Restaurant review: South Place Chop House, London

The name of the South Place Chop House alone suggests that they know their meat - but also that it might be something of an old-fashioned, stuffy establishment. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Chop houses in Britain have been around for hundred of years and were places businessmen met to strike deals over hearty meals. The South Place Chop House is in a hotel in the heart of the City, and is probably frequented by bankers - at least, I work in a bank and I ate there! It was a smart crowd when I met a friend there one weeknight evening, and the wood and leather banquette seats did strike me as something aimed at an older, slightly stuffier clientele,

The food is also what I'd call fairly traditional; starters include smoked salmon, steak tartare, prawn cocktail and onion and cider soup. We opted for a platter of cold cuts between us; it wasn't listed as a sharing starter and we asked the waiter how big it was. He said it would be a large starter for one person or a small starter for two - and when it came we were glad we had decided to share. I probably could have had this as a main course! It consisted of pork pies, ham, Scotch egg, pickles and cheese and wasn't cheap at around £15.

The main courses again were quite traditional, from steak and lamb chop and old spot pork chop with apple sauce to a Dover sole. They were doing a special offer of a lobster, fries and glass of prosecco for £20 which we both ordered. Lobster is never very filling so the large starter turned out to have been a good idea!

The food was good and well presented and the service very good and I think the restaurant would be great for a business dinner, not so much for an intimate date or a cosy evening with friends.