Quo Vadis

26-29 Dean Street, Soho, London, W1D 3LL - View on a map
Telephone: 0207 437 9585

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Overall 7.0
Food 6.3
Service 7.0
Atmosphere 8.7
Value 6.0
Based on 3 reviews

what the critics say

Matthew Norman - 8/10

Monday, March 12, 2012 - My friend's roast mutton came with chard, a celeriac gratin and a sweet, beetrooty relish on the side. 'Chewy, but a nice chew,' she said. 'It hasn't got that musky, bad aftershave taste that mutton often has.' My huge quarter of chicken (wing and breast), the skin glazed with a delectable savoury marinade, came with a medley of sliced courgette, mint and baby onions and was beautifully roasted to a crispy finish. Puddings franked the form. The sweetness of lemon posset was perfectly balanced by a topping of Yorkshire rhubarb, and a chocolate brownie was gingery, pleasingly bitter and unexpectedly light.

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Jay Rayner

Sunday, March 11, 2012 - The gentle, restrained side of Lee is represented by a crisp salad of fennel, slightly bitter puntarelle and soft curls of squid, which come dressed with a spectacular olive oil. The butch side of the equation comes in hunks of seared pigs' liver wrapped in salty bacon and sage leaves, served pink, the pan deglazed with sprightly vinegar. There is a perfect wing of skate with capers and brown butter, and proper mashed potato and, best of all, there is a pie. Lee is the god of pies. And those wishing to write to me complaining that a pastry lid does not a pie make, please go find someone who actually cares.

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Zoe Williams - 4/5

Sunday, March 11, 2012 - I had the Middle White pork (16 - it's a breed not a cut, I know that, and yet I still always expect it to come from the middle), with some fat cannellini beans slathered in a punchy gremolata (a gorgeous accompaniment) and a nice green salad (3.50). The pork was uncanny; it had all the juiciness of a slowly braised joint, and yet was daintily sliced and very firm-textured, in a way that you'd expect to result from a roast. I can't account for it; all I could do was humbly eat it. Fast.

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John Lanchester

Friday, March 02, 2012 - Lee's cooking is a good fit for Quo Vadis. There's a clarity to it, an emphasis on simplicity and impact...Turbot came in thin slices with similarly sliced artichoke; the two flavours were fascinatingly complementary, a savoury umami note running through both, and the dish managed to be both warming and light. From the grills, I had the onglet, which came so lavishly dressed with black pepper that it was in effect onglet au poivre. There was horseradish, too, and pickled walnuts, another English idea that went thrillingly well both together and with the steak.

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Lisa Markwell - 8/10

Sunday, February 05, 2012 - Mr M, unusually, has been allowed his own choice, and saves me only a tiny forkful of his zingy fennel, watercress and sardine starter. When his beef pie arrives, he looks a little crestfallen that it's quite mannered (for which read small and neat), but what it lacks in Desperate Dan qualities, it makes up for in taste - rich, very short pastry, a layer of garlicky, buttery sauce and unctuous gravy, with clods of meltingly soft beef. We fight over some Pink Fir Apple potatoes to soak up the juices.

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Fay Maschler - 4/5

Thursday, January 19, 2012 - That day's pie was beef served in deeply savoury gravy, in which I thought I could detect that excellent overlooked ingredient, mushroom ketchup. The crust was thin and waxy. Teal, the perfect bird for portion control, was offered at 12.50 for one, 22 for a brace. Cooked to just the right point of pinkness, bolstered with prune and bacon, just the one was champion for calorie-conscious January. A side salad of orange and fennel was a judicious accompaniment...The combination of lovely Jeremy Lee, the hard-working Hart brothers and 'Spitz' is the dream team of which my nights are made.

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Michael Winner

Sunday, October 19, 2008 - Let�s be very clear. Quo Vadis in Dean Street, Soho, is fantastically good in every way. Food, ambience, service. For years it was a dump. Then my friend Joseph Ettedgui (he�s doing up Mirabelle) bought it from Marco Pierre White and promptly sold it on to Sam and Eddie Hart...It really is the new Ivy. I like the Ivy food, but the grub at Quo Vadis is incomparably better.

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Terry Durack - 17/20

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - Like everything else tonight, it is exactly what I felt like eating, making Quo Vadis pretty close to my ideal modern British restaurant. The Soho thing makes it artier, edgier (and louder) than The Ivy or The Wolseley, and the old-style, hands-on hospitality is a refreshing return to how things used to be. I think we are lucky to have Quo Vadis... for as long as it knows how lucky it is to have us.

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Marina O'Loughlin - 4/5

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - I feel bad. There was Big Sweary Gordon in our 60 Second Interview slot on Monday, congratulating me for giving restaurants a chance to settle down before haring in, in a desperate bid for the scoop. And here I am in Quo Vadis which opened, erm, a week ago.

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Flawless service, beautiful food and a very attractive restaurant. One's of London's seriously good eating experiences.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 08, 2011

The food at Quo Vadis was truly sublime when I visited the restaurant with a group of 7 friends last week. We got to the restaurant on a very cold night, post theatre and I ordered the split pea and ham soup which was out of this world. I keep having cravings for it. The service was good too without being too intrusive or over fussy. Haven't been here for some time but was very pleasantly surprised and will be going back again definitely.
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Discerning Foodie
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sadly, Quo Vadis' best days now seem to be behind it. Despite receiving multiple calls from the reservations team to confirm the booking we had a 90 minute wait in the cramped bar for a table. When we were eventually seated our group of four were seated at a table for three. At that point the staff seemed to disappear. We had to track down a waiter to take an order from what was left of the menu. First course arrived after 11.30pm which seems rather poor for a 9.30pm reservation.
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Patrick McDermott
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Friday, December 17, 2010

To Dean Street for a pre-theatre meal. It's never great when you're the first (and for much of our stay) only diners but that's a timing problem, not the restaurant's fault.

The pre-theatre menu matches a reduced price with a pretty limited selection but two of us stuck with it and were pleased with our choices. Mrs K went a la carte. All the food was good, as we've come to expect, and service was both friendly and prompt, acknowledging our time constraint but leaving us to set the pace.

I simply can't understand the previous reviewer's comments about staff rudeness.
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Kentishwanderer
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, November 19, 2010

Friendly bar staff, good beers and a great range of bar snacks - a positive start. Move out back to the restaurant and it's like you've moved into a completely different establishment! The staff were so rude I thought it was a joke. Distinctly average food that arrived within five minutes of our order being taken (?!?!). A decent bottle of Vacqueryas saved it from being a complete disaster but I will not be going back!
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3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 15, 2010

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what the bloggers say

London Eater

Thursday, March 22, 2012 - A charcoal dusted crust, a rim of bulbous fat and then plump perfectly pink pork inside. This is genuine comfort food. Middlewhite when cooked ever so slightly under like this is always incredibly tender and juicy. With a delicate lick of smokiness, this was a version of perfect grilled pork...While bare bones, unplugged cooking is trendy, it isn't always delivered with such class, efficiency and style. Lee's kitchen doesn't dick around with concepts or gimmicks, they seem to just be interested in delivering delicious cooking, which is all anyone expects from a meal. Jeremy Lee is certainly a master of his craft.

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Gourmet Chick - 7/10

Monday, August 02, 2010 - A summer inspired dish of tagiatelle was dotted with cherry tomatoes, courgettes and ricotta making it as light as a pasta dish can get. Equally appealing was the lemon sole which was served as two grilled fillets draped over a small salad made up of multi coloured beetroot...This was almost the perfect pre-theatre meal as it was light with portions that erred on the side of being too small for a normal, lengthy dinner, but were just right for our quick and early meal.

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A Girl Has To Eat - 7.5/10

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - A starter of octopus, chorizo and artichoke salad was generously filled with the bite-sized pieces of soft octopus, hearty chorizo and tender artichoke. The dressing was light and pleasing...Rabbit pie with carrots and curly kale came with a crispy, light puff pastry topping. The pie was filled with tender pieces of meat and a lovely rich sauce that made this dish extremely satisfying. The accompanying curly kale had been cooked in chicken stock to remove any bitterness. Nicely cooked, it was however over seasoned.

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Quo Vadis

Find special offers, earn points, see menus.

what the critics say

Matthew Norman - 8/10

Jay Rayner

Zoe Williams - 4/5

John Lanchester

Lisa Markwell - 8/10

Fay Maschler - 4/5

Michael Winner

Terry Durack - 17/20

Marina O'Loughlin - 4/5

your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne

what the bloggers say

London Eater

Gourmet Chick - 7/10

A Girl Has To Eat - 7.5/10

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