When you haven’t had a proper date night in over 5 months, the venue matters. We wanted somewhere special enough to justify the (mild) guilt of leaving our one-year-old with the grandparents, but not so stuffy that we’d spend the evening worrying about whether we’d forgotten how to behave in public. Galvin La Chapelle turned out to be exactly right.
The space is housed in a former Victorian chapel in Spitalfields, and those soaring arched ceilings hit you the moment you step inside. But rather than feeling formal, the lighting is soft, the tables well spaced, and within minutes we’d both visibly relaxed, shoulders down, proper conversation starting.
We were invited to experience the restaurant’s Toast & Taste Menu, a multi-course offering that highlights seasonal ingredients and well-established Galvin signatures at a more accessible price point, with champagne on arrival. We decided to actually do the wine pairing: a white for the opening courses, red for the main, and let someone else make decisions for once. Both were spot on
First Bites
The brick pastry sandwich with truffled ricotta and honey was my favourite of the opening bites – properly crisp pastry giving way to creamy ricotta, with just enough truffle to make it interesting and a drizzle of honey that tied it all together. Simple, but done really well.
The duck liver parfait with Moroccan spices and pear chutney came next – rich and silky as you’d expect, but the warm spices and sweet chutney kept it from being too much. My partner demolished it.
The bread came with Senia olive oil (a £3 supplement, but worth every penny). Fresh, and dangerously good, we ate far too much of it and regretted nothing
Starters
I went for the Dorset crab raviolo – partly because crab, partly because I never make fresh pasta at home anymore and was feeling wistful about it. The pasta was properly delicate, the filling sweet and generous, with charred fennel and beurre blanc adding just enough savouriness without drowning out the crab. Worth the £15 supplement.
My partner opted for the cured mackerel with green apple, horseradish and hazelnut oil, fresh and well balanced, with acidity from the apple, a gentle kick from the horseradish and a rounded, nutty finish.
Getting serious
I went for the slow-cooked BBQ fallow deer shoulder, the kind of dish that makes you go quiet for the first few bites. Deeply tender, quietly smoky, with king cabbage and anchovy bagna cauda providing exactly the right savoury contrast. Comfort food that happens to be Michelin-starred.
My partner chose the grass-fed beef with celeriac gratin and smoked haddock (a £20 supplement). The beef was cooked perfectly, with the celeriac gratin adding a rich, creamy element, while the smoked haddock brought an unexpected but welcome depth – surf and turf done with proper finesse rather than flashy excess.
The sweet stuff
Dessert was the Baba au tiramisu, assembled tableside with a small amount of theatre. We shared it – creamy, boozy enough to feel indulgent, light enough that we didn’t immediately regret it.
We also tried the wild berries with yogurt gelato and macadamia, offering a fresher, brighter alternative.
Would we come back?
The evening just flowed. Good service, good timing, and for once we actually felt like adults having dinner rather than sleep deprived parents eating a rushed dinner standing, above the kitchen sink.
Whether you’re celebrating an anniversary or simply need a few hours where no one asks you to find the remote/read another book/explain why we can’t have ice cream for dinner, the Toast & Taste Menu delivers. We’re already discussing when we can get the grandparents back on babysitting duty.
The Toast & Taste Menu is available from 5th January to 24th February 2026 at £49 per person with a glass of fizz.
Book your dining experience here
