Originally a ‘workers’ canteen’, this Grade II-listed chop house now feeds Clerkenwell creatives and others in a setting that oozes Dickensian nostalgia – think dark wooden church pews, glimmering lights and chequerboard tiled floors. To eat, expect top-notch steaks, chops and game, plus fashionably trad dishes along the lines of crunchy swaledale lamb croquettes or cornish pollock with gnocchi, white port and blewits. Tip: if there’s no room inside, try the owners’ equally vibey deli/wine bar two doors down; Quality Wines.

The Quality Chop House follows the lead of traditional British cooking with subtle refinements. British classics aren’t reinvented in QCH’s Grade II-listed, low-lit, wood-panelled room in Clerkenwell, but rather perfected. Their confit potatoes have a BTS-style following of their own but it’s other things, like their mangalitsa black pudding with apple pureé, or their spongy slab of ginger parkin with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Chophouses are the English forerunner of the more American steakhouse and came to prominence as 17th-century dens of intrigue, though it was Victorian London when they really proved their chops as affordable eating places. The Quality Chop House dates from 1869 and, though affordable is a fairly flexible term in the 21st century, it’s easy to imagine intrigue being woven in its Grade II-listed wooden booths. There’s still always at least one chop on the daily changing menu but also Aberdeen Angus sirloin (on or off the bone) and Hereford chateaubriand and rib, served with up-to-date accompaniments such as purple sprouting broccoli with ajo blanco, brown butter and almonds that the Victorians would have displayed in the Crystal Palace as the height of exoticism.

The Quality Chop House is an old working man’s eating house in Farringdon – a 153-year-old one at that – which has reinvented itself as a smartened-up British restaurant. Lunch is good value at £29 a head and consists of three courses; a starter (say celeriac soup with vanilla brown butter), a main (like schnitzel holstein) and a dessert (Dorset apple cake with calvados cream). The menu changes every two weeks to give you enough time to digest the experience, miss the experience, and come back for an entirely new experience.

Quality Chop Houseis a proper old school gaff that serves impeccably cooked meat and fish alongside a range of cleverly prepared sides, snacks, and starters. The confit potatoes at Quality Chop House are, pound-for-pound, the tastiest form of potato you’ll find in London and – although it’s not cheap – it’s a restaurant that I think every Londoner should visit at least once. Unless you’re a vegetarian or vegan, in which case you might be better off giving it a swerve.

Opened originally in 1869, The Quality Chop House at the top of Farringdon Road near Exmouth Market, re-opened in 2013 as a restaurant, wine bar, butchers and shop, selling a range of British meat and fresh produce. In normal times, Quality Wines operates as a shop during the day and then as a small wine bar serving food in the evenings. Quality Wines is currently open from Wednesday to Sunday 9am – 5pm – they will also deliver wine within a 10km radius every Friday.

Despite some brief closures, there’s been a restaurant on the same site since 1869; back then it was a ‘progressive working-class caterer’ and now it’s one of the most beloved restaurants in town. Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau have been running it since 2012 (they’re also behind Portland, Clipstone and Emilia), with Shaun Searley heading up the kitchen. Aside from the amazing interiors, complete with rickety old church pews, the food here always hits the mark.

If top-notch cuts of meat are what you're after, then you can't go wrong with a trip to The Quality Chop House, which has earned itself a place on the National Restaurant Awards list, among other accolades. Under the guidance of executive chef Shaun Searley, this iconic spot promises only the best from its menu. Tuck into the likes of Hereford bone-in ribeye, Aberdeen Angus sirloin and much more, with sides ranging from confit potatoes to bone marrow chimichurri.

What: There aren’t many Grade II-listed dining rooms in London, but this is one of them, with wooden booths and black-and-white tiled floors recalling its humble Victorian origins. The only trouble is working out what to order at this beloved, yet still somehow slightly underrated restaurant - good luck choosing between a tombstone-sized Tamworth pork chop, and an Aberdeen Angus T-bone steak.Where: 92-94 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3EABook now: The Quality Chop House

After over 150 years of a chop house standing on this Farringdon site, Quality Chop House honours its heritage with a contemporary and innovative menu that stays respectful to its past. And what a menu it is!. From the a la carte, expect a huge selection of dishes including Cornish cod, sorrel butter sauce and Scottish girolles; Brixham turbot, lobster bisque, sea aster and lime mayonnaise; and Aberdeen Angus bone-in sirloin with a side of Confit potatoes.

The weekday lunch set has buffalo mozzarella, Aberdeen Angus beef rump, and mint chocolate ice cream. The a la carte menu has salami Toscano, middle white pork, smoked cod’s roe, secret smokehouse salmon, wye valley asparagus, broccoli comte tart, Cornish leaves, jersey royals, lamb steak leg and Tamworth chop. In desserts, they have Yorkshire forced rhubarb, malt chocolate ganache, and date sponge.

While there's a lot more to the menu, with the word "chop" in their name, there's still a definite focus on meat at Quality Chop House. There's always a steak section on the menu and at the time of writing, the star of the show is the Hereford bone-in ribeye - available in sizes up to 1.2kg. Preferred steak side: No question - it has to be the confit potatoes, possibly London's greatest side

A fixture on Farringdon Road since 1869, The Quality Chop House is stepped in British tradition. This Grade II-listed London restaurant is a must for anyone seeking a quintessentially British experience. It still serves up a stellar chop or steak (paired with their legendary confit potatoes), but it’s evolved beyond its historical simplicity, serving up dishes with a modern twist.

The Quality Chop House is an icon, a legend, an immovable force in the London dining scene. Farringdon Road is where QCH calls home and where you can feel at home surrounded by endless plates of Belted Galloway sirloin and OTM Hereford fillet. The meat here doesn't come cheap, but it's all impeccably bred and an excellent example of the produce that the British isles can offer.

Farringdon Road’s The Quality Chop House is a spot that has to be included in any serious list of the best traditional restaurants in London. It offers an a la carte menu, as well as set lunches and a Sunday menu and prices per person are around £40. Standouts include the Cornish monkfish, lobster bisque, bacon and rouille and the Game bird, trimmings – Red Legged partridge.

The current incarnation of this former chop house is overseen by two of London’s savviest restaurateurs, meaning that this evocative dining room’s future is all but assured. Fine wines and some of the capitals’s finest meat, game, and fish dishes are specialities, as well as its best steaks, executed with a modern touch. A deli and next door wine bar add much to its legacy.

This old-school stalwart has been serving up best-of-British produce since 1869. So with 150 years of quality chop flogging under their belt, their steaks have gotten pretty good. Their menu changes often, but you can always find a handful of native, rare breed steaks on there, from a 400g Dexter sirloin to 800g Highland bone-in sirloin.

A long-standing cult favourite with Londoners, Quality Chop House has been serving up rustic, comforting British classics for over a hundred years. Inside it retains a Victorian charm, with black and white tiled floors and wooden booths on cast iron legs.