Fall madly in love with Minnow’s Valentine’s Day menu 

If you’re looking for a place to impress on 14th February then Minnow should be on your list of options. They’ve got to be one of the most romantic spots in Clapham with their charming, quaint interior and they’ve even adorned their entrance to reflect the romance of Valentine’s Day; deep reds and pink roses set the scene for an intimate evening before you’ve taken your first sip of Champagne.  

So here’s the deal. For £65pp you’ll get a 3 course menu plus snacks, sides and chocolate truffles at the end. And that, if you ask us, is some serious bang for your buck- especially in SW4. What’s especially nice is that there are 4 options (3 for starters) for each course so, unlike a lot of set menus, you and your date will be able to pick between a healthy amount of options. The issue with that? They are all so tempting it’ll be hard for the indecisive.  

We were really pleased to see that the menu itself features lots of the Minnow classics that we absolutely love, as well as some additional items we couldn’t wait to try. And oh boy did we try a lot. Most of the menu in fact, which you can check out here. Here’s a run down of some of our standouts from each course. 

Snacks for the table were mushroom arancini and red pepper croquettes. It’s rare to see vegetarian only but we appreciated it: it means there’s no awkward splitting bite up if you’re with a non-meat eater who only gets to sample half of the bites. The croquettes were gorgeously warm and had a nice smokey flavour which whet our appetite nicely whilst we were browsing the rest of the menu. 

Starters were a choice of the classic truffle infused wild mushrooms with a poached egg, burrata and salt and pepper squid.  A tricky trio to choose between but, call us basic, it was the burrata that stole our heart here. It was garnished with a vinegary caponata and fragrant basil oil that nicely complimented the creamy cheese. You’d have to really, really like the person sitting opposite you to want to share this one. 

Mains were a lovely mix of dishes; there’s a goats cheese gnocchi, pan fried cod, grilled duck and Minnow’s famous bavette steak. As we said- despite this being a set menu the options are really fantastic. Of course the steak was cooked just right and the peppercorn sauce was just the right amount of silky and punchy. We ordered a side of BBQ’d broccoli with this one to, you know, get some greens in, and it really bought the whole dish together. Dip a bit of broccoli into the sauce and suddenly eating your five-a-day is a lot more appealing. The cod really exceeded expectations. It was texturally perfect; nice flakey bit of fish with a crisp skin plus a smooth salty-sweet chorizo and pea puree. Our type on paper. We doubled down on the pea theme and got the petit pois with shallots and bacon to go along side it and it was a fresh, light main that really hit the spot. 

We’ve spoken before about how much we adore the tiramisu at Minnow. It really is one of our favourites, and we were delighted to see it had a spot on their valentine’s menu. Everything you want from a tiramisu (light, fluffy, chocolatey with a proper coffee kick) this pud is also a great sharing number, so ask for two spoons. If you’re with a chocolate lover then the dark chocolate brownie is an absolute flirt of a finisher; it’s as sophisticated as a brownie can get and is gorgeous with a big dollop of cooling ice cream. Or, if you like to keep to savoury for the final course, there’s a cheese board too.

Before you head off, there’ll be a plate of truffles bought over to the table. Rich, bite sized truffles are such a lovely way to finish off an evening before heading home. And it’s the touches like this that make this a Valentine’s Day menu to fall madly in love with. It’s decadent and delicious and at points it’s so good that it might even be a bit distracting from your date…