Meals out arranged for special friend (8)

I believe the answer is:

soulmate

'special friend' is the definition.
(a person's best friend or lover)

'meals out arranged' is the wordplay.
'arranged' indicates anagramming the letters.
'meals'+'out'='mealsout'
'mealsout' with letters rearranged gives 'SOULMATE'.

'for' acts as a link.

(Another definition for soulmate that I've seen is " Person ideally suited to another".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app