Galvin La Chapelle: City, London

Galvin La Chapelle

Date of Visit: 27^th August 2013

Ambience

Galvin La Chapelle is a classy and sophisticated restaurant in a beautiful setting.  As I was seated, I noticed a couple of things: how comfortable the chair was and how quickly somebody came over to place our napkins on our lap.  As my eye wandered, I noticed a VIP area at the top of the stairs and draped curtains by a couple of larger tables.  I thought it was a great way to provide privacy for guests who required it without feeling cut out of the whole restaurant atmosphere.

The restaurant was surrounded by large windows which let in a natural daylight, fairy lights hanging from the ceiling and intricate detailing around the arches, like the outside of an old building.

Food

As the last guest arrived, we were served a glass of champagne each and presented with the menu. We were ordering from a set menu so we expected it to be as limited as Rhodes but we were pleasantly surprised that there were four choices of each course. 

For starters, we tried the smoked mackerel on a bed of salad with berries, the ham hock terrine and the Pollock served on a bed of salad and topped with a tiny egg (quail egg?).  My favourite was the Pollock as it resembled a flaky fish cake and the egg was nicely cooked, with the yolk being runny and the buttery sauce complemented the fish well.

For mains, we opted for the meaty dishes; ox cheeks with pak choi, baby corn served in a sweet broth and chicken topped with beans on a bed of mash potato.  The ox cheeks were soft and had quite a bit of flavour but it was rather meaty with very little veg.  I was expecting only two cheeks but we were surprised with three cheeks in a portion.  The chicken breast was unusually soft (i.e. not dry at all) and the way to describe the mash is “melt in the mouth smoothness”.  In my opinion, the presentation of the mains were a let down.

Desserts consisted of Apple Tarte Tatin with Crème Fraiche and Varhona chocolate ganache, honeycomb & coconut sorbet.  The servers were happy to substitute crème fraiche for vanilla ice cream and when it got served, we were shocked by the size of the portion (it looked like a quarter of a whole cake)!  I wouldn’t say it was the best apple tart but it was adequate.  On the other hand, the coconut sorbet was refreshing and lovely but a bigger portion needed to be served with the rich and super-sweet chocolate ganache.  The honeycomb was interesting as it added texture to the dessert.  The desserts were nice but it definitely required a good cup of tea… why we waited until halfway through the dessert to order tea I’m not sure but it was very much needed.  It was pointed out that there were only two teabags in the teapot for 5 of us but that isn’t unheard of in my world – slightly skanky but it is probably the norm.  I guess it would have been nicer to have a teapot each but one cup was sufficient for me.

Shortly after dessert, we were served petit fours which consisted of baby macaroons and chocolate truffles.

Service

The service here was excellent; very professional and courteous.  Despite ordering from a set menu, I did not feel as though we got less attention or attentiveness from the servers.  We were not rushed to place orders even when one person was running late by half an hour but they were quick to offer drinks as and when people arrived (yes we arrived in dribs and drabs).

At the end of our meal, the ladies were given a small gift as we parted the restaurant which consisted of a couple of chocolate truffles in a small favour box.  I thought that was a nice touch which left a lasting impression on the restaurant. 

Summary

I would say this restaurant is worthy of a Michelin star based on the service, atmosphere and the food.  Whilst the food wasn’t amazing, at least it was more creative than what we experienced at Rhodes.   I would love to try some other dishes on the menu to see what other surprises there are.

The setting is great if you are out to impress, be it a date, a business meal or similar. Yes it is on the more expensive side but the set meals are reasonable value for money but bring deeper pockets if you like a good wine as they have some expensive drinks on their menu.