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Review of the Reviews - London

Galvin La Chapelle

Fay Maschler, Evening Standard (Rating: 3/5 stars)

The critic visits the Galvin brothers’ new Shoreditch restaurant, and proclaims that it has an “exceptional” site, with a “cathedral interior”. Sadly however, “a mezzanine structure… intrudes clumsily into the lofty chandeliered grandeur”. And that’s not the only problem: “[m]uch thought has obviously been lavished on everything — except, it would seem, the food.”

Her problem is rather the same as the one we identified in our own review: “I don’t know quite what I expected but it was not just a rerun of the Baker Street menu plus a few twists. Sticking to what you’re good at is all very well but the dramatic surroundings demand a burst of original, maybe even stupendous, effort.”

Guy Dimond, Time Out (Rating: 4/5 stars)

TO’s head reviewer finds “[c]lassic dishes… perfectly rendered” at the Galvin brothers new Shoreditch establishment. The comment must only apply to some classic dishes, though, as those from sampled from the à la carte menu were “not sensational”, and the prix-fixe turned out to be “a far better deal”.

Pizza East

Marina O'Loughlin, Metro (Rating: 4/5 stars)

Not so much a review as a “seduction”. Though the critic visits this new Soho House group Shoreditch’s Italian in a rather negative frame of mind, she is ultimately won over, and concludes that “[e]verything is good”.

Roka (Canary Wharf)

David Sexton, Evening Standard (Rating: 2/5 stars)

The critic – not the greatest fan of upmarket restaurants, it has to be said – weights the new Canary Wharf branch of Roka against the Wagamama formula, and can’t quite convince himself that the price premium for the former is justified. “At Roka, the food is better quality, more adventurous and authentic, and prepared from much more expensive ingredients. You get fair value for money from the entertainment experience as a whole too. Still, I’d just as soon go to Wag.”

Charmaine Mok, Time Out (Rating: 3/5 stars)

The rapport prix-qualité seems to be an issue weighing on critics minds on visits to the new Canary Wharf branch of the Knightsbridge oriental. “We’d gladly return for the food”, says the lady from TO, “[b]ut for the price you pay for the privilege of eating here, the service had better sharpen up quick.

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