When the old new version of the Quality Chop House closed
down a couple of years ago, I was, to use the medical term, gutted. My last
couple of visits had been great, but perhaps in ways that should have sent
alarm bells ringing. A solo lunch of salmon fish cake with sorrel sauce in the
bar area was blissfully relaxed and quiet. Too quiet, I now realise. Then a
drop-in dinner (without reservation) with inebriated friends, featuring
delicious devilled kidneys on toast and I can't remember what else. Perhaps due
to the uniquely preserved old-fashioned interior, it had felt like the kind of
place that would always be there. And then it
was gone. 
There followed a short-lived venture called Meatballs at the venue. Maybe it
was the name, but despite having flyers shoved into my hand on Exmouth Market I was never tempted to try it. I don't have anything against
meatballs, but they have to be pretty special to impress anyone in a restaurant
setting. Likewise there is nothing wrong with limited-menu concepts, but
'Meatballs' as a name just doesn't have the mouth-watering quality of, say
'Burger & Lobster' or 'Pho'.Now at last it has re-opened properly as the Quality Chop House, with Shaun Searley as head chef. The old new Chop House was a hard act to live up to, and the new owners have gone for an emphasis on wine which I was slightly worried might affect the food, but on the evidence of my first visit, the new New QCH is even better than the old New QCH.
The dining room area, which retains the famous pie-and-mash-shop style bench
booth seating (now with added cushions), has a no-choice set menu offering at
£35 a head. For this we got three tasting-menu style starters, a full main
course, and dessert, with cheese at £3 extra. I have seen a few grumbles about
this price, but to my mind it is fair value for the quality, service, and
overall pleasurable-experience factor. The booths make a perfect mini-venue for
four to six people to have dinner together, and the lack of choice actually
makes it very relaxed and convivial. I am never comfortable in a restaurant
until the ordering is out of the way (very much a First World Problem, I know)
so removing the need for this stage enhances the whole business for me. For
solo diners, couples, or people who want more choice, there is a "bar
menu" in the bar section, which is actually more like a short-ish
restaurant menu, filled with tempting options which I am looking
forward to sampling in the near future.
We were a party of four, and were given smoked ox-heart, deep-fried and battered jerusalem artichokes with aioli, and pork belly with apple and chickweed. That was the starters. Then came two different cuts of delicious roast beef with vegetables and dauphinoise, salted caramel tart with cream, and
cheese. All of the food was excellent, and felt fresh from the kitchen in the
way home cooking does but restaurant food often doesn't (perhaps another
advantage of all having the same dishes). The main course in particular was
very satisfying in an un-showy way, presented family-style in generous
quantity. "This is proper food", as one of my companions, a confirmed
anti-small-portioner, put it. Food that gives pleasure in a natural way without
being too in-your-face about it, with quality ingredients to the fore.My only slight whinge at this point would be with London restaurants in general rather than the Quality Chop House specifically. Enough already with the salted caramel. We get it. The salt enhances the flavour. Now can I go back to desserts that are, y'know, sweet?
We drank a very nice, good-value house red, but there are more interesting wines, along with matched wines by the glass, available. Being a relative wine ignoramus I am always grateful when wine experts help you out a bit by choosing good wines for their menu in the first place. I also enjoy matched wines at times, but with a larger group you just want to crack open a decent bottle and get on with it. The combination of great food and interesting wine is reminiscent of their excellent close neighbour Vinoteca, with perhaps a more European feel that goes well with the setting.
Details are nicely matched with the old fashioned interior:
the cutlery, crockery, napkins and pepper grinders are tasteful and
substantial, with a whiff of the days (before I was born of course) when such
things were done properly as a matter of course. For those who adhere to a
looser moral code than mine, they are distinctly worth stealing. Service was
charming and hospitable throughout. The booths mean you don't pay too much
attention to the other customers, but everyone seemed to be having a good time.
The new incarnation is a quiet triumph and a place I want to tell people about. (Hence the blog post.) And The Quality Chop House is definitely the kind of restaurant you go back to. The kind of restaurant that it’s nice to know is there, doing its thing, ready for your next visit.
