Many years ago when I was in London, my brother in law Andy treated us to lunch at the three michelin starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road. That was possibly my first and best fine dining experience ever, I still remember the dishes, the atmosphere, the ultimate foodie experience to this day.
Fast forward many years later, Jan and Andy were once again bringing us to try fantastic food in London. This time it was one of Jan’s favourite restaurants in London, Galvin La Chapelle. Jan loved this multi award winning French restaurant even before they received their one michelin star. She raved about their dishes and I was really happy that we were getting to experience it for ourselves.
It was quite a chilly day in London. Obligatory photo of Big Ben and the London Eye in the background.
We parked our car at Piccadilly Circus and took the tube to the Liverpool Street station.
The famous Piccadilly Circus.
Entrance to Galvin La Chapelle. The restaurant is located in a grade II listed building with was formerly a Victorian school chapel.
Gorgeous dining space with soaring ceilings, majestic pillars and velvet drapes. We were also greeted by live piano playing. It was just a very beautiful and grand building with lovely lighting.
We all had the Menu Prix Fixe (around £30) which was a three course lunch with five choices for each course. My entre was a terrine of pressed guinea fowl, ham hock and foie gras with red onion marmalade.This was really tasty, salty, sharp, creamy and sweet from the red onion marmalade. I really enjoyed it.
Jan’s entree was escabèche of Cornish red mullet, spiced aubergine puree and herbs. According to wikipedia, escabèche is a typical Mediterranean cuisine which refers to a dish of either poached or fried fish. I remember Jan asking the waiter about this dish but forgot what he said haha. Foodie fail. I don’t think Jan enjoyed this dish as much because she doesn’t like fish and this one was spiced quite heavily.
Jo’s entree was roast breast of red leg partridge, glazed fig and cobnuts. This was another lovely dish, the pickels on the dish offset the sweetness of the figs, the partridge was really tasty too.
My main was roast Icelandic cod, Italian artichokes and aioli. I liked this dish but preferred my entree. The cod was nicely done, oily and moist, but I wasn’t a fan of the bok choy underneath or the aioli which was really rich and buttery in flavour. So the overall feeling was a bit too salty.
Jan and Jo both had the crisp fillet of sea bream, San Marzano tomato and mushroom risotto. This was really yummy, Jo and Jan loved it, and this is despite both of them not being fish lovers. Jan says the sea bream was cooked to perfection with a wonderful crispy skin, the tomato gave it a burst of freshness and the mushrooms in the risotto was just lovely.
Andy’s main was the tranche of calf’s liver, pommes mousseline (mashed potato) and pancetta. He enjoyed his dish and gave me a bit of his calf liver to try, I really liked it and in hindsight wish I had ordered it.
Dessert time!! All the women had the soufflé of English raspberries with mint ice-cream. The waiter gave us different patterns for our souffle, Jo got a smiley face, she was delighted haha. This was my first soufflé and it was fantastic, really light, airy with the tartness of the raspberries, it went really well with the mint icecream which was soo good.
Andy’s dessert of apple tarte Tatin with crème fraîche. He said this was good but he’s not a fan of sweet things haha.
Kaka had her first fine dining experience too. I’m not sure she liked the food hehe.
Overall it was a wonderful fine dining experience. The food was great, service was exemplary, and the dining space and atmosphere was just wow. Thanks for bringing us Jan and Andy! Happy (^__^).
Galvin La Chapelle
35 Spital Square,
London, E1 6DY
After lunch, it was shopping at the famous Regent Street.
Another look at Picadilly Circus.
Kaka picture of the day: All dressed up for her first fine dining experience. Even the waitress commented that she was looking chic!