Chapter One

I had dined at Chapter One a couple of years ago and thought a return trip would be equally as good. The food was excellent but the service was very poor. We waited 15 minutes to get our drinks order taken. The wine my companion wanted wasn't in stock and instead of waiting for her to choose another the chap walked of and magically forgot about us. We weren't approached by any of the staff to check that everything was ok and it was noticeable that other diners coming in were served immediately.

Needless to say I didn't pay the service charge. I did explain why I wasn't paying the service charge but didn't feel that they were particularly interested.
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Virginia Browne
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Sunday, May 13, 2007

For my mothers birthday I wanted to take her and the family to a nice restaurant without having to drive into London (impossible to park!). My friend recommended Chapter One. It's a very large restaurant with onsite parking. Getting a reservation was quite difficult so I suggest you book well in advance to get the time slot you want. We had a booking for 6.30pm on a Saturday and were the first to arrive at the restaurant. Shortly after we arrived the place filled up extremely quickly. The service from the waiters was impeccable. The menu had a good selection of dishes and all were at a set price with some supplements on the beef and lamb dishes. Approx £30 per head for a 3 course meal (excluding any supplements). The wine isn't so cheap but they do have a very extensive list to choose from. My family were really impressed with the restaurant and enjoyed the whole experience. I will definitely go back to Chapter One and may even try Chapter Two restaurant in Blackheath next time.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Having visited this restaurant last year before the refurb and enjoying immensely I thought we must give it another go.

This is what I found:

We booked at short notice-on a Wed for the following Friday evening-only had a 9.30pm slot which was fine!

Decor/ambience: We arrived at 9.30pm and offered to either be seated or enjoy a drink at the very plush bar, we opted for a cocktail each at the bar! We sat for about 10 mins then asked if we were ready to be seated! We were led into the dining room-it was equisite, alot of money and thought had gone into the decor and the new layout!!!

Beautiful, rich reds tones with black and dark wood, really sumptuous and designer-looking (Romo/Harlequin/Sanderson fabrics perhaps?) The ambience was very good, tables werent too close to each other and the place had a nice buzz. We were immediately offered water, hot bread rolls arrived promptly as we looked over the menu!!

There was also a good 20 mins before each course which was great timing!

Food: Faultless!! My partner went for the chicken liver mousse with hazelnut and foie gras for starter which was beautifully presented and he really enjoyed it, I had the wonderfully created raviolo of lobster and king prawn which was in a rich veloute of lobster and lemongrass with spiced white cabbage- the flavours and texture of the meat was incredible and so delicate and the portion was perfect!

Mains: I had 2 types of lamb, one was just delicately sliced melt in the mouth meat which was nestled on top of a shredded-lamb parcel (cant remember the proper name), husband had the roast bavette of beef (amazing) and on the side we had the creamiest/butteriest of potato and olive oil puree.

Desserts: We both opted for the popular Assiette of desserts, about 7 mini desserts beautifully presented on a large frosted glass plate including: lime sorbet, mini choc fondant, baked cheesecake, chocolate bavarois, lemon tart and a shot glass of rhubarb trifle-wonderful end to the meal!!!

We also had 2 cocktails and 2 glasses of wine with the main meal and altogether we paid £110 with service charge which considering this is a michelin star establishment it was amazing value for money and I shall be taking friends here before long.

I cant wait to go back and savour some more fine food. This place is 100 times better than many many restaurants in the West End such as the acclaimed restaurant The Ivy and The Mirabelle, this coupled with Gordon Ramsay RHR is my fave restaurant EVER and by far the best in KENT!

I cannot praise this place enough!

In short GO before its impossible to book a table!!
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Sel, Blackheath
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 02, 2007

Visited Chapter One on Feb 16th. This place has recently been refurbished, and the new look is a vast improvement - nice tones of brown and cream, rather than the previous slightly garish decor!

We both enjoyed our starters - Snails Bordelaise were definitely more interesting and tasty than the usual garlic-butter drenched variety. And the roast scallop was superb. Very flavoursome and tender.

The pork main course - consisting of a piece of cheek and a piece of belly - was very good. The caramelised apple was thankfully not overbearing, and allowed the natural flavour of the pork to come through. The Roast Rabbit was a decent enough piece of meat, but it was accompanied by what I can best describe as a vol-au-vent, which seemed like rather a strange idea to me. And the fussy presentation - complete with baby vegetables - certainly looks quite dated.

Desserts were a winner - my girlfriend has a habit of ordering hot chocolate fondants, and I am informed that this one was top notch. And the assiette of desserts allowed me to taste a couple of mouthfuls of all the desserts on the menu. The food snob in me quickly moved aside to accomodate my childish love of all things sweet.

Service was professional and unintrusive. They were happy to accomodate us when we asked to switch tables, and wine glasses never ran empty. But we both had a quiet giggle at the poor trainee waiter, who was struggling to figure out who had ordered what. Maybe they should have given him a bit more training before letting him loose on the customers!

The bill came to just under £100 for the two of us, with a modest bottle of sauvignon blanc. Not bad value at all.
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Jeremy
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 19, 2007

Have now eaten here twice and the food has been stunning both times. For the price this must be the best value restaurant in the country.

The pan-fried mackerel with lentils was delcious, even to someone who is not fond of oily fish.

Main courses of oxtail and belly of pork were sublime.

The chocolate fondant was heavenly.

Service was excellent on both occcasions.
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Ben Ward
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, February 11, 2007

This restaurant never fails to delight. We have been going for a number of years now and have not once been disapointed. Fabulous food and service. No hesitation in recomending.
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MRS A. RICHARDS
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

My second visit to Chapter One last night was another fantastic experience. We had an amazing meal - the food was truly delicious and beautifully presented. I can especially recommend the Black Bream for main course which was the best I have ever tasted. The only grip I would have is that the service was somewhat random. Whilst the staff were very friendly we seemed to have several different waiters and waitresses but not one who seemed to be looking after us especially. After our meal it was suggested that we have our coffee in the lounge area for our comfort. This was nice and relaxing and gave us time to reflect on our evening. I understand that they are planning to close for the month of January 2007 for a major refurbishment and I look forward to a return visit soon after.
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Alex Cook
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 09, 2006

Looking at past reviews maybe we have just been unlucky! The first time we went here the food and service were distinctly average. We decided to give it a second chance this Sunday and things weren't much better. We had to wait 35mins after our booked time to sit down meaning we had to rush our lunch to make another appointment. The food was average, raw chicken livers, tasteless beef, hard Yorkshire puddings and cold or burnt veg. Good job it's fairly cheap!!! Got to say that the waiting staff were very good though, friendly and attentive. Shame this is not better as it's very close to us, but we will not give them a third chance - by the way the place lacks any atmosphere!
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 06, 2006

I had my second trip here last night. We had an absolutely fabulous meal last time and sod's law would usually dictate that the second time round wouldn't be as good. Not the case whatsoever. This time round we went for the 7 course chefs menu with the wines selected by the sommelier. The food was magnificent, it looked beautiful and tasted even better. By the time we got round to the second pudding I was starting to groan a bit and had to leave half of the fabulous petit fours. All in all an absolutely fabulous place, not at all expensive and well worth a trip. I'd travel miles to get to Chapter One!
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Caroline - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, November 03, 2006

Went for a second time with both sets of parents last week and it lived up to the high standards of our visit as a couple the first time around.

The food is well put together (although I'm not sure the menu has changed in a year) and the flavours and presentation are superb. A side order of a couple of veg between two provides a hearty main meal.

The service is good and quick without being brilliant, but I noticed that the somellier was absent this time - perhaps it was his night off.

My only gripe was a slightly wobbly table - and this does tend to irritate me as I won't put up with one at home to eat beans and toast from, let alone in a Michelin-starred restaurant - and the restaurant can get very noisy in full swing. The curse of having a well-priced menu with excellent food means that everyone comes to dine and, not wanting to be snobby, some people's table manners are not as good as others. Having said that, they soon shut up when the food arrives and noises of appreciation abound
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Toby
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, September 16, 2006