Galvin Bistrot de Luxe

I would wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant. I went with gourmand friends for the astonishingly good value lunch menu (£15.50 for three courses); but don't be put off by the price! No compromise on flavour here. I had a deliciously unctuous Jerusalem artichoke veloute, followed by inconceivably flavoursome pheasant and unimaginably creamy ice cream. The service is... a little French, but don't be put off; they're friendly really.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, January 07, 2010

Food is fairly expensive but excellent. Service awful.... Need say no more
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Will - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, December 14, 2009

3 December, 18:15 - phone call from one of my party of 7 who had just arrived at the restaurant: "they cannot find your reservation". My worst nightmare has just started, I thought. You take colleagues out as a treat and things go sour from the start... What happened next, I shall never know, but they did find us a table. Maybe they did find the booking. Maybe they had space anyway, or perhaps they pushed some punters away.

When we arrived, we were ushered through the narrow part of this L-shape restaurant to the back room. The last diner to arrive had to be rescued by her husband - she had forgotten the booking name and the staff did not want to let her in (a bit weird...). By the time we left, the restaurant was totally full, but we never felt squashed. From a Belle Epoque bistrot, Galvin has retained the dark wood paneling, simple furniture and unfussy but elegant place settings. And some of the food.

The wine list is extensive, and the Maitre D' knows what he is doing (but then he is from Bordeaux, so you would expect no less). He recommended a lovely Cheverny (Loire, white, flowery without being overbearing), and a Vacqueyras (Cotes du Rhone, red) which became more tannic as the bottle went down. It had a Bordeaux-like acidity which I personally did not like. To hell with those Southerners, I should have stuck to Burgundy...

When the starters arrived, my first reaction was: "oh dear, nouvelle cuisine" - small and chichi. This proved not to be the case, except for one: the endive, walnut, pear and beetroot salad looked beautiful, but had minimal nutritional value. The salmon gravadlax was pronounced tasty, I failed to enquire about the rillette (a good French traditional dish if I ever saw one), and my own crab lasagna was perfectly done, given how delicate and prone to getting lost among other ingredients the flavour of crab can be.

There was nothing "nouvelle cuisine" about the mains, which were hearty, and met with general approval, except (again) from the vegetarians. Their onion tarte tatin with St Maure cheese bode well, but my husband commented that the protein content was inadequate, and the portion size also left to be desired. Veggies, you should not be afraid of ordering a vegetable side dish.

For the fish and meat eaters however, Galvin cooks up real treats: perfectly cooked haddock (the bed of red pepper and onion could have been more original, but it did not distract from the fish) and seabass, a saddle of lamb with spinach and chestnut stuffing which was greatly praised, and - if you go DO NOT MISS THIS - a daube of venison which I can only describe as heavenly. The cranberry sauce was a gorgeous syrupy concoction which complemented to perfection the strongly-flavoured but very tender meat. The celeriac mash that came with it was a miracle of lightness. I am still salivating just writing about it. 10 out of 10.

The people who chose raspberry souffle for dessert were very happy with the light and flavoursome result, which was much less sweet than could have been feared. The cheese selection was wide ranging and came with some lovely raisin bread. The quality of the other desserts varied. The friend who chose the chocolate fondant wished it was slightly more bitter. The pear tarte tatin had a beautifully buttery pastry, and the pears were OK, but the caramel had a colour and texture which suggested that it had been added after the tart was baked (and was made with milk or cream, as well as the butter which is the normal part of the recipe). The same kind of afterthought affected my baba au rhum. It was both big and heavy. I could have coped with the texture if the baba had been half as small. The other problem was that it tasted like it had been moistened with a light sugar syrup with no rum in it. With a flourish, a waiter split the baba in half and poured rum onto it. Now, that is not the idea! It had no time to soak!

Still, the service was attentive and unhurried, and for £55 a head for 2 bottles of wine, a round of drinks, three courses, coffee and service, on Baker Street, this is very good value. Will I be back? Yes. This is a classy joint, and I only pick holes in the offering because I am a cook, and an ultra-pernickety French foodie.
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The lady that lunches - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, December 06, 2009

I cannot agree more with the previous review. Standards have declined at Galvin's so dramatically that my partner and I will not be returning. We had an hour's wait in the bar (no staff to serve drinks and no apology for the wait), and wine that we had not ordered appeared on the bill, which was amended (again, with no apology). The food was mediocre and we would not have eaten it if it had not been for the fact that we were ravenous after such a long wait. Staff looked rushed off their feet and it was hard to catch a waiter's eye to get any service. Shame, this used to be such a great restaurant.
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Erica D - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, December 06, 2009

We had been fans of Galvin ever since it opened and ate their regularly for its authentic food, great atmosphere and value, but on our last visit in the summer we felt standards had clearly declined. The food was over-salted and frankly dull. (There was also an odd experience that evening when the manager came out on our arrival to warn us against parking on the single yellow line outside; however I took the trouble to check with Westminster Council who assured me this would have been in order. Was the manager witness to wardens who didnt know their job or was he just protecting the view for the customers dining at the pavement tables?)

Last night we decided to give Galvin a final try in case our previous experience had been on an off-night.

We had booked for 8pm and phoned in the morning to confirm. Arriving on time, we were shown to the so-called bar in the basement (with no proper bar or a barman - really just a holding area) full of other customers waiting for their tables, where we were eventually offered a drink. We were shown to our table (with no apology) over three quarters of an hour later. The starters arrived promptly but we had to chase the waiter for the wine and two of our party of four were given dirty wine glasses; these were taken away when we pointed this out, but we had to call a waiter again for them to be replaced.

By the time our main courses arrived it was almost 10pm. The food was mostly of a high standard but my wife's oysters had been hurriedly opened and she had to remove shell fragments from each one; chicken supremes were over-salted (again) and the venison was poorly cooked.

So once again a restaurant is the victim of its own success. The place was buzzing and the staff were having difficulty in coping. Perhaps because no-one seemed to be in charge or because Chris Galvin is concentrating on his latest venture and has taken his eye of the ball at Galvin. Pity.
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Ronald Hooberman
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 03, 2009

My favourite restaurant in London. Consistently good food, excellent wine, and professional and friendly service. It is one of the few restaurants that manages to maintain high standards and never disappoints.
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londongal - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, November 14, 2009

2 of us went for lunch on a rainy tuesday. We had the prix fixe menu for £15 each.

This included starters or a terrine of pork and a pumpkin soup.Both were very well executed,delicious and attractively presented.

We both chose the lamb chop barnsley served medium and again it was excellent.The accompanying mushrooms and pommes allumettes were also terrific.

For dessert a perfect creme brule with clementines .

nice bread and excellent butter.And a wide choice of wine ,including by the glass or carafe.

This is well worth a visit and sets the standard for top prix fixe in London.
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C.elder
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Amazing lunch. Pig's trotter was the best! Pear tarte tatin a must. Portions were generous, which was really satisfying. Service was slow due to a busy saturday lunch hour. Waiter was genuinely attentive when available. Will come back again.
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Me
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 29, 2009

My husband and I went here for our anniversary and had a lovely night. The food was delicious; I really enjoyed my main of monkfish cheeks with ginger beurre blanc and a watercress salad, but it paled into significance next to the nicest tarte tatin I have ever eaten. Very glad I left room for dessert.

We chose our own wine, but asked for recommendations for dessert wines and they matched our choices very well. Our waiter was very charming and happy to chat about Nantes football club (of all things!). My only slight quibble would be the wait we had before being shown to our table - half an hour, even though we had booked. We spent it very pleasantly in the downstairs bar with a drink, but don't book a later sitting if you're in a rush. Having said that, we were pleasantly surprised to get a table booking only the day before, and I suppose a half-hour wait is the price you pay if you book at short notice in a restaurant as busy as this.

So to sum up, the food, decor, atmosphere and service are all great; you may have to wait a little for your table, but on our experience, it'll be worth it.
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Anna - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, September 18, 2009

Came here Thursday night for the first time. We went down to 'Le Bar' for a few drinks before we sat down for our meal & the Head Bartender Jafor made us some amazing cocktails as aperitifs, the recipe concocted on the spot just for us, how wonderful!! The food was fantastic and the service during the meal was brilliant, but the waiters could have a better grasp of the english language. The head bartender also recomended us some fantastic wines to match with each course of our meal, he got it spot on!! Head bartender/somellier in one, what a package! We've never met anyone with as much drinks knowledge for a 23yr old (and i work in the industry!)

The place was lively and the atmosphere fantastic, with it being busy and bustling with customers packed to the rafters amongst the dark wood interior. And not to forget the price of the meal was very reasonable.

We had a fantastic time and we shall definitely be coming back very soon. Would definitely reccomend this place to every one.

And thanks to the Head Bartender for making it such a brilliant time.
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Andrew Web
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 24, 2009