Chapters all Day Dining

Delicious brunch with varied menu. Avoid downstairs at all costs as it is claustrophic and unbearably noisy.

Since the refurbishment, this restaurant has lost a lot of charm and character. Service and food, once outstanding, are now quite average. Wine list good with nice bottles at affordable prices.

This recently reopened after refurbishment and under the new name “Chapters All Day Dining”. This was, in fact, my third visit, after a dinner and breakfast during the first week, when food prices were reduced and customers were expected to put up with the occasional glitch, which, indeed, happened. I should mention that we are regulars at the parent, Chapter 1, and were regulars at the predecessor of Chapters, and so are fairly well known to the staff, many of whom have a history at one or other of those restaurants.

On this occasion, two of my party, wife and daughter, were on crutches, and the management, knowing this, had kindly reserved us a table close to the door to minimise walking.

For those familiar with the old Chapter 2, the new restaurant is a complete change in very many ways. For a start, the former coffee house has been subsumed into the main restaurant, giving the upstairs a much more open and less cluttered feel. The menu, too, is totally different, much more brasserie than the former modern European. To me, this is good, as it means that Chapter 1 and Chapters now offer a choice of cuisine types, instead of Chapter 2 being, as it was, a somewhat pale imitation of its parent. The décor, black, off-white, glass and brick, is not especially to my taste, but it certainly makes a point. The main criticism I have of the new arrangement is that the prevalence of hard surfaces means that, when full, as it was, the room gets rather uncomfortably noisy. My daughter says that the room now feels comfortable, and I think this is right. The chairs are comfortable for lengthy sitting. In one corner there is a bar with seating. There is also some seating outside, which was well used during our visits.

On our arrival, at about 8.30pm on a Saturday evening, the upstairs was pretty full, as it stayed during the evening, with people arriving well after we did. Although I did not see downstairs, one of the staff told me that it, too, was busy. My son-in-law and I drank a bottle of Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of Tuatara Pinot Noir, both familiar to me from Chapters 1 & 2 and both as good as always and good value at around £27 per bottle. We also had a bottle of sparkling water, a couple of still and, for my wife, as usual, a jug of tap. My daughter also had a glass (rather large) of apple juice, with which she was well pleased. My wife likes a salad and a café latte to start, and these were brought without asking, remembered from the old days.

My wife had the mushroom risotto, which was correctly al dente and very flavourful; one I may well have next time around. Son-in-law had the ham hock terrine – a very generous lump, which I did not try, but which he reported to be very good, robust and chunky. Daughter had the cod brandade; this turned out to be two small fish cakes tasting mostly of potato – as a non-fish lover, I could quite easily have eaten them. My starter was the honey roast quail. The chef (Trevor Tobin, who was here in its previous incarnation) has, to my mind, a tendency to over-sweeten savoury food, and I was a little apprehensive that he might have done so here. However, the quail, a whole one spatchcocked, was perfectly cooked, very slightly charred on the outside and moist and tasty within (the chef at the Wolseley could learn something from him), served with a salad of odd leaves, apple and hazelnuts coated with a slightly sweet dressing.

Three of us chose the rib eye steak, medium rare, as our mains, whilst my wife selected the crab cakes from the starters and a mixture of sides, which was accepted without a quibble. The rest of us chose, between us, 7 sides, which caused the waitress to return to ask if we wanted to cut them down as there might be too much. We elected not to, and she was right, but only just. The meats are all cooked on a device called a Josper, which was apparently imported at great expense from somewhere. Whatever, they were cooked precisely as requested. Mine and son-in-law’s were fine – my daughter thought hers a little tough. These each came with a choice of sauces (additional ones are available at £1.50 each). I had the blue cheese, which looked anaemic, but tasted very much of blue cheese – great. Son-in-law had the shallot & red wine, which he pronounced very good. The chips were also good – medium sized, crispy outside and creamy within. Excellent onion rings. Incidentally, on my previous visit, I had had the hanger steak, and I thought that was even better than the rib eye, despite being considerably cheaper. The chef says, however, that the hanger steak should not be served well done, as it ends up tough.

I finished with cheese – I asked for no goats and was given a cheddar, a Yarg and Cornish Promise (I had never heard of this before – it’s softish, orange rind and looks a bit like St Paulin, but with a much more pronounced flavour), all well kept and reasonable sized pieces. My daughter had the chocolate brownie and banana sundae without the banana – it looked excellent – a heart attack in a glass. My wife abstained.

Service throughout was friendly and professional without being intrusive. The total, including 12.5% service for the 4 of us came to £201, well worth while for very good food in comfortable surroundings.

The next day, we returned for brunch at about 3.45pm, and the day after that we had breakfast. I will not go into detail, but the food was still good and service at breakfast was fine. The full English breakfast is excellent. At brunch, there were a few service issues, and there are a couple of servers whose command of English is in dire need of improvement. Sadly, this is not uncommon today.

In addition to the menu, there are daily specials, on a blackboard, but also told to you by the waiter. If you used to go to Chapter 2, you will probably not be disappointed, as there are still a few dishes reminiscent of that restaurant. However, the additions greatly broaden the appeal of the restaurant and make it a serious competitor to its big brother.

May 2009

Since I wrote the review above, I have been back many times – it is the closest decent restaurant to my home. Over that period, the quality of the cooking has remained consistently good. The excellent steaks are my usual choice, and I have rarely tasted better. Over that period, however, the standard of service has fluctuated. When I wrote the first review, I gave service a 6. As the staff settled in, that improved and I might, perhaps, have awarded 8, or, at least 7. In recent months, my family all agree with me that service has become far worse. I say this with some reluctance, since the servers are generally friendly and welcoming. They are also inept, slow and forgetful. On a recent visit, having ordered wine the moment I sat down (and then had the waiter return to make sure he had noted my order down correctly), it was nearly half an hour before I actually received it, and then only after asking. In the same visit, half way through the main course, the red ran out and I ordered another bottle. It had not arrived by the time the desserts were served and I cancelled the order.

It was also noticeable that some staff were run off their feet, whilst others, putting it mildly, were not. The quality of the service has, despite the quality of the food, made this something of a last choice restaurant among my family lately. Having said all this, service is not awful, the food is very good and my 95 year old mother (who was present during the visit when the wine went astray) noticed nothing wrong and enjoyed herself. It’s just not as good as it was or as it could be.