• Home
  • Cocktails
  • Culture
    • Dance
    • Opera
    • Theatre
    • Outdoor
    • London Life
      • Foodie London
      • Visiting London – Five Must Do Sights
      • Visiting London – London Travel Tips
    • Balcony Gardening
  • Featured
    • Books
    • Home Delivery
    • Recipe Kits
    • Giveaways
  • Recipes
    • Meat
    • Soups
    • Lunch
    • Starters
    • Mains
    • Sides
    • Desserts
    • Cakes and Sweets
    • 5:2 Diet Recipes
    • Fish and Shellfish
    • Meat
    • Poultry
    • Vegetarian
  • Restaurants
    • Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
    • Bermondsey, Borough and London Bridge
    • Chelsea
    • Camden
    • City of London
    • Clerkenwell
    • Covent Garden
    • Docklands
    • East London
    • Kings Cross
    • Knightsbridge
    • Kings Cross
    • Kensington
    • Marylebone
    • Mayfair
    • Oxford Circus
    • Oxford Circus
    • Paddington
    • St James
    • Soho
    • South Bank
    • South London
    • The Strand and Embankment
    • North London
    • Victoria and Pimlico
    • West London
    • Out of London
    • Miscellaneous
  • Travel UK
  • Travel Europe
    • Belgium
    • Croatia
    • Czech Republic
    • First Visit
      • Bulgaria
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Slovenia
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Italy
      • Sicily
    • Ireland
    • Portugal
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Travel Other
    • Caribbean Travel
      • Antigua
      • Barbados
      • Grenada
      • St Lucia
    • Ecuador
    • Egypt
    • India
    • Qatar
    • Mexico
    • Oman
    • Rodrigues and Mauritius
    • Sri Lanka
    • USA

London Unattached - Luxury Mid-Life London Lifestyle

Luxury London Lifestyle for mid-life Metropolitans - food, travel, restaurant reviews - London Unattached

You are here: Home / Restaurant / Dinner at Gallery Mess for Duke of York’s Square

Dinner at Gallery Mess for Duke of York’s Square

September 15, 2015 by Fiona Maclean 1 Comment

Tweet
Pin
Share
Flip
Share

Gallery Mess and More in Sloane Square:

Londoners have travelled to Sloane Square for as long as I can remember.  Peter Jones, that bastion of middle class essentials, sits on one corner, The Royal Court Theatre is opposite.  Next door, the ill-fated Oriel Restaurant has been replaced by a very similar offering from The Colbert and just across the road is The Botanist.  I’ve been starting or finishing shopping trips here ever since I first moved to London (thirty years ago).  Not much has changed.  The hipness of the Kings Road waxes and wanes, but Peter Jones is a stabilising influence on the whole area.  We all come back – it’s the best place in London to buy moth balls and make-up, silver polish and shoes, posh tights and pretty dresses, cushions and new towels.  All in one place.

Gallery Mess Olives

What has changed though, is the area known as Duke of York’s Square.  It was still in use as Army Barracks when I first moved here and as a result there was a strange disconnect between Sloane Square and the shops along the Kings Road.  Redeveloped into Duke of York’s Square just over ten years ago, it now feels as if it’s always been there.  And, the range of shops and cafes together with regular food markets and events have really added to an already good if at times slightly sterile offering.

Gallery Mess is the restaurant offering from Rhubarb.  I’ve been a few times now, for events, for afternoon tea and to review the lunch menu.  This time, for a dinner with a group of bloggers, we were hoping for better weather so that we could dine alfresco on the pretty terrace, but it wasn’t to be.  However, great company and excellent food makes up for any bad weather.

Gallery Mess - Bread

After a glass of champagne we sat down to choose our food.  Giving eight bloggers the a la carte menu to pick from  is something that could challenge the best of kitchens.  And definitely will result in camera overload.  We made a pact NOT to photograph everything everyone else was eating…though most of us had a pretty good try at doing so!

The menu hasn’t changed much since I last visited, but I was told that there was a new chef and certainly the quality and consistency of the food seemed better.  Last time, I would have recommended Gallery Mess as somewhere to eat if you happened to be in the area.  This time I’d suggest it’s worth making the journey.

Gallery Mess Scallops

My choice of starter was the Marinated Scallops – nice plump specimens on a swirl of pea puree and with some crunchy wafers of pancetta on the side.  I couldn’t taste the fennel pollen through the marinade, but it’s such a subtle flavour that may just have been my jaded pallet because I could see it clearly on the plate.

I was just a little jealous of those who feasted on Rock Oysters and on Gin and Tonic cured salmon.  Food envy is a real weakness of mine, and can be my downfall – if I get the chance I’ll try everything.  At Gallery Mess, everything is appetising.  There’s a good selection of seafood, some charcuterie, salads and soups on offer, some of which would be adequate for a light lunch.

Gallery Mess Fillet Steak

For my main course, I ordered the fillet steak.  I’ve got a bit fed up with restaurants serving what seem to me to be impossibly large steaks – here the fillet is 160g which is about right for me and is priced accordingly.

My rare steak arrived perfectly cooked with a small but perfectly formed salad.  A side order of fries were crunchy and a little too morish.

https://www.london-unattached.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Gallery-Mess-Grilled-Lobster.jpg

Others at the table had been more adventurous – a lavender honey glazed duck breast looked perfectly cooked and sounds wonderful.  And the half lobster was a feast.

Rose sorbet with poached peach

Our waiter was charming and helpful to the point of recommending my dessert before I’d asked.  Who could refuse Champagne poached peaches with rose water sorbet though?  Across the table a friend asked why I’d been offered that in particular while his recommendation was crumble.  Perhaps it was a reflection on the number champagne top-ups I’d had during pre-dinner drinks, or just a kind offering of the low-calorie dessert to save my waistline.  Or perhaps it was a bit of both?  What ever the logic, it was delicious, a light and delicate summery dish that worked well as a palate cleanser at the end of the meal.  I did suffer from another bout of food envy though at the sight of the Gallery Mess Chocolate Fondantchocolate fondant

 

All in, we had a splendid evening, so many thanks to Duke of York Square for hosting us and to the various shops and restaurants who provided some lovely samples of their wares.  Not that I need too much encouragement to go back!

 

Filed Under: Chelsea, Restaurant Tagged With: Bistro, Chelsea, sloane square

About Fiona Maclean

London based freelance writer and marketing consultant. I edit London-Unattached.com and write for a number of other publications. With a music degree and a background in marketing across many sectors, my passions include all types of music, food, restaurants, wine and travel

Comments

  1. Stevie Wilson says

    September 17, 2015 at 12:58 am

    What a spectacular evening! The meal looks divine! LUCKY YOU!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Follow Us

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

About London-Unattached

  • About Fiona Maclean
    • Writing for Other Publications
  • Enquiries/PR
  • Links to Other Sites
  • London Unattached Contributors
  • London Unattached Privacy Policy
  • Media Pack
  • Newsletter
  • Travel Bloggers Influencer Network

Recently Published

  • Japanified – the latest in Japanese and Latin American fusion food
  • Vegan Savvy is the perfect book for Veganuary
  • Mojito Mocktail – a Classic Cocktail with a Halo
Looking for more recipes? Check out my new site, The Frugal Flexitarian, for easy, cost effective recipes to enjoy at home.
Find My 5:2 Diet Recipes quickly and easily

London Unattached Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter here. We promise not to spam - and you can unsubscribe at any time

Search London Unattached


Find Us

blogl
VuelioTop10Badge2020

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in