I got cooked restaurant-quality food for Valentine’s Day – and it was incredible.
If you cringe at the thought of sitting down at a restaurant for a romantic meal on Valentine’s Day, you’re not alone. Gone are the days when my husband and I celebrate the day of love with a glitzy meal out – we now opt for a cozy night in on the sofa instead.
So when I was offered the chance to try Michelin-quality food from the comfort of my own home for Valentine’s Day, I jumped at it. Indulge Dining offers a stylish escape from Valentine’s Day clichés, providing couples with a luxurious six-course meal kit.
With recent YouGov data revealing that 25% of Britons dislike or outright hate Valentine’s Day, and many struggling to find fresh ways to celebrate, this meal kit offers an intimate and cringe-free alternative. Founded by Michelin-trained chef Andy Bowler, this limited-edition meal kit brings restaurant-worthy dishes to the comfort of your own kitchen, turning Valentine’s Day into a celebration of quality time, great food, and zero awkwardness.
“Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone—I get that,” says Andy Bowler, founder and executive chef at Indulge Dining. “But why not use the opportunity to prioritise some quality time with your partner? We created our Valentine’s meal kit to offer couples a meaningful way to mark the occasion—one that’s intimate, relaxed, and entirely their own.”
The limited-edition Valentine’s meal kit
The menu
Canapé: Heritage carrot, goat’s curd, and lovage
Starter: Confit chicken with potato rösti, wild garlic, and smoked yolk (vegetarian option: rosemary gnocchi with pumpkin, tarragon, and wild mushrooms)
Homemade Bread & Butter
Main Course: Beef rump cap with Jerusalem artichoke, baby leeks, and Bordelaise sauce (vegetarian option: caramelized onion, spinach, ricotta, and sunflower seeds)
Dessert: Yorkshire rhubarb with almond and vanilla
Petit Fours: Salted caramel truffles
So, how did I get on?
First things first: packaging and appearance. The meal kit is delivered with ice packs, and each course is neatly packed in its own cardboard box.
Each kit includes simple instructions on how to heat and plate the dishes, along with photos of how they should look – offering some inspiration for presentation.
Since everything arrives 90% ready to go, unlike meal kits like HelloFresh or Gousto, you’re not faced with numerous fresh ingredients to prep. The main tasks involve heating, frying, and, of course, plating.
Starting with the canapés, we were given two blinis to assemble with pickled heritage carrot, goat’s curd, and lovage mayo. This was super easy, but it involved piping little dots onto the canapé Michelin-style. I definitely gained a newfound respect for chefs trying to make plates look pretty. It was a tasty bite, but it didn’t blow me away.
Next up was the starter, which featured a delicious potato rösti and confit chicken. This was absolutely divine. The dish involved piping on the wild garlic and smoked yolk before finishing with some pickled shallots. The best part? Getting to work with ingredients I would never normally buy or prepare. The quality of the food was unmistakably restaurant-level.
For the main course, we rendered the fat on the beef rump cap before popping it in the oven, then served it alongside Jerusalem artichokes, onions, baby leeks, kale, an artichoke purée, and Bordelaise sauce.
We cooked the beef to a perfect rare (my favourite), and the addition of bone marrow thickened the sauce beautifully, making it melt-in-the-mouth delicious. It was easily the best dish I’ve ever “cooked” at home—I was impossibly close to licking my plate clean.
Finally, dessert.
This was the showstopper: an almond and vanilla crèmeux with toasted almonds, tart poached rhubarb, rhubarb gel, and a rhubarb reduction. Beautiful edible flowers were sprinkled on top, creating one of the most stunning dishes I’ve ever laid eyes on.
After sending a picture to my family, they replied, “Did you make that?” Well—yes and no. But it tasted incredible.
The meal also came with homemade bread and butter, plus salted caramel truffles as petit fours—both delightful.
Final thoughts
Overall, this was a wonderful experience and a lovely activity to do with my husband without having to leave the house. The ingredients were fresh and incredibly high quality—it was such a privilege to create Michelin-style food at home.
Priced at £70 per person, it is expensive, but the quality does make up for it and there’s also plenty of food. You’d definitely end up spending more at a Michelin Star restaurant.
Orders must be placed by February 12 for guaranteed Valentine’s Day delivery.
