REVIEW: Galvin La Chapelle, Spital Square, Spitalfields

If the name didn’t give it away, Galvin La Chapelle is owned by the famous Galvin brothers, Chris and Jeff Galvin. The restaurant received it’s first and only Michelin star back in 2011 and has held hold if it ever since. Strangely it also seems fall into that small handful of Michelin star restaurants in London, which no one ever seems to talk about much. We was kindly invited down by restaurant booking site Bookatable to sample the set menu (also available directly from restaurant but not including free glass of bubbly) on offer and of course a cocktail, or two. An espresso martini is always my drink of choice before a meal and here it certainly didn’t disappoint. Creamy and well balanced but still packing a little alcoholic punch. I was rather impressed with cocktail prices too, especially for this part of town.

Part of the Bookatable deal bags you three courses for £29, including a glass of bubbly on arrival. One thing I can never resist is any form of foie gras on a menu. That and the words truffle or steak always jump out at me. So when I saw a starter of foie gras royale with port wine jelly and date puree up for grabs – who could resist. In fact I almost wished I did in the end. Oddly this dish arrived as it was, a huge chunk of foie gras mousse, with nothing to eat but a spoon. No bread, no nothing. Eating something this rich and cloying with a spoon is not only pure gluttony, but also not appealing. A terrine or fresh piece of foie gras I would have understood. Perhaps the bread was forgotten, who knows – but either way I couldn’t finish it. In terms of flavour it was good and the date puree was particularly delicious.

Set or cheaper menus at a Michelin level, can be a dangerous offering for restaurants. If you’re lucky enough to receive a star, restaurants shouldn’t forget that the Michelin inspector is giving this accolade to the whole restaurant – meaning all the menus served need to be of a Michelin standard, in my opinion. Unfortunately that’s where Galvin La Chapelle have gone wrong. The set menu here was no different to what I could have eaten at one of the Galvin Brothers other (non Michelin) restaurants, Bistro de Luxe. People may only be paying £29 here at Galvin La Chapelle, but they’re still expecting that Michelin experience. Vichyssoise, smoked haddock, rock chives and buttermilk cream was a perfectly nice enough dish, but failed to excite.

One dish which really stood out on the menu was the braised pork cheeks, soft white polenta and smoky Alsace bacon. The pork cheeks were stunning. Slow cooked and incredibly soft – the melt in your mouth kind. Flavour wise they had all the meaty goodness you could hope for and that bacon really adding a nice touch of saltiness to everything. The polenta was also wonderful and that jus was to die for. If this is how the a la carte menu fares here, then at least I’ve got a reason to come back. This dish was classic French cooking at its finest and one I’d happily eat all over again.

Sadly the whole you’re only paying £29 so we’re going to simple things down for you menu came back into swing. I was rather swooned over by the sound of Valrhona chocolate mousse with caramelised banana, but I’d expected too much from it – thinking its simple descriptor meant for something arriving with a little more creativity. The dish turned out to simply be two scoops of chocolate mousse accompanied by a smear of chocolate and a piece of banana which had been caramelised on one end – this is food I could make at home and I’m no culinary genius. Portion size was not great either.

Cheese course was also rather disappointing. If you know me well you’ll know I’m a huge cheese fanatic and can never resist the supplement of a cheese course, but here we instead took the included offering from the set menu. A small slice of Vacherin cheese (taken mostly up by its rind) with some thin wafers of bread and red berries. The cheese had good flavour but was in fact served a little too cold and lacked any oozing goodness I’d hoped for – after all isn’t that the most attractive feature to this fine cheese? I’m not a greedy person, but I thought the cheese course could have perhaps been a little more generous with its selection too.

Time to leave and of course I lose my credit card in to the dark abyss, that is the floor. The inside decor of Galvin La Chapelle is utterly sumptuous, dimly lit, incredibly romantic and all very grand – but dark, perfect for everything apart from losing things and taking good photos. Finishing up on a good selection of petit fours we we’re still rather bemused about the whole dining experience. Galvin La Chapelle isn’t alone when it comes to set menus or pre-theatre offerings, but the difference between them and a lot of other restaurants around, is that they have a Michelin star and people are coming here to experience something special. Perhaps that special something can be found in the la carte, because its set menu here just doesn’t do this restaurant any favours, at least not in my opinion anyway.

6/10