Last Updated on December 11, 2023
Galvin at Windows is on the 28th floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane, its huge windows giving spectacular 360° views of the London skyline. I went along to try the Taste of Christmas lunch menu specially designed by the restaurant’s head chef Marc Hardiman. I can happily report that this is a great option for a delicious festive feast in very smart surroundings indeed.
There’s plenty to look at out of the windows here. From our table, we could look straight down into Buckingham Palace’s back garden – interesting stuff if, like me, you’ve never been on the garden party guest list.
This was quite a tame lunch on the alcohol front but we all enjoyed a glass of the very drinkable Galvin champagne.
There are three options for each course. For the starter I could have picked the cured Faroe Islands salmon or a pressed terrine of Landais chicken, duck liver and boudin noir. However, I love leek and potato soup (or potage as Galvin at Windows calls it) and I was intrigued to discover what Mark Hardiman’s “fine-dining” version might be like. The promise of Baron Bigod and truffles was also a deciding factor. The theatrical pouring of soups, gravies and sauces by our deft waiters turned out to be a recurring theme this lunchtime. Anyway, first I was delivered a bowl, empty but for a small mound of crispy winter vegetables around which was poured the rich dark green soup. Alongside the lightly molten cheese on toast topped with truffle, this was a lovely way to start the meal.
For my main course, I opted for the miso-glazed beef short rib, alliums and sprout tops. This was a wonderful mixture of full-on savoury flavours from the meat and miso with the sweet and sour of the alliums done in a myriad of ways. Trying to identify all of the alliums was a challenge. There was a bed of smooth onion puree hidden under the beef, and crunchy caramelised onion nibs ran through the deep dark meaty gravy, just for starters. A scattering of sprout tops was a small nod to Christmas and my first exposure to the sprout this season.
I belong firmly in the pro-Christmas pudding camp so I had to try Galvin’s novel take on it – Christmas pudding soufflé with brandy sauce and vanilla ice cream. This was effectively the flavours of Christmas pudding in soufflé-form, with a crispy sugary edge and loads of candied peel. Our waiter raised the dramatics and first poked a hole in my warm soufflé into which he dropped a spoonful of vanilla ice cream followed by a generous pouring of cool custardy brandy sauce. I appreciated being left with my very own jug of the brandy sauce so I could keep topping up my soufflé.
Overall this was a delicious and satisfying pre-Christmas lunch. Other than the soufflé, there are just hints of traditional Christmas flavours and ingredients scattered through the menu so if you’re trying to avoid turkey and all the trimmings on repeat, the Taste of Christmas menu would be a great choice.
The three-course set lunch is available for a very reasonable £55 if you factor in the quality of the food and service plus the spectacular views over London. After all, a full-price ticket to the View from the Shard costs £37 and that’s without a Christmas lunch attached. In the evenings there’s also a four-course Taste of Christmas dinner for £90. Both menus will be available through to Saturday 30 December.
If you’re looking for somewhere to splash out on a New Year’s Eve dinner with a prime seat to watch fireworks going off from all points of London, Galvin at Windows is offering a luxury five-course meal for £495. There’ll be live music and dishes will include butter-poached lobster with Oscietra caviar and sauce chorron.
Galvin at Windows
22 Park Lane,
Mayfair,
London W1K 1BE
Not planning on going out over Christmas? Check our review of a la carte dining at Galvin at Windows
