galvin at windows

i love being on top of tall buildings. having been spoilt at slavedriver's inc. with the privilege of a window seat on the 29th floor, i fill my day peering through the window at the sheep in mudchute park, the dinghys at the sailing centre and have been known to whip out the binoculars from my desk drawers to stare at other pockets of activity on lower lesser buildings (and the rather fit looking bloke clad only in a towel that once appeared in the apartment complex opposite our offices). being a sucker for the views from above has led to many happy memories at the signature lounge at the john hancock building in chicago, the new york bar and grill at park hyatt in tokyo, cityspace bar in singapore, cloud nine in shanghai, felix in hong kong and other establishments where i've been a willing victim to paying a premium for the privilege of taking an elevator at such speed which make my ears pop. it was therefore understandable that in my vulnerability for all manner of bars and restaurants high above ground, i was particularly looking forward to dinner at galvin at windows.

ek and i were led to our table, which though not right at the window's edge, still afforded us a view above the environs of the park lane and hyde park. there was a large body of water in hyde park which confused us a little and the maitre'd quickly pointed out that it was in fact the serpentine which made me feel a little silly. the maitre'd was extremely chatty, and I almost felt I had to apologise on behalf of my nation when he confessed he had been recently ditched by a singaporean. That's just life, he sweetly answered. hardly the stuffy service I had braced myself for.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the food - I had been warned that it was noting beyond ordinary, but I was also intrigued by michelin's pronouncement that galvin was a "rising star" (and the associated discussions about the whole michelin rising star "perhaps-you-might-get-a-star-next-year-but-perhaps-not-and-we'll-be-keeping-an-eye-on-you" business). I simply thought the food was yummy. Upon placing our orders, we were presented with a ball of soft goats cheese on a bed of diced sweet vine tomatoes. ek decided to start with a seafood bisque which was a lovely creamy concoction of crustacean goodness. my smoked trout was on the right side of pink, perfectly cured flakiness. my duck was a lovely shade of tender pink, it's slight game-iness against the sweetness of the carrot and orange puree. ek seemed pleased with the roasted seabass which came with a long crisp toast topped with mussels. a warm Mirabelle tart and vanilla ice-cream for pudding and we thought we were done. not so. a tray of petit fours appeared, and the waiter let us have some of the cocoa-nibs in his tray and gave us a running commentary of the sensations we would taste. this was to be followed again by a lovely pink strawberry marshmallow and a pastel green mint one.

had i not an unsociably early flight to catch the next morning, i would have definitely taken up the maitre'd's offer of a table at the adjoining bar - the sparkly lights of London beckoned temptingly from the window seats. not this time perhaps, i sighed, but i'll be back. any excuse for another ear-popping elevator ride.