The Quality Chop House
BRISTLING WITH ARCHITECTS’ practices and design studios, Clerkenwell is the stomping ground of an edgy and profoundly metropolitan crowd. The Quality Chop House, which recently passed its 150th anniversary on listed premises on Farringdon Road, fits right in. Poised somewhere between a pub and a restaurant, it’s determinedly unstuffy in both style and service. With its chequerboard floor and Lincrusta-covered walls, the Victorian décor is belied by mismatched plates and a soundtrack of upbeat Motown classics. Hipster functionalism is the order of the day, and it’s carried through to a menu that, at first glance, appears spare, if not downright stark. It’s only when the food starts arriving that one appreciates that simple (read, seasonal British) ingredients, imaginatively combined and skilfully cooked, can yield results which are nothing short of spectacular. Richness and flavour are the keynotes of the main dishes (Brixham turbot with roasted chicken sauce, Shetland lamb with girolles, anchovies and capers), lightness and delicacy those of the puddings (raspberry and almond tart, Madagascan chocolate ice cream with vanilla custard). All are exceptional.
It would be a mistake to assume that the relative informality of The Quality Chop House comes cheap. It doesn’t. Two courses with a glass of wine or cider are liable to set you back around £60. It is, though, an expense I’d implore you to incur.
See also: The Guinea Grill, Noble Rot, St John
