Since becoming parents, we’ve started planning our date nights at home.  So much easier than trying to find a babysitter at the last minute or worry about plans falling through – we love to relax at home, eat something tasty and enjoy eachother’s company. Since Jack goes to bed around 7:30pm, we wait until he has gone off to dreamland to dig into an epic meal and mix up some craft cocktails.

We recently decided to step it up a notch and plan a fancier version of date night at home - and it wouldn’t just be take-out in front of the TV again – it would be takeout, restaurant style! Instead of going out for the night, we were staying in and bringing the flavours, ambiance and excitement to us. Inspired by creating a bistro ambiance in our dining room, I set the table with all of our favourite dishes and flatware. I gathered ingredients to make delicious cocktails and poured some craft beer for my husband. We wanted a real show-stopper meal so we went online to JUST EAT CANADA and ordered up an Indian feast from our fave place Royal Ganesha. While we waited for delivery we listened to music (check out my playlist below) and got the table set for our epic meal.

One of the easiest ways to dress up a date night at home is to pull out all of the stops in terms of dishes, cocktails and table styling. While it wasn’t the fanciest date night that we have done at home, I still tried to make it feel special – I brought out my fave gold candlesticks to add a bit of ambiance and used my gold cutlery and serving spoons to dress it up a bit. I kinda love the tin foil take-out containers so I left the coconut rice for a bit more metallic sparkle on the table.

Ordering from JUST EAT is so simple and I love being able to order from a variety of amazing local restaurants but have the convenience of it all right at my fingertips. Royal Ganesha is definitely a fave in our household; the Onion Bhajia was absolutely to die for. Made with onions and chickpea flour they were perfectly savoury and a bit sweet - with a lot of crunch. I would definitely order these again and again. We also ordered veggie pakoras, Kadai Paneer, Masala Aloo and papadums. Needless to say, we were stuffed and still had leftovers for the next day. Not only was it a great amount of food but it was also super affordable – way more affordable than going out for the night! Plus, we were already home so after-dinner cocktails in the backyard was a done deal!

I pulled together a bit of visual inspiration for anyone trying to build up your cupboard of pretty housewares for at-home date nights and dinner parties. I am obsessed with gold-tipped everything right now so the cutlery and coupe glasses are on the top of my list. I love checking out local art markets for unique ceramic pieces to add to my collection. You can actually pick up marble trays for really great prices at home decor shops these days and IKEA is an awesome place to pick up inexpensive accessories like patterned napkins and cute plates. All of the items might look a bit disjointed when you buy them separately but once you bring them all together you can have a really fun eclectic look for your dinner table. Staying in can absolutely be glamourous, romantic and stylish!

I also made a fun at-home date night mix of some of my current favourite songs right now. Click the tape to check it out!