.

Drink totes sophisticated Japanese booze and snacks while overlooking the Treasury Gardens.