I had dinner at Galanga with my mom and brother a week or so ago when we were in Mexico City on…read morevacation together. I'd heard a lot of great things about Galanga (and read about it in the Michelin Guide), and because of that - and because it's vegan-friendly for my vegan mom - I chose it for one of our evenings in Mexico City.
Unfortunately, the meal just didn't live up to our expectations. The restaurant is beautiful and very comfortable. But when we arrived, we were told that they were out of many things on the menu - not one dish, not two - I'd say about 8 items on the menu, including most of the dishes we were most excited to try. Ultimately, we ordered a raw scallop dish, vegan Pad Thai, and Pad Kra Pao. I enjoyed the raw scallop dish - spicy and fresh - but the other two dishes were fine (flat and maybe not as expected - the Pad Kra Pao, for example, wasn't made from ground beef but from chunks of beef that weren't the most tender but weren't bad). I also had a cocktail that was quite nice - lots of coconut and tropical flavors.
The other main issue we had was with the service during our meal. While our server was extremely friendly, the service was chaotic. They brought a dish to our table that we said we hadn't ordered. They left it at the table anyway, so we figured whatever, we'll eat it. We'd had a few bites and then they came back and said we'd been right, that we hadn't ordered it, and took it away, which was strange, since they couldn't serve it to the correct table now anyway. We had to ask for another bottle of water several times - it never came, so we kept asking. We finally got one after asking three times, I believe. It seemed like the staff or kitchen were having a very off night, and that happens. But when a place is recommended by the Michelin Guide, you just expect a little more.
Our experience at Galanga reminded me of trying out a restaurant that has been open for a week or two and is still in its soft opening and figuring things out. In a city with so many great restaurants, I just can't imagine I'd return, nor could I recommend it to friends that visit Mexico City. They might have just been having a tough night, but it was perhaps the most disappointing meal I've had over three trips to Mexico City.