The Quality Chop House, Farringdon

The Quality Chop House, Farringdon 

The Quality Chop House has been on my list to visit for some time - and rightly so as one of London’s oldest and most well respected restaurants. The restaurant has been around since the 1800’s, originally as a working mens club but thankfully dropping that to become a very meaty restaurant, butchers, wine bar and shop. They really can do everything! 

Located in Farringdon in a beautiful old building, it’s a fairly central affair easily accessible from Old Street, Holborn, Farringdon, or even if you fancy a 30 minute walk from Waterloo through Central London. Enter through the doorway which is emblazoned with their namesake, and into a world of dark wood, candle lit lighting and the smells of meat cooking.

The restaurant itself isn’t as big as I expected, and you can expect some very intimate dining here at QCH, which makes it perfect for a date night. 

As we both have learnt, we can rarely handle a big main if we have huge starters so we opted for their snacks; beef short rib croquettes and sourdough. As you can imagine, the croquettes were little bites of luxury with a rich and delicious beefy taste, with the nice addition of a delicious buttery, mustardy sauce. 

But, onto the main event, is where the Quality Chop House comes into its own with its brilliant cuts of meat; we opted for the pork chop and sirloin steak, with the grilled hispy cabbage and the famous confit potatoes. 

Now it would be remiss of me to tell you anything other than this is some of the finest meat cookery in London - both the pork chop and sirloin steak were cooked to perfection, well rested meaning they were tender and cut well. The almost smokey taste from the grill is something I am forever sad I cannot seem to recreate at home. 

The sides, well...you’ve truly never experienced a confit potato until you have experienced this one. The crunchy outside, with the soft buttery insides, almost as if they are in chip form (the guy next to us when we arrived told us we must order the chips - and I can see why he called them chips!) It's some of the best potato work I have experienced. 

Wine? Well, you’re spoilt for choice. If your budget is endless, then you are in for an extra treat as they had some truly exceptional wines by the glass - though at around £35 for 175ml, we sadly had to skip them. We did however order a bottle of their chilled red wine - it’s an Italian wine, incredibly light and for me it’s exactly what I want to lift my meal when it’s a bit heavier. But if that’s not your thing - speak to one of the team, who are on hand to help you with whatever your taste desires. 

Price wise - it’s on the mid-range budget, around £60 per head without alcohol. Expect to spend a fair bit if you want to go all out!

88-94 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3EA

https://thequalitychophouse.com/