I cannot remember the last time I felt as full as when I left Côte Brasserie.

Portions are generous, the food is rich, and I think we were also being greedy.

You can definitely tell there is a skilled chef in the kitchen, no corners were cut and everything was done just perfectly.

To keep our stomachs satisfied while deciding what to order we got olives marinated in olive oil, garlic and herbs, £2.25, and some freshly baked sourdough bread with butter, £1.85, which was warming.

To start I got Goats Cheese Tartine, with roasted baby artichokes and black olive tapenade, £5.45, and my date ordered Chicken Liver Parfait with toasted brioche and spiced apple chutney, £5.95.

At this point I could have left the restaurant satisfied, as the tartine was filling with its positively strong flavours, but of course we had only just begun.

For the main meal I chose Tuna Nicoise (chilled fresh tuna steak served medium rare on classic nicoise salad with french beans, cherry tomatoes, black olives, peppers, new potatoes, egg, baby gem lettuce and red onion), £12.50, which was delicious and had lots of different flavours in the dish complementing each other but also providing variety.

My dinner companion, of course, went all out with the 10oz Rib-Eye Steak and frites, £14.95, with peppercorn sauce, £1.95, and reported it had been cooked just as requested and was of high quality.

Care had been taken with the presentation of everything that arrived in front of us and the service was very prompt, with frequent check-ups to see if we wanted more drinks.

Barely able to move, we decided for some reason to still go ahead with deserts.

I thought I would at least go for something light, so picked the Iced Berries with White Chocolate Sauce, £4.50.

It was indeed light and quite strange as the berries were frozen while the sauce was warm.

My fellow eating partner had the Tarte Fine Aux Pommes (fine layered apple tart with vanilla ice cream), £5.45, which looked wonderful and tasted classically delicious.

Food at Côte Brasserie, Ealing

To help matters, we had Fresh Mint tea, £2.25, something refreshing to end on.

The word I would use to describe this meal is ‘hearty’. Everything warmed the stomach and filled it...maybe a bit too much.