There aren’t many Grade II-listed dining rooms in London, but this is one of them. Founded in 1869, the restaurant’s décor, which includes wooden booths on cast iron legs, black-and-white tiled floors and papered walls recall its relatively humble Victorian origins, even though The Quality Chop House is now a thoroughly modern enterprise. With a second dining room, private facilities and an adjoining butcher’s/food store, it’s a buzzy spot for lunching throughout the week and a cosy spot for a glass of wine and a juicy chop of an evening.
The excellent-value daily set lunch menu displays a touch of wanderlust – just like our Victorian forebears – so expect dishes such as Belted Galloway mince on dripping toast, or Cornish pollack partnered by brown butter, capers, garlic and sea purslane. On the dinner menu, celeriac risotto with cow’s feta, pickled walnut and mint makes a feisty little starter, while mains such as fallow venison with winter chanterelles, parsnip, sprouts, bacon and chestnut are just the ticket for anyone in need of comfort food. Of course, you’ll always find chops and steaks on the menu, though these can very easily drive up the price of your meal.
Desserts such as pear and ginger sticky sponge with spiced cream, and treacle tart served with crème fraiche are just the sort of thing you’d hope to see on the menu. Service is perfectly paced thanks to staff who are “enthusiastic and knowledgeable”. The wine list is updated monthly and includes plenty of excellent labels, and there’s a separate single bottle list featuring oddities, rarities and bin-ends. This comes as no surprise since the co-owner, Will Lander, is the son of British wine critic, journalist and wine writer Jancis Robinson. One reader summed the whole place up nicely when calling it “damn fine piece of work”.