Tim Hughes enjoys a great-value taste of modern French cuisine, courtesy of master chef Raymond Blanc

There’s nothing fake about Raymond Blanc.

Unlike countless celebrity chefs who give their name to streams of identikit chain eateries, the doyenne of French cooking takes personal pride in every detail of his empire – right down to the colour of the walls, and the choice of pictures.

“It is so important to get it right,” he told me at the re-opening of his Brasserie Blanc, in Jericho. “I have always been involved in my restaurants, and am very proud of this one.”

While his two-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, at Great Milton, continues to pack a punch as one of the nation’s top restaurants, it is its little cousin, Brasserie Blanc, which has got him most excited.

“A visit to Le Manoir is a special treat,” he says in that velvety accent. “Maybe once a year or once a lifetime. But this is a place I want people to be able to come all the time – to eat good French cooking made from mainly local produce from butchers, farmers and fishmongers who I know.”

You don’t argue with a man like Raymond. Heck, you’re doing well to get a word in edgeways. But I was determined to test his mettle and see whether this smart, revamped bolthole was as good as he claimed, or was just trading off the chef’s good name.

Now sporting a fresh, minimal look with painstaking attention to detail, the 18-year-old Brasserie is less homely and more stylish. Light streams through full length windows, and it feels buzzy without losing its sense of calm and intimacy.

Raymond himself, who lives locally, clearly took as much interest in the decor and staff, as the menu, which is classic French; fine dining at gastropub prices, but friendlier.

With the help of a beaming, and extremely well-informed, waitress Jana, I am guided through the wine list, settling on a crisp, citrus-rich Pays d’Oc Viogner (£24), which goes like a dream with my starter of Scottish Queen Scallops – baked and served with tomato butter and a dab of smooth creamed potato on the shell.

While initially odd, the potato is an perfect accompaniment to these diminutive shellfish which are given a tiny piquant hit with the addition of a little snip of red pepper on each half-shell.

Half-a-dozen disappeared in minutes. A tough act to follow, they were nonetheless topped by a classic of French cooking: a steak tartare (£19.90).

Being hard to get right, and requiring a great deal of trust in the chef, a good tartare is a real treat – and this, made with melt-in the-mouth 30-day dry-aged Cornish beef, was the best I’ve had – on either side of the Channel. It looked beautiful (no mean feat for a pile of chopped raw meat), topped with colourful stripes of shallot, caper, parsley and gherkin.

A bright and breezy plate of cured mackerel fillets on a springy fennel roquette, chilli and coriander salad (£14.40) looked like a perfect non-meaty, guilt-free alternative.

When it came to puddings, there was no messing about – with a superb chocolate delice (£6.50) hitting the spot: a finger of praline panacotta matched by one of nougatine crumble. It was dessert alchemy – rich but still more-ish.

A generous glass of richly honeyed, but not overly sweet, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venis (£6.60) sealed the deal on some of the the finest, and best value French cooking to be had this side of La Manche.

Raymond was as good as his word.

Brasserie Blanc, 71-72 Walton Street, Oxford Call 01865 510999 or go to brasserieblanc.com