Upmarket meal maker Charlie Bigham has launched a new selection billed as a restaurant quality range – but what is it really like?
Posh nosh maker Charlie Bigham has defended a new ready meal range costing up to £30 – after one dish was likened to a steak bake.
The firm’s Brasserie range has just gone on sale in Waitrose, promising restaurant quality food. Bigham, 56, even claims to have created a “dining out” experience at home – only without the atmosphere and service, and with the washing up.
One review describes the duck confit – costing £17 for a two-person serving – as coming in a “gloopy brown puddle” that “tastes like Bovril”. The beef wellington – £29.95 for a two-person helping – was said to have “looked and smelt like a steak bake”.
Bigham, interviewed by the Mirror, claimed he had not seen the review but added, unsurprisingly: “I wouldn’t agree with that.”
He defended the price of the five-dish range: “I would say it’s amazingly good value but ultimately the punter is going to be the judge on that. I understand why people do say it’s expensive, it’s a perfectly reasonable question, because as people step over the threshold of a supermarket we have a bit of a reset and in many ways the most important thing becomes the price of things on the shelf.
“I personally don’t think that’s right. But what we are more interested in than price is value for money. If people were only interested in price Apple would never have sold an iPhone. So people make judgments about value for money.
“What we are charging for this range – the most expensive is our beef wellington – a very expensive thing to make, prime beef fillet – is £15 per person, £30 for two people. It is unbelievable value for money.”
Some shoppers may compare the new dishes with supermarkets’ own-label premium range ready meals (Bigham denies his are ready meals although they are sold in the same aisle). Indeed, Waitrose’s own No 1 Beef Wellington costs a punchy £65 but serves four to six people and works out less per kg, at £45.78 per kg, versus £52.83 per kg.
Bigham insisted they were “not really” the same, adding: “We take a different approach. We take our time and do things properly and this range is a case in point. It’s about taking real, real care – more like a chef approach. For other people it can be a bit more functional, price led, rather than quality led. And we wouldn’t exist at all if we weren’t different. If we make a beef wellington, we need to be better than any beef wellington you might be able to buy.”
Bingham is upfront that he is appealing to people who are eating out less, especially given how pricey it can be. But it could be seen as piling more pressure on already struggling restauranteurs.
Asked whether he was kicking the sector when it is down, he said: “Not at all. I love restaurants. The hospitality sector does an incredible job and boy have they had a tough time off the back of Covid and food inflation, wage inflation and utilities going up. But I know that when we look at the bill at the end of the evening it could be £40, £50, £60 a head. That is not because restaurants are profiteering or making lots of money, they are working really hard.
“But our job is to listen to our consumers and they are saying ‘I love going out to restaurants but, you know, it has just got a bit too expensive and now what I want is that dining out experience but have it in rather than out’. That’s what we are trying to do.”
The Mirror tried the £30 beef wellington and compared it to Britain’s best known steak bake from Greggs, at £2.10.
The verdict? While it’s not a fair fight given the vastly different sizes, for the price, Greggs is the winner hands down. Bigham’s version looks and smells good. But while the beef seemed chunky at first, it only really filled two slices, leaving you with lots of pastry and – albeit tasty – mushroom duxelles mix.
In short, I felt decidedly short-changed. Despite its lofty claims, it was just a good – not fantastic – shop-bought meal, but at an eye-popping £15 a head. To summarise, it was fine but not a patch on what you would expect from a restaurant. In short, I think Bigham’s overcooked it this time.