Date night dinners

[Summerscomin]

DP & I don't live together but have a couple of nights a week together. Usually we'll have something straightforward or a takeaway to eat but approx once a fortnight we like to cook something "proper".

To give an idea, midweek/easy meals might be curry from a spice kit (Spice tailor etc), ready prepped chicken kebabs/hunters chicken type thing, fajitas from a kit. 30 min meals basically.

"Proper" meals we've done recently are things like curry from scratch, leg of lamb & cauliflower cheese, homemade pies, proper burgers and trimmings. Everything made from scratch- minus bread.

So generally a bit treat-y, doesn't matter if it's a bit of faffing in the kitchen or needs slow cooking all day. Any ideas? I'm thinking pizza/calzone next, but open to suggestions!

We both love spicy food and would like to cook more fish, and have lots of equipment/well stocked store cupboard.

Tartiflette is delicious and is something I definitely think if as treaty.

Risotto
Beef wellington
Paella
Lamb shanks
Proper fish & chips
French onion soup
Laska or ramen
Korean fried chicken
Crispy aromatic duck and pancakes
Birria tacos

A chicken biryani is a wonderful thing - quite a few different steps but none of them particularly hard. I spent an afternoon doing it the other week and it was delicious and made plenty of leftovers.

Fantastic ideas here thank you so much!
Lamb shank, beef wellington and duck has been on the "list in my head" for ages I'd just forgotten them!
Biryani is a great idea too, we also quite like the idea of a keema curry. We made curry recently and it was lots of steps but none particularly difficult or time consuming. I like recipes where you can do a bit, sit with a glass of wine, then do a bit more.
Will need to look up tartiflette, the name rings a bell but I can't remember what it is 😳

@Summerscomin keema is one of our regular weeknight meals. You could also have a go at making your own donner kebabs or tandoori chicken ones.

Have a look at Misty Ricardo on YouTube or The Curry Guys website for Currys, takes a while to prepare a big batch of the base sauce but once you have done that it could also set you up for a quick weeknight curry and the recipes are fab.

We made belly pork bao buns at the weekend. Took a long time but worth it. You can put anything you want in them.
The Hairy Bikers special biryani is fantastic. We've made it with lamb and beef and serve with homemade raita. It absolutely cannot be rushed.
Gyoza are fun to make together. We do them as a starter and ramen as a main.

Thanks @ThisNameHasChanged adding doner too, and I wouldn't mind trying out naan breads again. We've mastered homemade raita! Will check out the YouTube recommendations too thank you.
I thought gyoza would be really tricky @DelilahBucket but I'll definitely look it up as we do like eating them!

We had a lesson to learn but they are surprisingly easy. We buy the wrappers from a local Asian shop and then make loads in one go and freeze the extra. They are then good for putting in a ramen broth.

Our date night meal is usually steak (with a bit of garlic/herb butter, or peppercorn sauce), potato dauphinoise, some sort of green veg. It's pretty easy as only really need to cook the steaks. Potatoes I buy readymade and just shove it in the oven for 30 minutes and the veg will be kale or tenderstem broccoli or french beans and just needs to be quickly steamed or sauteed. If we are feeling like it's an extra lush evening, we'd have some sort of hot pudding - like chocolate fondant or sticky toffee with custard (shop bought all of it).

Our ‘special’ dinners are

Steak, triple cheese and bacon dauphinois potatoes (BBC GF website), green beans or asparagus

Chicken in Boursin and white wine sauce with smashed crusty new potatoes and green veg

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/recipes/scallops-with-bacon-and-garlic

Something similar to this https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/cod-and-lentils

And going to try this next time I think - this is one of my favourite dishes from one of my favourite restaurants https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/chef-recipes/malabar-monkfish-curry/

The ultimate romantic supper for 2 for us is always seafood. We both love it, it feels luxurious but is often really quick to cook.

Think scallops fried in butter with chilli garlic and fresh herbs, some bread or fries and salad on the side. Or mussels done in cream white wine and herbs, or Thai style. If you have a great fishmongers see what they have - some massive tiger prawns, langoustine etc work well simply cooked like the scallops.

Agree that shell fish is great for a more special dinner although if you want to linger over the cooking process it tends to be quite quick to cook. We often have linguine with fresh crab, garlic, chilli, and cherry tomatoes, lots of fresh herbs. Simplicity at its best. I guess if you wanted to up the cooking you could make your own pasta.

Not romantic as such but meals that I only cook when I have lots of time include risotto, lasagne, fish pie, shepherds pie.
Treat meals generally involve more expensive ingredients like salmon, steak, seafood, fancy cheese.

Thanks for more ideas! We said lasagne a while ago but haven't got round to it yet- it's nicely autumnal though so will definitely be soon!
The seafood options sound absolutely delicious, we really want to have a go at scallops and love the sound of the linguine, crab is so tasty. I have a pasta machine and would have a go at that, but...
I think this is the crux of it @Raisindettre "if you have a good fishmonger"- we haven't, not that I know of anyway, and I've googled extensively! So we're a bit more limited to what looks good on that particular day at the supermarket fish counter. We've had some great stuff in the past, but have to go in with an open mind!

OP - mail order is your friend! I’ve had seafood delivered to me in the SE from the Isle of Skye, London, all over. It’s definitely a thing - you can get a seafood box or just order individual items to arrive on a specific day.

Try the Fish Society or Wright Brothers? There are plenty online.