Galvin Cafe a Vin

Consistently good food and wine. Obviously it's much smaller and more cramped than La Chapelle but cheaper. The menu is a bit limited though and not shown on the website so disappointing if you go there expecting some of their better dishes. On my last visit, I had a papardelle starter which was very dry but the rest of my meal was delicious.
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londongal - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, January 30, 2012

Really enjoyed our meal last night at Cafe a Vin - Tried one of the "special" wines, a Gaillac (£23) then had a bottle of Banyuls (£29) with cheese and pud - both excellent. Skipped starters and mains were decent sized and very tasty. Biggest surprise was how high-end the restaurant felt even though the prices are so reasonable - it's basically the same experience as Bistrot de Lux at half the price. The only criticism is that some of the tables are quite close together but we had a corner table so once we got to it, it didn't matter.
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Jane Lancaster
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, September 18, 2011

I took a couple of clients to Cafe a Vin for lunch today. The menu was varied and the wine list exceptional. Our only disappointment was with the service which was less than attentive. Not what we was expecting from a 'Galvin restaurant'. I couldn't work out if the staff were being surly or just plain inattentive. Whichever... we were not impressed.
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6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Thursday, December 09, 2010

Visited the Cafe at 7.45 pm for the first time last night. It is a very busy place with a nice atmosphere.

The menu is simple but good and seasonal at reasonable prices.

The food we had was fine, maybe the pheasant I had could have been a little more cooked ( was pink -ish ).

As we were seated at the bar, we were looked after well by the dark hair waitress. We also had a nice view on the kitchen, during full service.

On the other hand, I was very desappointed with the wine list. They are very expensive. Knowing some of the suppliers and therefore some of the cost prices, the mark ups are very high. No wonder that on most of the 20 tables or so around us, very few people were actually drinking wine, and less so by the bottle. You barely have few wines under the £30 mark. It is a shame, as it would offer the possibility for people to try something different.

Unfortunately our wines was not a good choice at £32.00.
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Chris T
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Thursday, November 18, 2010

First visit to the Cafe a Vin after an excellent lunch at La Chapelle which the fine dining part of the restaurant. Nice menu and good food although the octopus salad was a little light on octopus and heavier on the (cheaper) salad type ingredients. Bavette of beef accurately cooked and tasty.

Altogether good but look out for the waiters trying to upsell wine at every opportunity. I was offered a wine that was "very similar" to the last bottle we had but cost 50% more - er, no thanks. This happened more than once (there were a few of us there.) and took the edge of what was otherwise good service.
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Andy - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, July 01, 2010

After coming here just after Christmas and having a good lunch thought I would try it again last Saturday when I was in the area.

It was 1.30 when we arrived and there was only 1 other table in the place so I found it strange that we were given a tiny table squashed in the corner. All the tables are small here and when you have bread, water, wine and food on the table there really is no space to move.

Food was good but nothing more, starters were plain and mains were good but in a first for me none of the mains came without potatoes of any kind. We asked if we could get a side dish of mash or new potates we were told they dont do potatoes of any kind and they dont do sides, not really a problem just very strange.

Service was a mixed bag with our waitress being very hard to understand and being a bit on top of us all the time, but the manager was very nice and handled things well.

The wine list is short and sweet and we had a very good bottle of Italian red at about £50.

Overall not bad but a big disapointment compared with my last visit.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Thursday, May 06, 2010

Went for a midweek lunch-5 of us .

This is a cramped place,with the tables very close together.Thankfully it was not full .

Food was well executed-fresh chicory and blue cheese salad could have done with more blue cheese.The tarte flambee is the Alsatian flammekuche and the pastry was not sufficiently cooked.The charcuterie plate was generous,but the salame had obviously been sliced some time before and left out to get on overly greasy look.

Mains of duck confit and lentils were well executed,but needed more sauce from the lentils.The lemon sole and especially the mackerel were very good,as was the braised rabbit.

Desserts were average at best.Prune tarte was very dried out.The baba au rhum had been soaking in sugared water which basically destroys the pastry into a soggy mush and completely eliminates any chance of tasting the rhum which is provided as it is fighting against the soaking of sugary water.The chantilly cream on the side was whipped so firm as to be almost butter.

Oddly the coffees were served together with the desserts.This is a nasty habit I have only seen in the USA,and with no forewarning,I didn't think to say something at the time of ordering to ensure it was served after the dessert.

Problems with their credit card machine rounded off a disappointing experience.
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C.Elder
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Popped in to try this new place between Christmas and new year and overall had a very nice lunch.

The menu is short but seems to have a bit of everything on it and we settled for herrings and a ham hock terrine to start with both dishes being simple but well executed. Mains were just as good, my friends duck being the standout dish but my tart flambee was also well done.

Service was good, a little to pushey for me, we were asked 4 times while we ate if everything was okay.

The winelist was short but a good choice by the glass or 475ml 'pot'. We chose a petit chablis (475ml) at about £15 not bad value.

Overall 2 starters, 2 mains and the wine came in at just over £60 including the service.

Will go back and will try the main restaurant next door.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 31, 2009

Came here last night with the intention of a few drinks with a client friend of mine as I work very close by. Never before have i experienced such rudeness from the lady at the door - she even asked us how many drinks we were going to have that night . Never going to set foot in there again, unless they send the lady on a course in being nice you should avoid like the plague!!
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, December 04, 2009