Galvin Bistrot & Bar — Restaurant in London

Unmistakenly French look and feel. The large bi-folding doors seamlessly connecting the indoors with the outdoor terrace. Beautiful in the hot summer evening I went. The food is really good and the service excellent. More a 4.5*. I loved it!

I also loved the ceiling fans on the dark ceiling. Very Français. As it darken, it had a beautiful atmosphere, all the most with the lighted trees just outside the terraced area in the square. Magical.

They serve Pilsner beer from the Czeck Republic, that comes directly from there in a beer tanker. One of the very few places in London where you can find it. The beer is kept in the 3 copper tanks over the bar. Amazing just to look at it.

The food was really good. I went for their Michelin menu with caraffe of wine. My starter of braised calves' tongue, beetrot & celeriac and main of free range chicken breast, peas, broad beans, alsacs bacon, baby gem were wonderfully cooked and beautifully presented. My dessert of buttermilk pannacota, strawberries, pistachio was truly delicious. The buttermilk pannacota was one of the best i've ever had, sooo smooth, and the crunchy bits of pistachio adding the texture. Divine.

In brief, a beautiful bistrot, with great food and excellent service. The staff are superb! Very highly recommended.

PS: while there, have a look around the square at the sculptures of the Herd of Hope. Truly magnificent. At night it's got a...

We came as we were celebrating my husband’s birthday. He’s an accomplished chef and doesn’t do reviews/social media etc. We thought we’d be in safe hands since the Galvin brothers are a very respected name in the industry. We were quite disappointed and a bit shocked. It was all so mundane and below average. It well and truly looks like a an idyllic proper bistro. It’s a such a shame the food doesn’t match it. Under seasoned tartare, no egg on top, chewy, mysterious bavette which I know is an inferior cut to the others but I also know that I’ve had really good ones. Not sure how they managed it but half of it was rare and half almost well done. Cassoulet was dry, duck leg was dry and three thin slices of sausage. Very underwhelming for £27. Since when thin slices of tomato swimming in vinegar are called tomato salad. I am very aware of produce cost but have some dignity. Olive oil, shallots, Maldon salt, more basil!! Charge more if you must, but make it nice. Wine was nice but again, £48 on the menu, £40 on the bill. I’m not complaining that I got a cheaper wine, but at the inconsistencies. We didn’t have dessert as I got the gist of it by this point. £169.46 for a dinner that isn’t worth half of that but then again maybe that’s the going rate of mediocrity nowadays. I doubt either of the brothers would be happy with that...

After a reasonable meal the whole experience was ruined by the manager's attitude, a seemingly genuine mistake where we were double charged for a course. We noticed after they had taken payment and were told to wait for the manager to resolve it. After leaving us waiting for 15 minutes the manager appeared and she said to us that she would refund the "£18 in cash as it was easier".

I pointed out that we had also been charged service charge on this as she clearly knew, being the restaurant manager and she pointed at the receipt showing the £18 line and tried to push that it was £18. I reiterated that yes it was £18 but we'd also been charged 14.5% service charge on this and we didn't want to pay service for something that we had not had/been overcharged. At this point she said there was nothing she could do about the service charge and she was not going to refund us for this, then decided to insist that she would give us a free drink the next time we came...

Sadly we won't be coming back, if you charge someone for something they didn't have then you need to refund them in full, you don't steal the money because it's more convenient for you.

Very disappointed with the attitude and being treated like it's our fault they made a mistake, then being refused a full refund for this, left a sour taste and put off a...