Where can you get a Michelin Starred burger and chips for under a tenner? The Chapter One brasserie in Farnborough, just south of Bromley, that’s where.

We’ve now eaten a few times at the Chapter One Restaurant for lunches and dinners and today for the first time, in the brasserie. I’m still looking for the catch, the service and food is top notch and the prices, especially at lunch times, are very reasonable. The dinner menu is a little more sophisticated and a bit more expensive, but still excellent value. Wines are also well priced with many at under £20, with a good selection by the half bottle, or glass.

In the restaurant a fixed price menu is offered with 6 or 8 choices at each course; a couple do have a small supplement. Go for the “Assiette of Desserts” its only £2.50 extra and you get a small portion of everything. A typical 3 course lunch without drink will cost you about £25 and the evening menu about £32. There is also a “Menu du Jour”, three courses with three choices for £18.50. Sunday lunch is three courses for £19.50, but I’ve not tried that yet. The food is technically good, the portions decent and the service faultless. Unlike some of the similarly starred restaurants around Kent which are rather small and quiet, this one is big, modern, friendly and buzzy. Service is proper, but with the right note of informality. Even when busy, the staff have time for a chat.

Today we dropped into the Brasserie on the way back from an abortive shopping trip to Bluewater. The food is served by the same staff from the same kitchen, but in an informal bar area. Dishes range from a Salad Nicoise at £6.50 through various dishes cooked in a special “Josper” charcoal oven, such as a whole baby chicken at £11.50 and the aforementioned burger and chips at £9.95 to a “Prime Grain Fed Rib Eye of Beef” at £23. Side dishes, if required, are a very reasonable £2.95 (my mixed salad was freshly prepared and well dressed) and all puddings under a fiver - cheaper than a lot of pubs and remember this place has a Michelin Star. P had a pan fried Salmon Steak with sauté potatoes green beans and salad, which she said was first class. I finished up with a lemon tart and crème fraiche sorbet and P had apple crumble and vanilla ice cream – again both were perfect.
I nearly forgot to mention that in either the Restaurant or Brasserie one can take a selection of decent cheeses from the trolley.

One slightly off putting thing is that when booking online, its made clear that one only has the table for 2 hours 15 minutes, but I think this is only enforced when they are really busy: in fact the booking system is one of the best I have seen, it even has a place for special requests.

I only wish Chapter One was nearer to home. Approved and recommended –Top Cat