Quo Vadis has been a Soho fixture since 1926 and has gone through a succession of owners before the Hart brothers (Fino, Barrafina) took it over in 2008. Its latest entity kicked off with the recruitment of Jeremy Lee as the head chef and the focus of the menu is on British food with a modern slant.

You have to love a restaurant where you get a hearty greeting from the head chef who happens to be at the front desk as you walk in. The good impression was reinforced further by what must be the politest ever front of house in the form of Jon Spiteri.

The large dining room with its interesting mix of leather benches, chrome chairs, heavy tablecloths and massive mirrors gives the impression of having lots of money spent on the decoration although good taste was on another assignment at the time.

The menu changes daily although there are some items that are permanent fixtures. The set theatre menu available all day looked tempting but there were too many other items that also sounded good. The bites section of the menu included kickshaws, a food term that I was unaware of so it seemed like a good place to start. They turned up to be hot pastry puffs filled with a soupy mix chicken and ham in a white sauce with finely chopped chives.  A nice moreish way to kick off a meal.

Sliced crusty bread and butter was available throughout the meal.

The main factor in booking Quo Vadis was the smoked eel and horseradish sandwich, a signature menu item since Jeremy Lee’s first day. The waft of smoked fish as it came to the table was mouthwatering. The fish actually had a gentler flavour than the smell suggested but it was fantastic. The horseradish cream was pleasantly fiery and the combination of eel, horseradish and the vinegary pickled onion was a wonderful mouthful that lingered nicely on the palate. The sandwich was a good presentation but this would have worked just as well without the toasted bread.

Chosen appetiser was squid, fennel, puntarella and anchovy. I thought long and hard before ordering this because chicory is one of my least favourite things to eat. Overall the dish was really good. The squid and fennel were excellent together and the toasted breadcrumbs added crunch to the dish. Use of Italian parsley meant gave the dish a clean herb garnish. The anchovy dressing was very subtle and in truth I would have liked more.

The menu features a daily pie and mash and for my visit it was listed simply as hare. The blisteringly hot pie came capped with a thin shortcrust topping. Use of butter had been generous in the mash and it was silky smooth. The sauce in the pie was surprisingly watery but the lovely gamey flavour of the hare more than made up for that. This was perfect food to cap an afternoon spent wandering round London in November.

After these hugely satisfying courses there was no possibility of exploring the dessert choices at Quo Vadis. Another time perhaps.

Overall verdict.
I hadn’t been too sure what to expect of Quo Vadis but thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

Would I revisit Quo Vadis?
Definitely. The smoked eel and horseradish alone justifies a repeat visit. The hearty food was perfect for the time of year and it would be interesting to see how the menu adapts to other seasons.


Overall Rating - 3.5/5