Chapters (or Chapters All Day Dining, to give it’s full title) is the refurbished and updated incarnation of Chapter 2, the popular Blackheath local restaurant and sister restaurant of the highly rated Chapter 1, in Kent. What prompted the owners to curtail this already short story beyond the second chapter, I’m not too sure, but the amalgamation of what was the café next door and the old Chapter 2 restaurant is now a slightly different animal. Chapters now provides not only tea, cakes & coffee, but a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes for those ladies that lunch (and drink tea & coffee. And eat cakes. And have dinner. Plus maybe breakfast, too).

The refurb has given a bit more of a clean and dynamic feel to the interior, with plenty of leather banquette seating, dark wooden furniture and a number of mirrors adorning the walls. Not particularly original, but it works pretty well with the new brasserie type feel to the place. The menu hasn’t noticeably changed in style, although perhaps has reduced the price of a number of main courses, making it more affordable in what was always a good value restaurant. The main change is that the premises have now acquired a Josper oven (a charcoal oven that effectively works as a barbeque) and so have added several barbequed meat dishes, including a few steak options, the increasingly popular double Barnsley chop and the ubiquitous gastropub option of a burger.

We were offered the Christmas lunch menu of three courses for £19.50, which continued the reasonable deals Chapter 2 always offered for lunches, although Family R and myself eschewed that option, finding more intriguing dishes on the main menu & specials board. I opted for the  Ham Hock, Foie Gras & Celeriac terrine which came with a Plum chutney and toasted sourdough bread. The terrine was lovely, soft, fatty & unctuous with the chutney an appropriately sharp contrast. Mr R went for the Warm Salt Beef & Green Bean salad with a Honey Mustard dressing, which was also a flavoursome dish with Ms R’s soup of the day (Butternut Squash) also going down well.

Mains consisted of Sea Bass with Moroccan Couscous for Mr & Ms R, the Slow Roast Belly of Pork for Mrs R and my new favourite cut of meat, Hanger Steak (or Beef Onglet), for me, with a side of homemade Onion Rings. All were well cooked dishes and whilst not blowing anyone away, I don’t recall a plate that wasn’t empty. My steak was cooked as I’d asked it to be (rare), was tender and the accompanying peppercorn sauce was a good one, with a touch of bite to it. I’m not sure that it could fully support the menu’s claim for it to be “As Good As The Best You Will Find”, but it was excellent, nonetheless.

Anticipating a Yuletide evening feast, we all passed on dessert, which was amply represented by nine dishes on the menu, of a fairly typical composition of tarts, fondants and mousses.

I always liked the former incarnation of this restaurant and whilst I hadn’t known about the refurbishment and redesign (and so hadn’t raised or lowered my expectations beforehand), it provided serendipity rather than disappointment. The several seemingly minor changes to the décor, menu and feel of the place have managed to come together to provide a more enjoyable experience, which I have to admit, has been rather clever. The move to a mostly cheaper menu (but still with expensive options) and what is a good spread of all day eating & drinking options does seem to be quite an inspired move in the current climate. Whether this proves true remains to be seen, but I for one, will be coming back.