Some of London’s top restaurateurs are opening new eateries this month, from Alan Yau’s Bangkok-style café Naamyaa to Bodo’s Schloss, an Alpine-themed venue from the founders of Mahiki.

Naamyaa

Alan Yau, the man behind Wagamama, Hakkasan and Yauatcha, launches a new restaurant in Islington next week. Naamyaa will serve classic Siam dishes, Bangkok street food and Western café staples. The restaurant is named after a sauce cooked in traditional terracotta pots and served with kanom jin (fresh rice noodles), a dish that will be a core offering on the menu.

Coya

Peruvian restaurant Coya has just opened in Mayfair, serving ceviche (a traditional dish made from marinated raw fish) and Pisco Sours alongside a range of other Peruvian dishes. The “sumptuously distressed” interior is decked out with antique Peruvian furniture, while live bands and DJs add to the atmosphere. Coya is the latest venture from Arjun Waney, the restaurateur behind Zuma, La Petite Maison and The Arts Club.

Bodo’s Schloss

Bodo’s Schloss is a new bar, restaurant and disco from the founders of Mahiki. The Kensington venue is designed to look like a lodge in the Austrian Alps, with snow-covered pine trees at the entrance. Drinks include Austrian wines and beers, homemade schnapps, champagne served in milk urns and shots served on antique skis. The signature cocktail comes in a carved ice castle.

Disney Café at Harrods

Looking for somewhere new to take the kids? Harrods has just opened a Disney Café, the first Disney restaurant outside its theme parks. On the menu you’ll find Mickey-shaped toasted sandwiches along with ravioli, soups and salads, a range of hot dishes, and desserts including a family-sized knickerbocker glory. The fun interior features a Big Ben that chimes twice an hour, sculptures of Disney characters and screens showing Disney films.

More New London Restaurants

Lupita – The Mexican eatery has launched a second London branch in Spitalfields, serving tacos, tostadas, quesadillas, enchiladas and churros con chocolate

Hawksmoor Air Street – The steak chain has opened its biggest restaurant to date in Air Street, just off Piccadilly, serving seafood alongside its famous steaks

Mash – Danish steakhouse Mash has chosen London’s Soho as the location for its first overseas restaurant

Bone Daddies – A new Japanese ramen noodle bar from Australian chef Ross Shonhan, former head chef of Zuma London and Nobu Dallas

Zoilo  – New restaurant and bar bringing a taste of all regions of Argentina to Marylebone

• Snuggle up by the fire with a Valentine’s afternoon tea at The Montague
• Get a Flirty £30 ticket for London Zoo, and follow the Love Trail to see happy animal couples, from tigers to penguins
• Enjoy a free, outdoor screening of Billy Wilder’s classic film The Apartment outside the National Theatre
• Book a fairytale Valentine’s break - complete with horse-drawn carriage – at Swisshotel The Howard
• Get an underwater diver to pop the question for you at the London Aquarium

Single? Don’t fancy the usual Valentine’s fare? Don’t worry, there are plenty of London events for you!

• Dig out your costume and join the largest number of people dressed as Star Trek characters on London’s Millennium Bridge
• Grab a group of friends and party at Harvey Nichols and Mahiki
• Sip champagne and mix with single boys and girls on a Love POP flight on the London Eye
• Forget Valentine’s Day and celebrate Chinese New Year instead with a meal at Min Jiang
• Head to Feeling Gloomy‘s Down with Dating night, where you can have a go at Speed Hating, and then join fellow miseries at the Tainted Love club night

How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year? Let us know in the comments below.

This month London designer Aruna Seth has been launching her Swarovski crystal-encrusted shoes at luxe West End venues The Ritz and Whisky Mist.

Last week’s invitation-only launch at Whisky Mist attracted a bevy of beauties and Z-list celebs (Ralph from The Apprentice, anyone?) to view and try on Seth’s range of stilettos, wedges, ballerina flats, boots and bridal sandals. All displayed to glittering effect in the VIP room among the club’s top-shelf whiskies, vodkas and liqueurs.

There were also complimentary tequila rose cocktails, chocolate cupcakes and displays of So Chic crystal jewellery and Susan Posnick cosmetics, against the club’s sexy-yet-classy dark decor.

Whisky Mist was opened last June by Mahiki founders Piers Adam and Nick House in the former Zeta Bar at the Park Lane Hilton as a hangout for the Mayfair crowd “between China Tang and Nobu”. Like Mahiki, it is smart and fashionable but not members-only (although membership is available) but even mid-week if you rock up after 11pm the queues will likely be right down the street.

Highlight of the Aruna Seth range is the Cinderella shoe (price on application) totally encrusted with some 3,000 Swarovski crystals, which takes 10-12 weeks to make.

For the more budget-conscious, the Cerise black or red snakeskin wedge (£725) has crystals overlaying the heel only and is one of Seth’s top sellers. The “Farfalla” (£435) is a fuchsia-pink satin heel with a crystal butterfly on each toe.

My personal favourite was the “Russia”, a stiletto-heeled ankle boot in black patent with a crystal “collar” around the top (£525) – although even that would require some dedicated saving!

The truly unconventional person who wants to mix the bling with the great outdoors may opt perhaps for the crystal-and-fur-trimmed “Elisabeth” aprés ski boot (£1,010). All are handmade in Italy and incorporate internal cushioning of soft quilted leather.

The entire range is currently available online (www.arunaseth.com) or by appointment at the Cadogan Hotel on Sloane Street. Other stockists include bridal boutique Caroline Castigliano. A standalone boutique in London is scheduled for 2010.

Club Tropicana drinks are free – and so were the cocktails at the launch of Polynesian-themed bar Kanaloa last night!

Admittedly, you will have to pay on a regular night, but with cocktails starting from £8, it’s certainly not the most expensive drinking hole in the The City.

Just like its sister bar Mahiki, Kanaloa is all bamboo, palm trees and low level lighting. The music favours 80s cheese with a few modern pop and 60s hits thrown into the mix.

There’s ample seating and a reasonably sized dance floor, with a net full of brightly coloured balls above it.

If you’re here to impress, order The Dead Man’s Chest, a £100 cocktail brought to you in a parade of sparklers, lanterns and cheering from the bar staff. (It’s a voodoo funeral procession apparently.) The cocktail is mixed before your very eyes in a treasure chest, which is then filled with straws for your drinking pleasure.

Will Kanaloa tempt the Royals into The City? It already has a fair celebrity quota, as it counts Sarah Harding and DJ Tom Crane among its investors. Plus JLS, Sugababes and Cilla Black were all spotted at the opening. We’ll keep you posted…

For those of us who don’t find ourselves regularly hanging out with the Royals in Mahiki, there’s a new pop-up bar coming to town made by Cheeky Tiki, the conceptual designers behind the celebrity hang-out.

OK, so being a tree house made from reconditioned whisky barrels, this new pop-up bar doesn’t have quite same the glamour as Mahiki.  But the wooden bar with board games, orange lanterns, and whisky cocktails is still the perfect place to catch the last of the summer sun.

The Monkey Shoulder Tree House lands at the Old Truman Brewery from 10 to 13 September.