Plush bench seating, marble-clad interior and sconced ambience. The essence of French fine dining that we all adore and many of us have longed for over the past two years. Anyone with functioning taste buds can appreciate why French cuisine is globally renowned and the French pride themselves on their cooking.

Think French cuisine, immediately, we’re transported to the Michelin-star standards tourists dream of, experiencing the belle époque and paying homage to French gastro-palaces. What swiftly follows is less magical – the bill. Whilst we all dream of being able to afford a life where meals resemble Julie and Julia, Midnight in Paris, or even Ratatouille; it’s a reality only available to some.

If, like myself, the deterrence of the price of these meals has put you off eating out, sit tight, there’s a solution! The Prixe Fixe. This isn’t a new concept, nor will it cost you an arm and a leg in train or air fares anymore to sample these menus, as London, once again, has pulled through.

Whilst I can, fortunately, say I can speak three languages; it doesn’t take a linguistic genius to grasp the meaning of Prix Fixe in English – a fixed price menu. The silver lining of this is that you know exactly what you’re going to get and for how much. All that’s left to do is to sit back and enjoy your culinary journey.

The origin of the Prixe Fixe menu can be credited to the culinary genius, Auguste Escoffier, nicknamed “roi des cuisiniers et cuisine des rois” (the king of chefs and the chef of kings, back in the 1700s). His principle sought to ease the workflow for chefs and allow them to concentrate on creating high volumes of core dishes, rather than juggle countless different orders at once. Another reason, which was perhaps only discovered and utilised slightly later, was to ease any potential pronunciation embarrassment for non-natives. Through a Prix Fixe menu, customers are presented with the culinary cop-out card, where they don’t need to cringe over their French accent, but are guaranteed to receive a complete meal, hassle-free. The Prixe Fixe is an exciting, stress-free guided tour of a chef’s true passion.

The number of courses presented under this menu can range from two to ten, yet guests are not often provided choices within the courses – what you see is what you get. The exact opposite of an à la carte, however, with the added risk of committing to a total price before sampling even one course.

Naturally, hearing of this gift from the culinary gods, I had to experience it for myself. Hidden behind Piccadilly Circus, Brasserie Zédel is yet another successful venture by the restaurateur legends Corbin and King. All French bourgeois ideals are present here and showcase the Parisian brasserie dream. Now, I must be honest for a moment: despite my urge to order the undoubtedly deep-flavoured boeuf bourguignon and a light bottle of red, my student savings account wasn’t going to allow it.

This was the moment that I truly appreciated the Prixe Fixe option. The options were two (£12.25) or three (£16.00) courses; Carrotes Râpées, Steak Haché or Majari Tart au Chocolat. Naturally choosing three courses, when it came to order, the waiter was French. No further description needed. He was efficient, friendly but firm and kindly advised us to order a carafe of the house red (cheaper than two large glasses!), which is music to the ears of two students living in a Parisian daydream.

General Manager of Brasserie Zédel, Michael Johnson, when asked to comment said: “A central part of our ethos at Zédel is to be a welcoming space for all. The Prix Fixe at Zédel is a great introduction to traditional French / Parisian brasserie classics, which some students and younger people may not have had an opportunity to sample before.” The French idiom “Pour bien cuisine il faut de bons ingredients, un palais, du Coeur et des amis’ can be roughly translated as ‘to cook well you need good ingredients, a palace, a heart and some friends’ – and I couldn’t agree more. Brasserie Zédel and their Prixe Fixe have exemplified how the assumed ‘minimum’ can transport you to feeling like Marie Antoinette (on one of her better days)!