Galvin at Windows

chrisp

High-altitude dining 10th July 2009

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I can't remember who it was, but somebody once explained to me their theory of the relationship between the quality of a meal and the altitude it is served at. Apparently, so the theory goes, you will have a worse meal the higher up you go. So starting in your Michelin-starred basement restaurants like The Greenhouse, Hakkasan and Le Gavroche, where the atmosphere is hushed and exclusive and the food divine, all the way up to the most extreme example - airline food - microwaved, over-salted slop eaten with your neighbours elbows jabbing into your ribs. And somewhere in the middle we have the "revolving restaurant" category, reliant largely on the tourist trade and unimaginative soppy couples after a nice view, serving overpriced, mediocre food. I'm thinking particularly of the Oxo Tower restaurant and the Coq d'Argent - awful places which if they didn't have the added value of a sweeping backdrop would have closed years ago.

But like all good theories, it's the exceptions that prove the rule. And although Galvin at Windows, perched high atop of the 28-storey Hyde Park Hilton on Park Lane, would no doubt do very well fleecing its well-heeled clientele with a "never mind the food, check out the view" attitude, they have thankfully decided to go down a much different route. The meal I had last night was not only presented in front of a vista that stretched from Wembley Stadium to Hampstead Heath but consisted of some of the most accomplished dishes I'd eaten for many months.

Let's start with the bread, which came in two variations - a wholemeal and a white olive bread. A slightly chewy crust on the white perhaps but a good flavour, and the butter was lovely and spreadable.

Amuse of tomato gelée did its job perfectly well. The tomato flavours were fresh and the gelée was actually a very good texture - not too off-puttingly solid but thick enough to scoop onto the spoon. Young basil leaves provided colour and a nice Italian flavour combination. Pretty little thing, isn't it?

My starter was a slab of seared Landes foie gras sat on top of a soft gingerbread biscuit and surrounded by semi-dried grapes and a kind of honey jus. The best foie gras recipes never muck about with the liver too much, and this was true to that form, being just interesting enough to be worth its paycheck while still allowing the rich, creamy foie to star. It's also, as you can just about tell from the picture, a hugely generous portion for a starter, and my waiter was kind enough during ordering to point out that the beef also comes with more foie and did I want to reconsider? Of course I didn't.

Once I'd polished off the cruelly inflated goose organ, another unannounced mini course arrived, of Mesclun (baby leaf) salad, balsamic and goats cheese. This was my least favourite course, which although perfectly pleasant in a salady kind of way didn't really have anything to lift it out of the mundane. The baby leaves were just that, and the goats cheese seemed a bit timid. I fully admit I'm not really a salad person, though, so maybe if all you're used to is lentils and quiche then this you'd probably think this was brilliant.

The main course finally arrived in the form of a cute little pink medallion of beef fillet, a slow-roasted portion of fatty rib topped with another generous slab of foie gras, and a colourful selection of caramelised roasted veg. And you could hardly fault any of it. The beef was cooked perfectly, the fillet well-seasoned and smooth in texture and the rib section meltingly tender with its slivers of juicy fat. Vegetables were bitesize examples of perfect French cooking, each a self-contained, juicy canapé and great fun to eat. I have, admittedly, tasted better beef - but then the fillet steak is never really just about the raw flavour, particularly not in French cooking, and it still tasted great.

Sadly, we didn't have room for desserts, but that didn't stop various final petits fours arriving, including a juicy raspberry chocolate, very fruity strawberry marshmallows and a startling little sphere of crispy salty caramel with a liquid centre. We ate them as the sun was setting over the Wembley Stadium arch.

You'd have to be very, very unlucky not to enjoy an evening at Galvin. This is a mature, confident kitchen serving Michelin-star standard food, and has even improved since my last visit in 2007. That it was totally booked up on a Thursday night in the middle of a recession is not really a mystery - what is a mystery is why the Espoir (rising star) I spoke about in the 2007 review has not yet come good. From what I can gather, the food is definitely up to scratch - at least as good as that served at Chez Bruce, for example. But then, who cares what Michelin think these days - increasingly not anyone who's opinions I trust. All you need to know is that the the service and the food at Galvin @ Windows is as good as you can hope for in this price bracket (it's not cheap - £58 for three courses), and you can certainly do a lot worse. Oh yes - and the view's not bad either.

Formaggio_Amore

Very good and stylish French cuisine + great views 7th March 2009

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Courtesy of Trusted Places, which posted some offers for this restaurant, I had booked a nice window table for two for a nice Friday evening diner.

I had already received some very good feedback from some reviewers and people in general and thought to check it out for the food as well as the views. We were in for a real treat and experience.

For a start, the receptionists and the waiters were smiling and friendly, which makes you feel welcomed, as opposed to just served. In fact, the table next to us was quite chatty with one of our waitresses who was happily and comfortably engaging in the conversation with them, whilst being able to carry out her job professionally.

The restaurant was sober and nicely decorated, with big floor-to-ceiling windows offering great views of London from the 28th floor of the Hilton Hotel. We were overlooking northbound; Mayfair and Oxford Street, with a little bit of Hyde Park Corner -some other tables had even better views, clearly overlooking Hyde Park.

As part of the deal, we were offered a glass of champagne, which was nice and refreshing. My friend opted for a fresh fruit juice. Then, after being given some recommendations and enough time to choose, our waiter took our orders.

The timing of the serving was perfect, as it felt that we were taken care of without being intruded on; a perfect and difficult balance to achieve, which very few restaurants get right.

Before embarking on the culinary experience proper, we were given a small, tasty "amuse bouche", consisting of a creamy, mashed fish mixture.

For starters, I had a Terrine de Foie Gras (Traditional), which I thought was perfectly smooth in texture and mild in taste, together with a Toasted Brioche, which was fresh, soft and very slightly sweet. My guest had a tasty Celeriac Velouté with Red Wine Braised Salsify, Chopped Chestnuts & Beetroot Emulsion, which was presented in a very stylish manner by pouring the celeriac juice over the solid mixture, which was put in the centre of the bowl. This got the meal off to a good start.

As for the mains, I had a Filet of Sea Bass in a roll shape, which was soft and moist, with a light, oily seasoning. Simply delicious. My guest had the Filet of Scotch Beef. I am told that the meat was tender and nicely done. A bit more side dishes would have been perfect, though.

For desert, I had a little trio of differently flavoured Crème Brulée, which did not beg to be eaten, so creamy and perfectly sweet they were. My guest had the Chocolat Fondant, which was soft and satisfyingly rich. She couldn’t finish it. So, being "gourmant", I made it disappear in a split second, so good it was.

Drink wise, I had a very nice dry white wine that had a tinge of lemon, a recommendation from the relatively young sommelier. Sadly, I forgot the name and type of the wine! It wasn't cheap, though -that, I remembered! ;Op

On our way out, we paid a short visit to the bar next-door, just to explore the alternative great views it offered towards the east/north east of London.

In conclusion, a very nice experience, to be certainly repeated. Highly recommended for business or romantic diners/lunches. Great French food with impeccable and friendly service. Voila!

walid

An Amazing Evening 16th February 2009

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My partner and I chose to celebrate Valentine's together at Galvin at Windows. Situated on the 28th floor of the Hilton Park Lane hotel you have magnificent night views of London especially if your table is located by the window. With such fabulous views, in an incredible setting, the evening was set to being a promising one.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by the general manager who welcomed us with a glass of Pommery Brut Royal N.V champagne each. As this was Valentine's we had their set menu which consisted of a stater, a fish dish, a meat dish and dessert.

Having made our selection the meal started off with a cute little amuse bouche of warm duck egg yolk, with baked potato soup and Aquitaine caviar. For starters I had the Jerusalem artichoke veloute with mushroom brioche and truffle butter that was fantastic. I especially enjoyed mixing the artichokes with my mushroom brioche. My partner had a lighter starter consisting of a mesclun salad with whipped goats cheese and aged balsamic. Her goats cheese was incredibly light and yet full of flavour.

Our first main course was of fish where she chose the sea bass which came with langoustine, lemon braised fennel and verbena. As she had chosen that I opted for the Dover sole with braised carrots, capers and parsley. I really enjoyed the freshness of my sole... full of flavour and yet very delicate. But I have to admit my partner's sea bass was simply stunning. I don't think I tasted a sea bass so good for a long time.

Now the second main course was the one we were both waiting for with anticipation. We both selected the Tournedos of Scotch beef, confit potato, bone marrow tartine & sauce Bordelaise. The beef was superbly cooked, rare, just as we wanted it... the texture was great, depth of flavour and so juicy. Simply typing this review is making me hungry for more of this beef and it isn't yet 9 in the morning now!

Somehow in spite of having eaten all of the above we managed to find room for the palet d'or of dark chocolate, white chocolate sorbet, turron and crisp rice. The dark chocolate was incredible with numerous different layers and nuances in its taste. Being of Catalan origin I thought the turron was a bit dry but a good complement to the chocolate and sorbet.

Great food and great atmosphere. Just for the above I would have given this place a 5 star, but I haven't come to the service yet. What can I say from the general manager to the assistant waiter the service was exceptional. Attentive and yet not overbearing or in your face. A good sign of great service is when you don't feel the staff around you giving you the space to enjoy the company of your date. This was what we received and to top it all the general manager took us through the kitchen to a "secret" balcony where you have another incredible view of London. What can I say both my partner and I felt we had the perfect evening, and I'm incredibly grateful to all of the staff at Galvin at Windows for making this evening such a memorable one.

mazphd at 16/02/09

very sweet. in fact, wonderful. i for one know where a romeo will be taking me. One day ;-)

walid at 16/02/09

I strongly recommend that Romeo take's you to this place. The fish is fabulous but I also hear that their vegetarian options are great. You would love this place Maz!

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LukeG

Awesome views 25th August 2008

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Fabulous Mahnattan feel after dark, breathtaking views in all directions, especially towards the City.
The service is excellent, the place is open late and has a reasonably good restaurant next door.
They play cool house music and the crowd is chic. Not sure if it's busy every night though.

sue

Perfect special occasion venue 24th August 2008

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Located on the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton, Galvin at Windows is the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion. We went for dinner on my birthday and had a magical night. Yes, one of the highlights of a visit here are the fabulous views across London, but we also had mostly delicious food and were served by some very friendly staff which all added to a very enjoyable evening.

We started off the night with a drink in the bar, really enjoying the views and the cocktails. We were then ushered to our window seat in the restaurant, where we looked out over Green Park and Buckingham Palace. The staff were all charming, and I found it very amusing when the sommelier recognised us from a meal we had had 6 months earlier at Latium, where he used to work, and he even remembered which wine we had ordered back then (so did we as it was an excellent Barolo).

The meal started with an Amuse Bouche of Chilled melon soup which was nice and summery. We then had the Salad of summer vegetables, hand picked leaves, walnut vinaigrette & creamed Perigord goat cheese; and the Warm Lincolnshire smoked eel, seared foie gras & caramelised Victoria pineapple. The salad was nice and light and prettily presented. The eel was excellent and combined perfectly with the creamy foie gras.

For main course we had the Confit fillet of halibut, crab pommes ecrasees, courgette & radish puree; and the Fillet of Glen Fyne beef, braised cheek, English carrots & Madeira jus. Only complaint would be that the fish was a little bland, though it was nicely cooked and presented.

Dessert was the highlight for me (ok, when isn't it!). We had the Hot chocolate fondant, Szechuan pepper ice cream & almond milkshake; and the Peanut butter parfait with chocolate pearls & berry jam. Both desserts were superb, but the best flavour combination was to have a mouthful of the fondant and the parfait at the same time, making it one of the tastiest desserts ever!

chrisp

Starry and spectacular, if overpriced 13th August 2008

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On the 28th floor of the Hilton Park Lane, there's a restaurant tipped for its first Michelin star next year. Officially tipped that is, with something called an 'Espoir', handed out by Michelin to places which aren't quite good enough "yet". I'm not sure I agree with this new system; if somewhere is tipped to get one soon, is that a guaranteed thing? Or can an espoir sometimes come to nothing? If somewhere isn't quite good enough yet, why not just wait and give it a proper star next year, rather than just tease them with an Espoir before finally saying "ah no, actually turns out your truffle veloute wasn't actually as good as I remembered, we'll have that Espoir back thank you very much". Furthermore, if an Espoir becomes a coveted title in its own right, the natural progression is for Michelin to start giving out "Espoir Espoirs", for places that are likely to be good enough next year to get a Michelin star the year after that. It all just seems a bit silly.

However, if it is possible to get any satisfaction from such a flimsy accolade, then Galvin at Windows should. The quality of the food and ingredients was in the most part very good, and the level of service as you would expect from anywhere starry.

Service was attentive to the point of mania at times, with very cross words exchanged between two waiters who noticed that one of our party had to fill his own glass up with water. Staff were so desperate to pass the "napkin test" that they whipped the napkin out of mid-air just as I dropped it on my seat on the way to the toilet. It seemed that the relatively cramped room was stuffed so full of waiters there was barely enough room for the customers, and it was all a bit overwhelming at first, but it's funny how a glass of Aperitif du Maison (a Strawberry Bellini) can soon settle the mind.

The amuse-bouches were really really great. A kind of truffle-infused cracker with a heavily flavoured goats cheese pate on top, very difficult to describe but incredible flavour and texture contrasts. Went down very well with all concerned.

A starter of Asparagus Veloute and soft-boiled quails egg was full of flavour and looked very pretty. It was a good example of how to make something delicious and unpretentious but still make it look like it belonged in an haute-cuisine dining room. However by the end of the bowl the seasoning was getting a little too overwhelming - a complaint that carried to some degree through all the dishes on offer. Seasoning is a very personal thing, and for any chef you will find as many people that think they underseason than overseason, but I have to say, based on my own experience, that Galvin really likes his salt.

The main was really lovely - Coquelet (kind of a teenage chicken apparently, somewhere between a normal chicken and a poussin) with onion and thyme tart, with shallot puree and spinach. There were also some hazelnuts scattered around the plate which gave a great texture contrast. Lots of nice flavours that worked very well together and nothing too weird - classic French cooking really and very enjoyable.

The only slight disappointment was the dessert, which was a very nice subtley-flavoured cheesecake, well presented and surrounded by mini strawberries, good stuff, but with a great big blob of hugely overpowering strawberry sorbet on top, which I had to scrape off and eat separately. A real shame because the cheesecake was really delicious, and so was the sorbet, but together, a bit like a fight between Joe Calzaghe and Russell Brand, there could really only be one winner.

A few interesting little sweeties rounded off the meal, including a delicious homemade chocolate truffle and a slightly less nice passion fruit jelly, which was quite bitter and a bit odd. All-in-all though, it seems those Michelin guys are right on the money once again in spotting a good thing, and I'm sure with a few of the rough edges ironed out we will see the Espoir converted into a first star in 2008. And best of luck to them.

kellytron

24th July 2008

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Great views (which is reflected in the expensive, yet skillfully produced, drinks list) and I love the olives they ring out with your drinks. Not the sort of place I'd chose to go on my own (preferring an element of grime to my normal venues) but I certainly havn't complained about coming here a couple of times for work.

ilovelucy

Glamourous, amazing treat 18th March 2008

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My Uncle came into town last November and said he'd take me to dinner - expenses paid of course! Seizing the opportunity to eat at restaurants I could only dream about, I asked him if we could go to Galvins at Windows and of course he agreed.

Situated on the 28th floor of the Hilton Park Lane the restaurant and the bar gives absolutely stunning views of London from every direction of the room. We had a bit of time to kill before our table was ready so we had a couple of cocktails at the bar - everything was beautiful and luxurious, the lighting was low and music was at the perfect volume - just like slipping into a warm bath - bliss! Expensive though they were, the cocktails were impeccable and the waiters were great in topping up the olives and trail mix.

We were ushered to our table by the window and shown the menu - i daren't look at my Uncle but I did hear a small gasp - he obviously read that it was £58 for three courses!

That small minor detail was soon overlooked as the plates came swiftly to our table. I had ordered the foie gras for starters - which tasted heavenly. However my main course which was the dover sole with mussels and prawns in a divine champagne sauce was absolutely amazing. I was so disappointed when I had polished it off. I finished with ice cream which came in some unusual flavours that surprisingly worked very well.

It was a lovely treat for me to be taken to such a restaurant - such treats happen so rarely. I thanked my Uncle profusely and offered dinner whenever next he comes to town. Hopefully he didn't have a problem declaring his expenses - i daren't ask!

walid at 18/03/08

I want an uncle like yours!!!

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ProfMagellan

exceptional food - best views in London 6th July 2007

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Mrs Magellan and I were joined by the senior Magellan Labs attorney and his wife, both old friends and university contemporaries, who had flown in from California earlier in the week. So this was a "big occasion". Galvins, located on the 28th floor of the London Hilton, did not let us down. The food was delicious and service professional without being over-bearing. The menu fixe (three courses) provided plenty of choice. The puddings were especially good. It is not cheap at all and the wine list was quite pricey. But for birthdays, anniversaries and so on, this is a great place - the views across London give it a tremendous edge and feeling that you are somewhere special.
We noted that all the staff were particularly cheerful despite being busy and were keen to ensure that we had a good time (we did).
Gripes are few: the lobby of the Hilton is not a joyous experience and you have to share the lift to the top with all the punters - pity that there is not an express lift. And, for some odd reason, there were no "sauce spoons", that wonderful French creation that allows you to clean the plate of the gravy, sauce or whatever. We had a window table; but only because several key technicians at Magallan Labs are loyal customers of Galvins in Baker Street, the sister restaurant.
Otherwise, they will not guarantee such a preference.
Chef Galvin can be proud of his eponymous establishment. Thumbs up.