Andrew Edmunds

The calendar factory. It’s the ultimate date spot. But if you can’t get in, go to Andrew Edmunds – an old school Soho restaurant overflowing with both stories and charm.

Located on Lexington Street, this 18th century townhouse restaurant was birthed from the antique prints business next door, and its sheer black façade illuminates the romantic candlelight scene happening within. The menu, which is handwritten each day on paper and blackboard, will make it seem as if you stumbled across this intimate restaurant one day and thought, “I must bring [insert name] here, he/she will simply adore it,”.

Squeezed inside (and outside on nice days) are tiny tables for two that create a cosy and intimate atmosphere in which you practically have no choice but to look at the person sat opposite you. Remember: eye contact is key. Staring, however, is creepy. It’s a fine line.

The food menu hosts warm, hearty dishes such as a starter of potted beef, pickled red cabbage and rye toast or a main of roast grouse, confit potatoes and bread sauce and desserts that will please the masses, such as a plum and almond tart, or a rhubarb crumble with clotted cream.

But the real knock-out blow comes in the form of the wine list. The prices will make your date think you’ve found the only restaurant in London that doesn’t charge a three hundred percent mark-up, meanwhile you’ll be able to choose pretty much any bottle from the over 200 on offer in your secret ignorance and come away looking like the next Oz Clarke.