Taylor Swift dating Zac Efron

Los Angeles - Taylor Swift and Zac Efron have enjoyed a flirty dinner date.

The Safe and Sound hitmaker and the New Year's Eve star - who have been friends for years - were spotted sharing a romantic corner table at Los Angeles restaurant place earlier this month.

A source told US Weekly the pair - who arrived together in Zac's Audi -"were deep in conversation and very giggly".

However, friends of Zac, 24, and 22-year-old Taylor claimed the pair were just enjoying a friendly night out.

One pal said: "They were in LA doing press stuff together, and after they were done, they decided to grab dinner."

Another friend added: "They have been friends a long time. Taylor thinks Zac's cute...[but] they are on totally different wavelengths."

Previous heartbreak

Zac previously dated his High School Musical co-star Vanessa Hudgens while Taylor has endured a string of heartbreak, most recently when she was dumped by Jake Gyllenhaal in late 2010.

Speaking about her forthcoming album, Taylor alluded to their short lived relationship.

She said: "There's just been this earth-shattering, not recent, but absolute crash-and-burn heartbreak and that will turn out to be what the next album is about.

"The only way that I can feel better about myself - pull myself out of that awful pain of losing someone - is writing songs about it to get some sort of clarity."