The Minerva Brasserie - Chichester

We attempted to book the Ivy to try it but it was full so we reverted to our usual fall back, the restaurants at the theatre where we've usually had a good meal. This time it was not so good. The menu read well but in reality fell short. One of the starters included sliced peaches which sounded a good foil for the other more savoury ingredients. However, it was like eating a potato, hard and tasteless peach slices yuk. The main courses were disappointing but the salmon seemed passable to those of our party who ordered it. Single desert order was forgotten about and another starter was brought instead! It eventually it arrived after chasing the staff. It wasn't worth the wait! Usually the service here is excellent, friendly and willing. This time it was lazy and careless. The musical, Crazy For You was truly excellent which had us in a good mood so we overlooked these short comings this time.

My wife and I ate at the Brasserie last night before a terrific play at the Festival theatre. This will definitely not be repeated in future! Firstly we ordered two IPA beers and 2 courses from a limited menu. The waitress was charming. The beers arrived within about 1 minute but we 're not the beers ordered but a blonde lager instead. These were changed but not the glasses which should have been 500 ml matching the beer. Within another two minutes the food arrived. Both of our plates were extremely hot with lukewarm, no doubt microwaved, food. The pulled lamb with herb crust had no crust, served with pearl barley and root vegetables, was served with two tiny heritage carrots which were so undercooked I was unable to even put a fork in them to cut them. The second 'root ' vegetable was baby leek also lukewarm and undercooked. The lamb looked totally unappetising but tasted reasonable. If it had been hot and more freshly cooked may have been more pleasant. My wife had smoked haddock on top of mashed potatoes and wilted greens with a creamy whole grain mustard sauce. It also was served on an extremely hot plate but the food was vaguely warm and had clearly also just been microwaved and quite dried out. The desert and cheese platter were both fine although the Sussex blue cheese incredibly strong and pungent. When the bill arrived had been overcharged as two deserts of lemon posset had been charged for instead of one. This was quickly rectified when I noticed it, but should never happen! I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Poor food , at high prices, and enormous inattention to detail. The waiting staff were charming, the chef might try a different profession! Robert and Niki

Excellent food and service! Cannot fault the staff only one down side that it can be very noisy but staff was helpful to move the table for us! Definitely come back!

We weren’t expecting very much to be honest, and certainly the reception was fairly offhand. After rejecting the poorly placed table, which had been booked a couple of weeks before, we were able to secure a table near the window, which was much more pleasant. After the unfortunate impression given by the Reception lady, some body standing in from one of the offices, I believe, the members of the young staff were extremely pleasant and attentive. A particular mention for Coral, who was especially helpful. We decided to have three courses as we had plenty of time before the matinee. I started with smoked a mackerel rillettes, I liked the idea of the confit of beetroot. Which sadly turned out to be three of the tiniest cubes of ordinary beetroot I should imagine it possible to cut, a leaf or two of chicory and a slice of cucumber surrounding a small heap of mackerel. No toast not even a single slice of sour dough. How is one to eat it? I asked and was told that if I required bread it was an extra £4 for a roll. The main course was ‘roast sirloin of beef’ sounds good? Two slices of pallid pinkish edible but tasteless long cooked meat sous vide? Quite repellent. I ate a token amount but could not bring myself to make more of an effort. My companion chose better with the grilled sea bass which looked and apparently tasted delicious. My bad choice, even though not so keen on fish anything would have been better than that pallid tasteless ‘beef’. The lemon posset to follow was acceptable. A small selection of wine by the glass, but well chosen. Around £40 or so each. Not a meal to remember with pleasure.

Pre show dinner so expectations not high since time is limited. However, we all thought menu choices were good and the food was well presented and delicious. Having slated the restaurant under Field and Fork’s tenure, we are now looking forward to returning at future shows.