1. OXO Brasserie

OXO Brasserie’s Vegas Valentine’s evening comes complete with Vegas wedding chapel and a performance from a Chinese Elvis. The beautiful views and aphrodisiac menu are sure to get you in the mood for love.

2. Petersham Nurseries

Enjoy a walk along the river Thames, followed by lunch at the idyllic Petersham Nurseries Café with a glass of Petersham Rose Prosecco. True romantics can pre-order a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to the table.

3. Kerbisher & Malt

Does your Valentine love fish and chips? Take them to trendy chippy Kerbisher & Malt for a Valentine’s dinner including two heart-shaped fishcakes, a portion of chips to share and a bottle of fizz.

4. Clos Maggiore

Clos Maggiore was named Most Romantic Restaurant by Hardens 2012 Restaurant Guide, so it’s the ultimate place to woo your loved one. The conservatory with views of the stars obviously does the trick – the restaurant sees at least one proposal a week.

5. Gilgamesh

One lucky diner at Gilgamesh will win a diamond worth more than £1,000 this Valentine’s Day. The rock will be hidden at the bottom of a pink martini named Diamonds are Forever. So it might be worth splashing out on the £50 pan-Asian Valentine’s menu!

6. Carom

Love will be in the air at Carom, as diners are serenaded by Anglo-Indian love songs. You’ll be welcomed with a cocktail, before enjoying a three-course meal followed by singers and DJs playing into the night.

7. Dinner on the Orient Express

Luxurious Valentine’s lunch and dinner trips on the Orient Express include a five-course meal, champagne and wine. Departing from Victoria station, the cosy British Pullman steam train will take you on a romantic trip through the countryside.

8. The Gun

Push the boat out with The Gun’s extravagant Valentine’s package. You’ll arrive by boat, toast your lover in front of stunning river views, have a five-course meal and cocktails delivered by your own personal waiter, and watch your choice of “rom com” on a 42in screen.

9. Barry White Lurve Night at Meatballs

It may not have the most romantic name, but Meatballs is the place to be for lovers this Valentine’s Day. The evening is dedicated to Barry White, the Walrus of Love, and includes a Kiss Me Quick cocktail followed by dinner, accompanied by a Barry White soundtrack.

10. River Thames Dinner Cruise

City Cruises will be creating ripples of romance with a Valentine’s night cruise along the river Thames. Starting at Westminster Pier, the evening includes a glass of fizz and a three-course meal followed by live music and dancing.

More Valentine’s Day ideas

Fancy wining and dining your lover in front of London’s finest vista? Then this prize is for you! Visit London and Oxo Tower Brasserie are giving away a fantastic three-course dinner for two with some of the best views in town.

If you win this prize, you’ll enjoy a delicious meal featuring fine local produce such as Cornish cod, Buccleuch beef and Devon crab in the iconic Oxo Tower Brasserie. With breathtaking views over London and St Paul’s Cathedral, this is one of London’s hottest dining destinations.

To win dinner for two at Oxo Tower Brasserie enter here

I was fortunate to dine at the newly refurbished OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie on London’s South Bank this weekend. The restaurant’s sweeping views over the city, excellent food, cocktail menu and live music made it an evening to remember.

Taking over the eighth floor of the iconic OXO Tower building, the OXO Tower Restaurant occupies one half of the floor with the other occupied by the OXO Bar and Brasserie. This popular venue first opened in the 1990s and recently underwent a refurbishment which added the striking curved white Corian bar designed by Shaun Clarkson ID.

We began our evening with pre-dinner drinks in the bar. Spoilt for choice, the Swinging Dixie was delicious and we especially loved the bar’s tiki-style cocktail, Pleasure Boat.

There are two choices for dinner, either the OXO Tower Restaurant or the OXO Brasserie. We ate in the latter. Seated by the huge windows overlooking the most spectacular views of the River Thames, I enjoyed the scenic skyline with St Paul’s Cathedral standing out. The restaurant was buzzing with people, live music and an open kitchen meant we could see the chefs at work. The atmosphere was perfect for a Saturday night.

The pan-Asian menu had so much choice that we needed some help with our selection. For starters, we had slow braised lamb shank gnocchi and the grilled Saudi prawns with Israeli couscous salad which were both delicious. For our main courses, we enjoyed the roasted pink duck breast with puy lentils and grilled Toulouse sausage and the roasted venison.

Because the cocktails were so incredible, we decided to have another one instead of dessert without any judgement from our waiter! The service we received throughout the evening was wonderful and we had the pleasure of meeting Armi, an Assistant Manager at the Brasserie who looked after us and made sure we had a fabulous evening.

The OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie

A unique series of concerts is letting its audience explore the more unusual spaces of the Royal Festival Hall. The Harmonic Series is curated by Southbank Centre’s artist in residence, Oliver Coates, who chose a mix of classical and alternative styles to be played in intimate spaces that he felt were appropriate to the music.

“When you arrive, you won’t yet know which part of the building you’ll end up in,” Coates says. “A singer songwriter might be in a really beautiful space overlooking all of London, or something that’s a little more introspective or darker may happen in a more enclosed environment down deeper in the bowels of the institution.”

This weekend’s performance took place in the 6th floor Weston Roof Pavilion, affording audiences a glittering view of the London Eye, Big Ben and the Thames. Singer and harpist Serafina Steer performed a set of her intimate, confessional songs, while vocalist Alice Grant (Fulborn Teversham) collaborated with bassist Tom Herbert (The Invisible, Polar Bear) and Oliver Coates played Bach on the cello.

The next performances in the Harmonic Series will take place on the 20 March and 10 April.

It’s that time of year again, when normally clean-shaven men start comparing new growths of hair on their upper lips.

Movember invites Mo Bros (with support from Mo Sistas) to grow moustaches during November in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity.

The initiative began in Australia in 2003 and has grown steadily ever since. Movember 2009 is set to be the biggest, hairiest yet, with loads of events happening in London.

You can enjoy:

• Fast track boarding for all Mo Bros on the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, plus a special in-flight moustache grooming event
• Free moustache trimming at Mo’s Moustache Emporium at Dermalogica in Kensington
• A charity lunch at OXO Tower Brasserie, featuring ingredients known to reduce men’s chances of developing prostate cancer, and mojitos in the bar
• A fundraising 10k run in Greenwich Park, with moustachioed runners in 70s fancy dress. (Women can take part too – simply draw or stick on a moustache.)
• A hunt for the sexiest moustache, with a chance to win a VIP visit to Avenue Q, including an appearance on stage at curtain call

So what are you waiting for? Throw away your razor now and start growing that ‘tache!