We booked up for a Wednesday night, unfortunately too late to take advantage of the terrific cinema offer (wine/two courses/ticket for £27.50) but we still wanted to eat at Chez Jules as we'd passed by the evening before and seen it was very lively inside....Reading previous reviews, some stating it was a bit loud with tables close together we found that not the case at all.
We were shown to our table with in a few seconds of arrival by a smiling, friendly waiter - a table for four which gave us a bit of space to spread out. We were given time to peruse the menu and choose our food & drinks. We were offered bread and also table water by an equally smily, friendly waitress.
Drinks arrived quickly (two glasses of perfectly chilled white wine) and our food arrived a perfect amount of time after and we were both very happy with our choices. My partner had the chicken breast, David Joinson sausage, white bean & tomato cassoulet - the chicken breast was very tender, the cassoulet rich and flavourful and the sliced sausages added a real depth of flavour. I had the seabass fillet, herb risotto, pink onions, herb oil and the fish was cooked perfectly - the flesh nutty and moist, the skin crispy. Maybe there could have been a tad more risotto as this was also very tasty but that's a minor gripe.
Our dish was served with veg - definitely not an afterthought or a simple 'side'. Thick batons of herby carrot, al dente, rich creamy potato dauphinoise, again with just the right amount of bite and a generous amount of red cabbage to add a nice piquant note.
The atmosphere was great, not boisterous and we could hear ourselves speak. The decor was in keeping with the French theme and the toilets were spotless. We were not rushed in any way, the bill was very reasonable. They add an 8.5% service charge which is more than fair (and you can ask them to remove it or as we did, add a bit more).
We will return on our next visit to Chester and we have told all our friends who visit often.More