Galvin Bistrot de Luxe: Affordable Classic French Cuisine on Baker Street

Despite walking past Galvin Bistrot de Luxe on Baker Street plenty of times, I had never really given much thought to checking it out till I saw a sign outside proclaiming their set course menu: 3 courses for £20 !

I had heard of the Galvin name before; two brothers, both chefs, who’d, opened up a small collection of fine and fancy French restaurants. The restaurant on Baker Street with its casual bistro vibe was the first restaurant to be opened.

Back to the food – the set menu had two options for each course. In a bid to be healthy, I chose to order fish as my main course and then negated any healthy effect by ordering the game terrine with quince jelly as a starter. My friend chose curried parsnip veloute as a starter and the slow cooked shin of veal served with pearl barley and beetroot as a main.

Slow Cooked Shin of Veal

The terrine was nice – not terribly gamey which is a good thing for me and my friend enjoyed the veloute – a light creamy soup. The waiter gets bonus points for serving us an endless supply of warm, straight from the oven delicious bread.

I had a twinge of food envy when the veal arrived, but my fillet of hake with salsify and oyster dressing was simply superb. And actually much better than the veal which was a tad dry – perhaps cooked too long.

Fillet of Hake

And then for dessert, we both chose delightful sounding ‘Oeuf a la neige’ which was sort of frothy looking meringue that floats. I found it a bit strange but my friend adored it.

All in all, it was an excellent meal with great value for money. I love how for £20 you get a three course meal of excellent quality and a chance to try out some classic French cuisine.