The Quality Chop House

One of London’s oldest and best-loved venues, the history of this unassuming restaurant in Clerkenwell goes back more than a century. Today it’s operated by the Woodhead Group, owners of Portland and Clipstone, and also features Quality Wines, a wine merchant and deli next door that also serves a ported-down food menu.

The food here is all about celebrating classic British cuisine, though dishes like mince on toast take a more refined form than they might appear from the description. In the kitchen is Shaun Searley, whose reimagining of this oldest of old-school restaurant menus has won acclaim all over the capital, and is celebrated in a recently released cookbook. Steaks are always cooked to perfection, and the star of the show are the ‘chips’ – essentially deep-fried pommes pavés served with gentle lashings of mustard mayonnaise.

There’s no crisp, Scandinavian minimalism here: interiors are designed to celebrate the venue’s history – slightly rickety wooden chairs and tables, mismatched crockery and antique cutlery. Overall, though, it creates an atmosphere that’s completely at ease, meaning you can easily lose a few hours to an unintentionally long lunch or dinner.