M&M (23 November 2009)

I had been following the opening of the Galvin brothers’ first venture into the city of London ever since I had a fantastic lunch at their Windows restaurant earlier this year. I didn’t think that experience could have been beaten, what with the fantastic views and fabulous food. However, I was pleasantly surprised. La Chapelle is the fine dining option of two restaurants, the other being Café de Luxe, both being joined together by a super cool bar. The first impression is one of ‘wow’! The dining room has been expertly converted, retaining the wooden beams in the ceiling as well as exposed woodwork. A mezzanine area makes good use of the space and the overall feeling is one of luxury and style. At last, a true destination restaurant in the hyper trendy Shoreditch area of London. Although this was only their second day of opening, the whole operation was slick. Whilst there were understandably not many diners, all staff were attentive and helpful. Chris Galvin himself even came out of the kitchen and spoke passionately and enthusiastically about his career and how both he and his brother Jeff had ended up in East London. All of this showed the personal touch and a real wanting to understand what his customers liked through hands-on feedback.

The menu is typically French bistro style, along the lines of the Galvins’ other extremely successful restaurants – why change a winning formula? The marinated scallop and Noirmoutier potato starter was a perfect combination and very easy on the eye. The lasagne of Dorset crab was equally well presented and was extremely light, a great combination of both textures and flavours. We opted for the roast côte de bœuf for our main course. Again, the theme continued as the meat was perfectly cooked to medium rare and the truffle macaroni an excellent accompaniment. The hermitage jus was so deep and flavoursome that we had to ask for more! For desserts, the pear tart tatin was amazing, nicely caramelised, and the chilled chocolate fondant was excellent, with a great liquidy centre. Being greedy, we also shared a plate of cheese, with our informative host recommending a number of different types, depending on our tastes. For each course, we asked the sommelier to recommend glasses of wine to compliment the food. Needless to say, each one was spot on and at prices to suit our budget. The overall experience was an excellent one, all the more impressive as this was only the second day of opening. This restaurant looks like a winner and I am sure will become extremely popular with both the city suits and local residents like us. We will be back. Thanks for the great evening.