There are dozens of romantic Cape Cod restaurants where visiting couples who love good food and wine almost as much as they love each other can enjoy an intimate dinner for two.

Romance, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and a scruffy roadside clam shack or a simple picnic in the dunes can be very romantic if you're with the right person or in the right mood.

But for the purposes of this article, we've kept our suggestions to restaurants we recommend for their intimate and romantic atmosphere, as well as good food and service.

Many of the most romantic Cape Cod restaurants we have been to are attached to historic inns (after all, they have a head start in the ambience department). One example is the Bramble Inn on Main Street in Brewster, which recently won the Cape Cod Life Editor's choice award for most romantic restaurant.

The various dining rooms of this antique inn are very intimate and some look out over the beautiful gardens. The dining experience is upscale with most diners the night we were there clearly having dressed up for the occasion.

Another award winning romantic Cape Cod restaurant recently noted by Cape Cod Life Magazine is the Dan'l Webster Inn and Spa in Sandwich, which won Gold in the 2010 Best of the Cape & Islands Awards both for being the most romantic restaurant on the Upper Cape and for its fine dining.

Just around the corner from the Dan'l Webster is the Belfry Inne and Bistro, which is housed in a converted church and specializes in intimate dinners for two, often beside a roaring fireplace with an excellent piano player performing on Friday and Saturday nights.

The menu offers contemporary American cuisine and the food is outstanding. It is a bit on the pricey side, but well worth it, especially if you're celebrating a special occasion.

In the mid-Cape area, one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Hyannis is the Paddock on the West End Rotary. It serves the best filet mignon on Cape Cod in an atmosphere of Victorian elegance. A fresh cut rose adorns every table and the prices are very reasonable for such high-quality food and service.

One word of warning, the Paddock is located right next door to the Cape Cod Melody Tent and gets very busy during the summer concert season with people dining out before heading off to the shows. Reservations are highly recommended at that time of year.

Moving further down Cape, Abba in Orleans offers a menu that is a marriage between Middle Eastern and Thai cuisine, which may sound strange at first, but really does work very well. The food is served against a backdrop that is both intimate and romantic, with warm cozy colors and lovely art on the walls.

It's a small restaurant, so reservations are a must, and your meal will not be a rushed experience. A couple of hours from arrival to dessert is not unheard of, so relax and don't go if you have other plans for later in the evening. Abba is an evening out in and of itself.

Finally, if opulence and luxury are synonymous with romance for you, twenty-eight Atlantic might be the place for you and your loved one. Located within the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, it's the Cape's only four-star four-diamond restaurant and offers an atmosphere of understated luxury.

If you're visiting during the high season, though, and want a quiet and peaceful dining experience, make your reservation for 8:30pm or later. The restaurant can get a little noisy early in the evening but settles down nicely later on.

And plan on arriving before your reservation so that you have time for a cocktail outside. The view over Pleasant Bay really is quite beautiful.

These are just a few of our favorite romantic Cape Cod restaurants. There are dozens more all over the Cape, and discovering them together is part of what makes them romantic.