ONLY ever familiar with a cheeky Nandos or takeaway pizza, The Chop House in Braintree made a nice change for my friend and I.

Instead of the hustle and bustle we expected from a centre of town restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised by its chic and elegance.

My complete ignorance of “fine dining” meant I was ordering based on how attractive the words sounded while scanning the menu.

My friend, on the other hand, who will choose a starter over a dessert every time, was excited by the fact her favourite soup was featuring as the soup of the day.

Not usually one to have a starter myself, I took her word for it and ordered the leek and potato soup with her.

After a 25 minute wait, which went pretty quickly thanks in part to our discussion on the fact we hadn’t seen coke served from a glass bottle in goodness knows how long, our starters were served.

The soup was thick and flavourful, enhanced with plenty of pepper, and was served with thick white bread which was satisfyingly filling.

Once we had both scraped our bowls clean our thoughts had turned to the main course – we were now on a female versus food mission.

We decided to give the goat cheese and parmesan gnocchi a try.

Served with roasted Mediterranean veg, it made a spectacular change from the supermarket stuff we were used to, although the flawless presentation made it look almost too good to eat.

Such delicacy was to be expected as the Chop House is more than just a restaurant, it’s a British institution dating back to the late 17th century.

Chophouses were exclusive places where businessmen conducted their affairs over hearty platefuls of food and fine wine, and this one in New Street has done well to reignite the traditional philosophy.

The final part of the evening was something I look forward to during any meal out. Even if I do not finish a main course, ordering a dessert goes without question.

I only had to get a glimpse of the words “chocolate” and “brownie” and I was completely sold.

My friend, who has less of a sweet tooth as an utter savoury fiend, went for the cheese board.

There is nothing worse than a dry brownie, so when it emerged as a bowl of sumptuous batter-like goodness, my faith in an old favourite had been maintained.

The cheese board was also impressive.

After such an exquisite meal we were a little apprehensive about the price, so the fact it all came to just over £50 in total was a splendid end to the evening.

We will be paying another visit. Another one of those brownies wouldn’t go amiss.