Paternoster Chop House

 

The setting of the Chop House is spectacular - Paternoster Square is a truly beautiful part of London - but it's the food we care about. And, thank goodness, so do the guys at the Chop House. The decor of the place is sharply designed (it's part of what was the Conran empire after all - now called D & D) but there's no ostentation, just sleek lines, warm wooded tables, and over-sized plates. The focus is on the food and it's fine food at that. Eschewing the molecular cookery of Blumenthal et al, they've gone for simple stuff, well sourced and well cooked. Hey... it's nothing new, but it works. The prawns I started with were simply brilliant - poached rather than fried, they had a buttery-smooth prawn flavour that I'd nearly forgotten existed. Similarly, the suckling pig had the kind of depth of flavour we, whose taste-buds have long-suffered the oppression of supermarket meats, can hardly imagine these days. If I have one complaint, it's that three courses of 'British Cuisine' is very, very heavy on the stomach. Having said that, the desserts we had were delicious. Who cares if my abs are a little less defined than they once were, I had a great rice pudding and that's the main thing.

If you're a city worker eeking out a living and want something great to eat, or a tourist whose been traipsing around the Tate Modern and St Paul's and needs somewhere to stock up on your energy, you're going to find it hard to better the Chop House. Plus, you get that rarest of opportunities: the chance to sample British Cuisine at its finest.