The 1699 Brasserie

Ian Jones, Food and Drink Editor

Last Updated 22 November 2018

The 1699 Brasserie, 49-51 Lower Bridge Street, Chester, CH 1 1RS – Visit Now

1699 The Brasserie is the in-house restaurant for the excellent Townhouse hotel in Chester. An intimate space with just a few dozen seats, it’s a relaxing, elegant room with an equally graceful soundtrack of instrumental music. The aim is to bring unintimidating fine dining to the city, something a city as storied as Chester certainly deserves.

Demonstrates a real love for how food should fit together

The waiting staff are second-to-none, engaging when they need to be, and never obtrusive. If you listen hard, you can hear the kitchen staff proudly announce each creation – as well they should, the food is exquisite.

Goats Cheese & Honey Bon Bon Quinoa, garden beetroot & balsamic dressing

First up, goats cheese and honey bon bons, on a bed of quinoa, plus some pickled slices of beetroot and a drizzle of balsamic dressing. The elements are well-balanced, with the beetroot and glaze adding a sharpness to the creamy murkiness of the goats cheese, and there are enough textures on show to demonstrate a real love for how food should fit together.

Then Welsh lamb rump for main, featuring cubes of roasted garlic-infused potatoes, a mild celeriac puree, topped with slender well-cooked carrots, resting on some wonderfully crunchy green beans. The rosemary jus is the star addition here, warm and satisfying, a perfect match for this quality meat.

Carved Welsh Lamb Rump, roasted garlic Parmentier potatoes, celeriac puree, charred carrot, rosemary jus

This high standard of cooking continues through to dessert, with the delicious banana cheesecake proving to be a highlight of the entire meal. The cheesecake is surrounded by singular pieces of fruit – a raspberry here, a blackberry there, but the sugar-glazed slices of banana are what ties the dish together. The sugar glass coating breaks with a gratifying crack and begs to be paired with a mouthful of the cheesecake. It’s a superb end to a very, very good meal.

The 1699 Brasserie is the restaurant Chester deserves. This is modern British cooking fed through with a depth of knowledge and history – a cut above the average meal out.