It’s unacceptable that it has taken me this long to get to Chapter for dinner. I have no excuses. It’s affordable. It’s within walking distance (when I am not on crutches) of my home. It’s opposite Loki Edgbaston and I am in Loki Edgbaston far more than my doctor would like. Me going for brunch a week or so after it opened and not going back is not on and something that is easily remedied. So I booked it when we were a bit pissed, told Sophie, got my third (and most painful) injury of the summer, postponed it by a week, and then turned-up on the correct date late because I move on crutches with the grace of a mancunian in a parka. Which turned out okay because Sophie’s best mate and his date turned-up forty-five minutes after us.
We ordered good cocktails and then wine, choosing mostly from the bargain two courses on the £25 set menu and ordering the brisket at £14 which Ben said I should try as I hobbled past the pass and said hello. The brisket itself was done with serious skill, so much so that I’m publicly begging them to make a Katz’s style sandwich for lunch. It’s hidden under the rubble of beef fat granola, roast celeriac, and pickled onions, a cohesive mix of earthy flavours and acidity. Sophie gets the soup from the set menu, a celeriac and apple number that is silky and properly seasoned, even if the reason for the trail of quinoa down one side is a mystery.
Now I’m going to say something here which might read as a negative though I guess is a positive. The portions are too big and the amount they charge is too cheap. Sophie’s ling is a massive slab of fish, cooked accurately so that the skin is crisp and the flesh falls into clumps of pearly white fish. It is served with a bisque of real depth, mussels and various veg, a complete meal for one that sings with seasonality. I had a ballotine of chicken leg, spud puree, some tenderstem, and a generous, French-like, puddle of creamy mushroom sauce that doesn’t hold back on the mushrooms or the dairy. Two mains that aren’t going to challenge anybody, but that is the point of Chapter. People come here to be fed well with familiar, quality ingredients. It works.
Dessert is upside down apple cake with a very generous amount of custard. It’s ace but by now I’m stuffed and ready to move from solids to liquids over the road. We paid £145 towards the bill, which looked about right for our share without getting the calculator out. I really enjoyed Chapter. I knew they could cook and had an idea of what it would be like before I hopped through the door, but I underestimated just how nice it is to enjoy a plate of properly cooked food served by people who value the rules of hospitality. That set menu runs every service at lunch and dinner, and you can add a third course for a fiver, proof that value is still out if you look hard enough.
8/10
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