GALVIN AT WINDOWS

I had heard good things about the Galvin restaurants, so I had especially made a booking at Michelin-starred Galvin at Windows for my joint birthday dinner with my best friend, WK. I had also been to Galvin Bistro de Luxe a while back, and I remembered that I did enjoy my meal there.

This was however was not quite the experience that I was expecting, so here is just a short recollection of my much disappointing birthday meal...

After a slight confusion with the elevator system (my brain was clearly not thinking straight after rushing from the station in heels...), we made it up to the 28th floor. It was  shame that our table was not by the windows, but I didn't mind too much, I have seen better views and I was mainly looking forward to the food.

I ordered The Dolphin 'Delphinus' cocktail, made with Passoa liqueur, Campari, strawberries, guava juice, and top up with Champagne, whilst WK had a glass of champagne.

We also had a look at the wine list, and after asking for some advice, the waitress told us that the young sommelier who was attending to another table would come by shortly. Instead another waiter came by after a while (we were not sure if he was another sommelier...), and without discussing any options, seemed a bit overbearing and insisted that the £85 bottle of Reisling would go perfectly with our meal. I don't know much about wine, but I thought that maybe he would know better than I, so I naively nodded in agreement...

I found it a bit strange when the first waitress removed out wine glasses from the table. We then informed another waitress passing by that we had ordered wine, and they were then replaced on our table. And then the same thing happened again when another waitress hurriedly took away our glasses...
The young sommelier eventually arrived with the wine, clearly very apologetic as he replaced our glasses, and let us taste the wine, before filling up our glasses.

We were served the usual complimentary bread and butter, followed by a couple of amuse-bouches - a creamy soup with a piece of brioche on the side, and some foie gras sandwiched between chocolate biscuits. Not quite the the most creative amuse-bouches compared to others that I have had, just pretty decent.

 

We both went for the Menu Dégustation which consisted of a 7 course tasting menu of dishes chosen by Head Chef Joo Won.

 Our first dish was the seared Scottish scallops, that I quite enjoyed with the white onion puree and the creamy shellfish bisque. Next was the ballotine of foie gras which was quite rich and buttery, but quite plain looking.

Seared Scottish scallops, white onion puree, sea vegetables & shellfish bisque

Ballotine of foie gras, marinated prune, orange puree & pain d'epice

 The sea bass had a nice flaky texture, but I did not like the potato crust that much - it wasn't crispy and had a bit of an unpleasant grainy texture.

WK had specifically requested for his dish of Iberico pork to be cooked well done - don't judge him, he does have his personal reasons...

Both our dishes come our medium rare, and we then informed the waitress. She then hurried off to check with someone else, but when she came back, instead of apologizing and offering to bring it back to the kitchen, she asked if he was 'Okay' with it. Now I'm pretty sure that WK had made his intentions clear, so after insisting that it was 'Not Okay', they took his dish back, and offered to keep mine warm in the oven whilst we waited.

The meat was quite nice and I liked the crispy pig's head, but I must say that the portion was rather small, even for a meat dish on a tasting menu.

Pan-fried fillet of line caught sea bass, potato crust

Roasted Iberico pork, carrot & cumin puree, crispy pig's head & jus diablo

Everything seemed to pass by way to quickly, without much satisfaction, and soon it was time for dessert. Our first dessert was a rhubarb compote with chocolate mousse and orange foam. As many of you know, desserts are usually the main thing that excites me, but this unfortunately did not. 

I was further disappointed by the second dessert, which was basically a parfait with meringue bits stuck to it, topped with ice cream with some caramelized bananas around it.

It can't just be me that finds this a bit boring, does it? Strangely, the first thing that crossed my mind was...stegosaurus.
I mean, where's the creativity and excitement?
There were no petit fours, but instead a jar of...marshmallows. Enough said.

Rhubarb compote, chocolate mousse & orange foam

Nougat parfait, caramelised banana, Muscovado meringues & black pepper ice cream

Tasting menus generally tend to cost quite a bit, but at £99 for 7 courses where the majority of it was pretty average, I can think of many more places where I could have gotten better value for my money. And a better experience overall.

Some other aspects that I found quite unprofessional was that our dishes were served whilst one of us were away from the table e.g. when we excused ourselves to the washroom. This happened on two occasions, as we obviously did not go at once. I would have thought that they could have waited for both parties to be seated before serving...

The neighbouring table which was quite a big group were clearly big spenders considering the bottles of wine they had ordered, so I'm sure that the staff wanted to keep them happy. But one of these inconsiderate diners had pushed his chair all the way back, blocking the already narrow path. Instead of politely asking him to move aside a little, the waiters and waitresses that tried to scoot around him instead knocked into the back of my chair about four times without even apologizing...

I was too disappointed to request for a birthday candle, so instead I went to my favourite, Picture, to get my dessert and birthday candle fix. Thank you so much Soria.

Despite this incident, I am still interested to try out Galvin La Chapelle, which is supposed to be beautiful...with hopefully better food and service.
Well, I guess that pretty much sums out my experience at Galvin at Windows. Personally I'm not sure if I would go back again, as I feel that it caters more for hotel guests, tourists...and maybe more for business lunches/dinners. 
Maybe the lunch or three course menu may have been better? I wouldn't know...
Maybe I should have stuck to a place that we were familiar with, like Ametsa, a tasting menu that we both really enjoyed previously.

The good news however, was that I had an excellent belated birthday meal the next weekend at Alyn Williams at The Westbury! French cuisine as well, coincidentally, but so much better. Click here for the link.

The Cheekster, signing out x

THE BACKBENCH #12, KOYA

I remember coming to the very first BackBench a year ago, and I have been quite fortunate ever since to have attended 11 out of 12 so far and experienced the ever changing menu which is based on seasonal ingredients.
The BackBench runs once a month, over two days, and the lucky five in each seating are able to get a taste of the creative seasonal dishes created by Chef Junya.
Like the very first time, I went solo again, this time for the dinner sitting.
Post-birthday weekend, I ordered a glass of sake, just as a little treat for myself...

| Tokyo Turnip & Plum Flower | 

The Tokyo turnip was so thinly sliced, and scattered on top of it were delicate plum flowers. It looked really pretty, I hesitated a bit before putting it into my mouth. The flowers had a subtle smell and taste of honey, combined with the fresh crispness of the turnip.

| Eel Nikogori, Bramley Apple, Wild Horseradish & Wild Chervil Flower | 

It was nice to see eel on the menu once again, which has been some of my favourite dishes in previous BackBenchs'. 'Nikogori' refers to the gelatin extracted from cooked fish. Boiled in a spiced stock/dashi, the eel is then allowed to cool and set, which then forms the jelly layer. It is usually served cold, and in this dish it was served in a chilled sweet and tangy Bramley apple sauce.

| Brockman's Turnip & Scottish Kombu Udon | 

The udon dish seems to have made an earlier appearance on the menu this time. This time topped with turnip that was roasted to enhance the deep flavours, and fresh Scottish kombu that had been roasted until crispy. The portion size slightly smaller this time, but still as tasty and satisfying.

| Tofu & "Spring" Onions | 

The dish consisted of Ramson, a broad-leaved wild garlic, Calçot, a type of scallion or green onion, and another wild onion species which had a cute little bulb on the end. This was served with some dried tofu pieces and a miso dressing.

| Alexander Flower Buds Tempura | 

Another interesting take on the tempura dish, this time using Alexander flower buds, served with some salt mixed with crushed up buds. Delicious crisp and light batter with a pleasant texture.

| Nanzenji-tofu with Spider Crab & Pepper Dulse |

Nanzen-ji is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and close by is apparently  the famous Junsei Restaurant that serves Yodofu.
The tofu was soft and silky, and I do love spider crab which was sourced from Cornwall, thanks to Matt Chatfield (aka @cornishgrill). The pepper dulse was harvested and farmed by Scottish seaweed expert Iain McKellar (justseaweed.com).
One of my favourite dishes of the evening.

 | Brown Trout, English Wasabi & Ramson Vinegar |

The brown trout, sourced from Northern Ireland, was simply grilled with salt, and served with English wasabi and Ramson vinegar. I do always enjoy the fish courses, and this was also one of my favourites of the evening. 

| Nettle Mochi & Azuki | 

Having had mochi as some of the savoury courses at the start, this time it was served as a sweet dessert course. Combined with nettle, which gave the mochi a lovely green shade, it was served warm with some sweet azuki bean paste. 
Simple and tasty.

| Amazake Sorbet & Rhubarb | 

And to finish off, we had the usual amazake sorbet, this time served with honey cured rhubarb and thinly sliced frozen rhubarb. Amazake is a traditional low or non-alcohol Japanese drink made from fermented rice, which has a natural sweetness to it.
A cold and refreshing dessert, served with a hot cup of hojicha tea, brewed using the roasted stems which produces deeper flavours.

One year on, and still one of my favourite seats in London. Thank you to Chef Junya, Ana, and the Koya team. Looking forward to more exciting dishes in the coming months as always.

For my previous BackBench posts, click on the links below:

The BackBench #1
The BackBench #2
The BackBench #3
The BackBench #4
The BackBench #5 
The BackBench #6
The BackBench #7
The BackBench #9
The BackBench #10 
The BackBench #11

The Cheekster, signing out x

Ps: My camera had a bit of a 'breakdown' halfway, hence the slightly lower quality iPhone photos towards the end... Thankfully it is now 'alive'!...for now.

THE WILD GEESE IRISH HONEY LIQUEUR

The Wild Geese Irish Honey Liqueur combines the internationally renowned Wild Geese Irish Whiskey, three times voted "Best Irish Whiskey", with natural Irish honey. 

Their ingredients are specially selected to complement Irish honey, and is inspired by St Gobnait, Ireland's Patron Saint of Beekeepers.

I didn't use to like honey that much as a child, as I found the texture and taste unpleasant. However, like many things, it has definitely grown on me over the years, and the medicinal value and healing properties in it are of course an added plus.

Whiskey is another subject that I have limited knowledge in. Whenever I think of whiskey, I always think of it as more of a 'man's' drink, which of course is not so true these days.

In fact I have just recently read a rather interesting post by Sara Crolick on 'The Girls Who Drink Whiskey', that I did find quite entertaining. 

Although I must say that I do enjoy the occasional Old Fashioned every now and again...which was probably as close as I got to drinking whiskey.

But after some convincing about this particular product, I was sold. I mean, I don't very often decline alcohol, and the bottle itself was quite attractive and classy, which contained the bright amber liqueur.

The scent of it was not too harsh when I first had a whiff of it upon opening the bottle. 

I first tried it neat, and then poured over some ice to have it chilled. 

I could definitely taste the initial sweetness of the honey notes on my first sip. As I said, I am not an expert in spirits, so I will not ramble on in a flurry of descriptions that I am unfamiliar with. All I can say is that I liked the sweetness and smoothness of it, and I could easily see myself having it as the occasional evening tipple when winding down after a long day.

I also tried one of the suggested cocktail recipes as follows:

2 part honey

1 part lime

1/2 part cointreau/ or another other orange liqueur

I didn't have a shaker, so instead I just stirred it in a tall glass with ice, before topping it up with 3 parts of ginger beer.

This turned out to be a really sweet and refreshing cocktail, which was easy enough to concoct in my own kitchen (which clearly has very limited alcohol-related ingredients and utensils, as you may have noticed...).

You can find more recipes to experiment on their main website irishhoneyliqueur.com, or maybe even try out your own recipes at home.

I generally find liqueurs quite strong for me, and was initially quite dubious when I was first presented with the bottle. But after tasting it for myself I actually found it pleasant and easy to drink, and I'm sure it would be quite a desirable drink option for the ladies. And possibly even the men, as I also tested it on my friend, for which he gave his seal of approval.

Something new to add on to the shelves, maybe?

The Cheekster, signing out x

[The 70cL bottle is available to be purchased on Amazon - click here for the link]

THE ULTIMATE QUEENSBURY KITCHEN EXPERIENCE

Located in North West London, The Queensbury Kitchen which opened in December 2014, is a bar and grill pioneering better quality eating and drinking in Willesden Green. 
Sister restaurant to The Queensbury gastropub, they aim to bring something different to the local restaurant scene.

Photo courtesy of Queensbury Kitchen

Photo courtesy of Queensbury Kitchen

I started off with a Mango Chilli Caipiroska, which really did have a good spicy kick to it - definitely on to wake up the taste buds! There were also some nice chunks of mango that I spooned out after finishing my drink, obviously. I had the Evergreen as my second cocktail, made with avocado. I really love avocado juices, which I had quite a bit of whilst I was in Bali, so I knew that I was going to enjoy an avocado-based cocktail.
I did have some sips of the other cocktails, all of which were really good as well.

Mango Chilli Caipiroska

The QK

Pinot Noir Caipirinha

Evergreen

Not long after, our food was served. I made sure that I had 'prepared' myself for the the evening, and I'm glad that I did, as the food just kept on coming... 

The dishes came served on wooden boards and boxes, a concept which does sometimes spark some debate for those who prefer conventional plates. I personally am usually partial towards this for sharing dishes, and as long as there's no sauce spilling off the edges... 

The salad was quite tasty with a nice mix of ingredients, and I am a particular fan of mushrooms. The chicken wings were nicely marinated with a crisp coating. My favourite dish was the sliders which were delicious with juicy medium rare meat. The chickpea and feta vegetarian option was also quite nice.
Another personal favourite was the rack of ribs - tender meat with a nice hint of sweetness in the marinade. We were also served some sharing pots of side dishes. The  hand cut and sweet potato fries could have been crispier, but I did enjoy the macaroni cheese and smokey beans.

Warm Sweet Potato, Mushroom, Roasted Garlic Salad

Crispy Chicken Wings with Hot Sauce an Sour Cream

Blackened Salmon

Chickpea and Feta Burger

Sliders

Halloumi

Whole Rack of Ribs

Hand Cut Fries and Onion Rings

Macaroni Cheese

Sweet Potato Fries

And no meal would be complete without an array of indulgent desserts. My favourites were the chocolate brownie, which was really rich, and the chocolate sundae, which had more chunks of chocolatey brownies...

The French toast was quite nice, but it felt more like a breakfast dish rather than a dessert.

Cheesecake

Chocolate Brownie and Ice Cream

Cinnamon Sugar Churros with Chocolate Sauce

French Toast

Ice Cream Sundae

Overall it was a really pleasant and enjoyable experience. And it also happens to be in my local area, which is a plus for me. They are open for breakfast, coffee, lunch, and dinner seven days a week (and brunch at weekends) from 9am until 11pm.

Thank you once again to Head Chef Wayne, Queensbury Kitchen and Red Kite PR for organizing and hosting us that evening. Looking forward to trying out the breakfast menu as well soon.

The Cheekster, signing out x