FEATURE: Top romantic places to celebrate Valentine's Day

From a bistro in Paris to a kayak in West Cork, Pól Ó Conghaile reveals his top romantic places, as Valentine’s Day approaches

I ORDERED a passion fruit sorbet. The waiter replied with a punchline. In retrospect, everything about the meal had been leading up to this. The room was buzzing. Regular customers were bustling in out of the October chill. The place was jam-packed, but despite not having a booking, they managed to squeeze us in.

We were in Paris, in a little Left Bank Bistro called Brasserie Balzar. The food had a visceral, unapologetic feel to it — chewy snails, crusty bread, onion soup with warm, seductive stock that tasted like it had been brewed for days. The wine was deep and heady. The waiters moved brusquely but with balletic grace, ferrying dishes back and forth.