Quo Vadis

Quo Vadis has been on Dean Street since 1926, which makes it older than most of Soho’s current idea of itself. Peppino Leoni founded it, Karl Marx had lived in the building long before that, and Marco Pierre White owned it for a stretch in the nineties. Sam and Eddie Hart, of Barrafina, have run it since, with a private members club on the upper floors and the restaurant below.

Jeremy Lee took over the kitchen in January 2012 and has defined it ever since. The cooking is British in the generous, unfussy sense: seasonal, plainly described on the menu, and far more technically careful than it lets on. Lee is one of the most respected chefs in the country and has never shown much interest in chasing stars for it.

The smoked eel sandwich is the dish. Lee first made it at the Blueprint Cafe, but it became famous here, and it is now one of a handful of London plates that people order without reading the rest of the menu. It costs very little, arrives on white bread with horseradish, and is worth the trip on its own.

The dining room is green, comfortable and unhurried, with stained glass and proper tablecloths. It is one of the better rooms in Soho for lunch.

Our verdict: the smoked eel sandwich is one of the great London dishes, and the room around it is a hundred years of Soho still working.

Go if: you want proper British cooking with no theatre. Skip if: you want something new.

Lunch is the best value. Dean Street, Soho.