'I tried Charlie Bigham's £30 ready meal - a lot of people are wrong about them'

Charlie Bigham's new ready meal range, Brasserie, has caused a bit of a stir. Ranging between £16.95 and £29.95, the collection is intended to be "indulgent, restaurant-quality dishes" made for date nights at home or well-deserved treat nights in.

But reviewers have called it a "cash grab" and "tasteless", as well as being a bit tone-deaf during a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they are expensive compared to standard ready meals and this will put lots of people off, but perhaps where I differ from other reviewers is that I actually enjoyed the food itself. I don't think I'm even being lenient, or have low standards. Friends will tell you that I'm always honest about food in restaurants. Poached egg at brunch is undercooked and watery? Not enough seasoning in the pie filling? I'll tell you! (Not that I'd ever complain to a server, I wouldn't want to be rude). So when myself and my flatmate tried the new Charlie Bigham range, I was expecting disappointment, only to be happily surprised.

We bought the most and least expensive items - the beef Wellington (£29.95) and the duck confit (£16.95). Maybe we got lucky with our oven, but both came out beautifully with minimal effort from us.

The Wellington was delicious - flaky pastry and beef that was just medium rare. The only downside was slightly raw pastry on the very inside, but we didn't mind that. The duck confit was my personal favourite - with tender, juicy meat that fell off the bone alongside crispy potatoes.

And they did feel like a treat. They are something we would never make ourselves. How many of us have the time, money, and patience to confit duck, slow cook venison, or painstakingly wrap a Wellington?

They are the kind of thing we would only get in a restaurant, and a quick Google search says these would set us back between £20 and £40 each in a real Brasserie.

If I was served these in a gastropub and charged either £8.50 or £15 (as each ready meal serves two), I'd be thrilled! They're a steal for genuinely restaurant-quality food.

I would recommend looking at them as a lovely treat for when you have an occasion, and don't want to cook or go to a restaurant, but want to feel like you're having something special rather than a bog-standard supermarket lasagne.

We felt that the cheaper items (duck confit, coq au vin, and venison bourguignon) seem to be more worth the money as they come with sides.

All three come with a potato side (pommes anna, dauphinoise, and brown butter mash, respectively), so you just need a veg if that's your bag. This makes the meal around £8.50 per person.

The Wellingtons (beef and salmon) come by themselves, meaning you'll need to supplement them with whatever sides you prefer and spend between £10 and £15 per person on the centerpiece of the meal.

Charlie Bigham's new Brasserie range is exclusively available now in selected Waitrose stores across the UK.