Visiting a new restaurant in the premises of an old favourite is rather like meeting the new partner of a close friend, one whose predecessor you really liked. The Quality Chop House, just round the corner from Exmouth Market, was a great favourite: good, traditional fare done well, and the service was always particularly warm. ‘Meatballs at The Quality Chop House’ is the young pretender and QCH regulars will be pleased to know that the décor remains intact, even down to the amazingly uncomfortable benches (I always favoured the high stools in the right-hand room of the restaurant). And the welcome, too, remains warm.
If the word ‘meatball’ conjures up bad childhood memories (gristly spherical things or, worse, the tinned variety swimming in industrial-strength tomato sauce), fear not. The meatball actually belongs to a distinguished dynasty – think of Greek keftédes, Italian polpette, Swedish köttbullar and, often overlooked, a good English faggot. And drawing on this distinguished lineage is what Meatballs is all about. The premise is simple: choose a meatball (£3.95 for three), add a carb (potato, pearl barley or pasta – shame there's no rice) and accessorise with a veg (peas, carrots, salad and so forth). We spurned the ‘guest meatball’ (Salmon in a parsley sauce, £5.95) and opted for pork and rosemary in a creamy parmesan sauce and Greek lamb in a Tsaziki. To these we added mashed potato and buttered spaghetti (£2.95 each) and opted for peas and carrots (cooked with honey and thyme – a bit weird, it must be said!). The food appeared very quickly and was very tasty. We washed it down with a 50cl carafe of a reasonable Chianti (£13.95) and followed up with a cheesecake (£4.95) and an utterly heavenly baked custard (£3.65): I was very tempted to order a second-helping, it was that good! The whole thing came to about 40 quid.
So, though this new comer may lack the glamour of the QCH (I never went there without someone famous – an actor, writer or opera singer – dining… More