Valentine's Day in Toronto is when restaurants rolls out special menus so you can make February 14 a memorable meal. No matter how you feel about it, you may not be able to control the fact that on Valentine's Day you’ll be surrounded by hearts, kissy faces and x’s and oh’s. At least you get to choose  where to eat.

Here are my picks for restaurants for Valentine’s Day dinner in Toronto in 2018. Make sure to book early.

Mad Crush Wine Bar

Wine lovers will have a ball poring over the extensive, impressive, and conversational wine list at this breathtaking Little Italy restaurant with a skylight, plush booths and a sophisticated fusion menu.

Boralia

This Ossington spot will be presenting a special 4-course Valentine’s prix fixe menu instead of their usual dishes at $75 a person. Options include lobster on brioche, venison crudo, wagyu and smoked sockeye salmon.

Dandylion

Jaw-droppingly intricate dishes are served at this intimate restaurant on West Queen West. Though Valentine’s is a good excuse to get a little dressed up and splurge, anyone would probably be happy to have a date here any night.

Uncle Mikey’s

If you’re more into mapo tofu and beer than champagne and oysters, this Dundas West hangout is the place for you. They also have sake flights if you want to up your game a little bit as you munch on snacks of onigiri, gizzards, and noodles, all for some of the most reasonable prices in the area.

Omai

Japanese food fans will love lingering over sake and successive orders of temaki and delicately plated snacks at this Baldwin Village hideout. Seating is highly communal so there are no nooks or crannies for canoodling, but the ambience is dim and sexy.

Bar Sybanne

Though you may not be able to afford a romantic getaway to a faraway land, a dinner at this Ossington spot serving Mediterranean, Moroccan and Mid-Eastern small plates along with flirty cocktails and wine may be more within reach.

The Comrade

For good ambience without pretension and excellent food, head to this Riverside mainstay. If you and your lover enjoy people watching, pull up a chair to the bar at the front window and snack on conservas, oysters, and one of the city’s best burgers while sipping cocktails and watching the world go by.

Montgomery’s

A special prix fixe menu will be available for $65 a person at this low-lit hyper-local West Queen West restaurant on Valentine’s night featuring their house sourdough, dry-aged shoulder steak, maitake mushrooms and griddled squid, along with exclusive wines and bubbly.

Broadview Hotel

Toronto’s hottest new boutique hotel in Riverside is the place to go all out for your Valentine’s celebration, including staying the night. They’re offering a special late checkout time, morning snack, in-room mimosa kit, credit for the cafe bar, champagne and oysters and special dishes at ground floor restaurant The Civic.

Barans

Rose, bubbly and wildly colourful shooters accompany the epic Turkish feasts served at this spacious restaurant in Scarborough. Watch your kebabs being cooked on an open grill, order all the mezzes you can handle and clink glasses.