As we noticed that the restaurant was not busy, we started to wonder the reason why they could not get us table at earlier hour. We found out not long after, that as the restaurant promising the view of London, they always try to seat the guest by the windows. Which happened to be fully occupied at the time we required.
Not to bothered with the view, we sat happily at the 'secondary' table. And since we have longed to spoil ourselves dining at Michelin starred restaurant, we took this opportunity to try Menu Degustation with wine pairing and champagne.
Amuse bouche arrived first with a glass of Dom Perignon. There were salmon tartar served with mini savoury puffs worked nicely to tease our taste buds. Followed by melting in the mouth Cured South Coast mackerel, avocado puree, gooseberry and pickled cucumber that went very well with a glass of Sancerre.
The third course was Ballotine of foie gras, orange puree, spiced salt and toasted brioche paired with a glass of Jurancon, sweet wine that was so delicate, blend in nicely with the foie gras. To our opinion, big chunks of brioche was not totally necessary, considering we still have several courses to go through.
Next course was Seared Scottish scallops, wild sea vegetables and oyster emulsion complimented with William Fevre Chablis. Followed by rare cooked venison! We usually prefer to have our red meat to be cooked medium to well, but since the chef insisted, we thought why not. And he was absolutely right, the meat was tender and melted in the mouth and as it cooked rare it retains all the flavour and goodness. Well worth trying. The wine butler suggested a glass of Chianti Classico, that we were not too sure about. The Chianti Classico itself, was a beautiful wine, but somehow it did not quite work well with the venison. We would go for something like Gevrey Chambertin or Beaune. Unfortunately those wine were not on the list of wine pairing menu.
Before we got to the dessert, we ordered the cheese platter. They were not a bad selection at all. One English cheese and four mature French cheeses went down very well with a glass of port. Last but not least was the dessert, Manjari chocolate ganache, caramel and pop corn ice cream to go with Jumilla Olivares, sweet red wine from Spain. A nice ending of gastronomic experience.
In general, we found the chef Andre Garrett and his team did deliver delicious dishes cooked in perfection and meticulously presented, but unfortunately the service level of the waiting staff and wine butler were not to what we call Michelin star standard which made our experience slightly imperfect.
The bar itself was not as impressive as we would have expected. The seats were too low to the ground considering most european are tall and for cocktails lovers, we would suggest to pop-in to The Bar at Dorchester hotel which is only minutes walk from Hilton. Nice ambiance, friendly staff and great cocktails.
Galvin at Windows at London Hilton on Park Lane
22 Park Lane, London
W1K 1BE
Phone: +44 20 7208 4021
http://www.galvinatwindows.com/index.php
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