Valentine's Day diners love Italian and special offers

10-Feb-2012 - Last updated on 10-Feb-2012 at 15:00 GMT

Related tags Food

Valentine's Day is an important day for restaurants and two surveys have revealed Italian is the top cuisine choice and diners are searching for discounts when they book for their dates

Two surveys have revealed the way to the hearts of Valentine's Day diners could be Italian or French cuisine or a special offer with 55 per cent of Britons planning to take advantage of money saving deals when they treat their loved one this year.

Online restaurant reservations service toptable asked more than 1,000 visitors to the website to share their eating out plans for the romantic holiday and found a third of people were planning to spend more on Valentine's Day this year despite the difficult economic climate. Most of the responders were intending to spend more than £75 on dining out with a date.

Special offers

However the impact of the discounting culture may have reached the romantic celebrations as over half are planning to take account of special offers when they book a meal for 14 February.

Lucy Taylor, head of restaurant dining at toptable said: “It is great to see that Britons are using both their hearts and their heads this year and aren’t being a fool for love, taking advantage of special offers such as free glasses of champagne to accompany meals or money off set courses. By doing so, it means that couples can really enjoy more from their dining experience, maybe even visit places they wouldn’t be able to normally."

The research also found that of the women who took part in the survey, 60 per cent were intending to make a booking themselves compared to less than 20 per cent who would wait for their man to make the first move and get a table reservation.

Ordering in a foreign language

Meanwhile, a separate study from language software provider Rosetta Stone found diners who do decide to dine out with their loved one are most likely to order Italian or French cuisine with Spanish and Chinese food also popular.

The choice of Italian might also stretch further than the choice of food, the research suggests, as 45 per cent think it is very important to know how to order from the menu in a foreign language. Even more of the responders, 79 per cent, think knowing the lingo in a foreign restaurant will impress your dinner partner.

Ahead of Valentine's Day, BigHospitality put together a special Ideas from Your Peers feature where hospitality businesses told us what they were planning to do to attract more custom on the romantic celebration.