There's no question of nipping home after work before an evening at the theatre, so I was delighted to discover Brasserie Blanc’s prix fixe menu.

Time and price-wise it’s the perfect answer to pre theatre dining – just £9.95 for two courses or £12.45 for three, with a choice of three starters, four mains and three desserts, served Monday-Friday until 6.30pm, Saturday until 5pm.

Starter-wise we tried the summer vegetable and herb salad, and the Mediterranean chickpea and tomato salad with smoked aubergine (the third was celery soup with parsley and hazelnut dressing).

Both were light and fresh – with the salad topped with a spot-on runny poached egg – but we both felt our dishes could have done with some extra seasoning to give them a bit more oomph.

There were no such reservations about the mains, the real star of the show.

After considering the options of sausage and bubble and squeak, grilled sardines or summer vegetable risotto, we both went for the brasserie classic of steak frites – chargrilled steak with garlic and herb butter and crispy, thin chips (£2 supplement) – and were blown away.

The herbs and garlic added delicious flavour to the tender meat which came, as ordered, medium rare in the best possible way, with both a good crust and a bloody middle.

Desserts were good too and so after a strawberry fool, and a mango and nougat parfait (the third option was creme caramel) we happily set off for our show at the New Theatre – a 10-minute walk – agreeing it had been a lovely start to the evening.

And even though the portions aren’t so large you feel bloated and lethargic, after three courses the walk did us good.

Brasserie Blanc, 71-72 Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AG
01865 510999/brasserieblanc.com