St Botolph's Hall in which Galvin La Chapelle resides really does have the wow factor, an incredible space with triple height pillars, arched windows and a magnificent vaulted wood roof that must be at least 100 feet above you. The restaurant too is highly decorated having won AA restaurant of the Year London in 2010 and of course received a Michelin star in 2011.
On arrival, there's an initial miscommunication leaving us standing in the entrance getting in the way of waiters rather than being shown to our table and when we are taken to the table, it's really a table for two rather than for three and there's simply no space for anything, it's tiny. There's also only a six inch gap between ours and the next table and even the waiters seem to struggle with service because of the arrangement. Kindly, when the table next to us leave, they push the tables together to give us the space needed so we can have our meal comfortably.
Our dining companion for the day is the lovely Kavey of Kavey Eats.
We order the seven course tasting menu and opt for the paired wine option as it is keenly priced at just £35. Opening the menu is Lasagne of Dorset Crab, veloute of chanterelle mushrooms. Lasagne of Dorset crab is a signature dish at The Square and we wonder if they're more than a little brave to go head to head. Both the textures and flavours of the dish left us underwhelmed. The filling in the lasagne is somewhere between mousse and scrambled eggs in texture and we're not keen, in addition there's no actual crab chunks. It also lacks crab flavour.
Next is the Pressed guinea fowl, ham hock and foie gras. This is a real winner though and will become the favourite dish of the day. The flavours are bold, the texture good and we all feel they have delivered an excellent terrine. This is followed by the Perigord truffle & Jerusalem artichoke risotto. The risotto is overcooked, there's no bite. We enjoy the dish despite this as the flavours, driven predominantly by truffle oil, are satisfying.
On arrival, there's an initial miscommunication leaving us standing in the entrance getting in the way of waiters rather than being shown to our table and when we are taken to the table, it's really a table for two rather than for three and there's simply no space for anything, it's tiny. There's also only a six inch gap between ours and the next table and even the waiters seem to struggle with service because of the arrangement. Kindly, when the table next to us leave, they push the tables together to give us the space needed so we can have our meal comfortably.
Our dining companion for the day is the lovely Kavey of Kavey Eats.
We order the seven course tasting menu and opt for the paired wine option as it is keenly priced at just £35. Opening the menu is Lasagne of Dorset Crab, veloute of chanterelle mushrooms. Lasagne of Dorset crab is a signature dish at The Square and we wonder if they're more than a little brave to go head to head. Both the textures and flavours of the dish left us underwhelmed. The filling in the lasagne is somewhere between mousse and scrambled eggs in texture and we're not keen, in addition there's no actual crab chunks. It also lacks crab flavour.
Next is the Pressed guinea fowl, ham hock and foie gras. This is a real winner though and will become the favourite dish of the day. The flavours are bold, the texture good and we all feel they have delivered an excellent terrine. This is followed by the Perigord truffle & Jerusalem artichoke risotto. The risotto is overcooked, there's no bite. We enjoy the dish despite this as the flavours, driven predominantly by truffle oil, are satisfying.
Lasagne of Dorset Crab, veloute of chanterelle mushrooms
Pressed guinea fowl, ham hock and foie gras
Perigord truffle & Jerusalem artichoke risotto
The fish course is Grilled fillets of red mullet, winter vegetable Barigoule. The red mullet itself was nice and well done but there's an acidic note to the winter vegetable Barigoule that intrudes and leaves the whole plate off balance. Tagine of Bresse pigeon, cous cous, aubergine puree & harissa sauce is so so. The pigeon surprisingly lacks flavour, even getting lost amongst the other elements on the plate. What's more, the spices hadn't been fully cooked out of the dish giving us tastes of raw spices.
The cheese course is a Sainte-Maure de Touraine, salad of organic beetroot, and for dessert, it's Apple tarte tatin, creme fraiche. Kavey suggests the texture is 'gluey' which we all agree is a good description while the outside pastry was in places partially burned. The sweetness carries it through like the truffle oil on the risotto but in the same way, it seems technically flawed.
The cheese course is a Sainte-Maure de Touraine, salad of organic beetroot, and for dessert, it's Apple tarte tatin, creme fraiche. Kavey suggests the texture is 'gluey' which we all agree is a good description while the outside pastry was in places partially burned. The sweetness carries it through like the truffle oil on the risotto but in the same way, it seems technically flawed.
Grilled fillets of red mullet, winter vegetable Barigoule
Tagine of Bresse pigeon, cous cous, aubergine puree & harissa sauce
Sainte-Maure de Touraine, salad of organic beetroot
Apple tarte tatin, creme fraiche
It's clear by now that the restaurant didn't work for us on this occasion with other items outside of the food also proving an irritant. Despite the table being tiny and daylight flooding the room, they left in place an unnecessary and unlit candle arrangement taking up valuable space. After laying cutlery, an empty highball glass was cleared but two empty wine glasses pushed to the side of the table to clear space were ignored. A waiter winking to one of the ladies on the table seemed to over step the mark in friendliness while our sommelier, on pairing red wine for the main course explained why: 'pigeon is not like chicken', who would have guessed?
One can let go of these things if the food is excellent but here it failed to win us over. Flavours were often too shallow, textures were not well represented and technically, there seemed some basic errors. The terrine was probably the best dish of the day but beyond that, the meal lacked for us high points which is not what we expect from a Michelin star holder. The building is spectacular and it's good to see innovative new eating places in the City, but on this particular day, for us, it fell short. Despite the accolades for La Chapelle, we think that Galvin at Windows is a better showcase for the talents of the Galvin brothers and of the two, it would be the one we'd choose to revisit for both food and service.
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One can let go of these things if the food is excellent but here it failed to win us over. Flavours were often too shallow, textures were not well represented and technically, there seemed some basic errors. The terrine was probably the best dish of the day but beyond that, the meal lacked for us high points which is not what we expect from a Michelin star holder. The building is spectacular and it's good to see innovative new eating places in the City, but on this particular day, for us, it fell short. Despite the accolades for La Chapelle, we think that Galvin at Windows is a better showcase for the talents of the Galvin brothers and of the two, it would be the one we'd choose to revisit for both food and service.
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Related posts: Galvin at Windows
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