Quo Vadis

To what extent is a restaurant responsible for its customers? Is, say, a fried chicken shop responsible for the loutish behaviour of people walking in off the street at midnight? Clearly not. But this question vexed us when eating at Quo Vadis recently.

Some - in fact, a good many - of our fellow diners appeared to be drunk, badly behaved, and lacking consideration for other diners. They shouted and hooted and hollered and bumped into the back of our chairs as if they were partying with Prince Harry. But Quo Vadis isn't a private function room - it's a smart, special occasion restaurant, the sort of place many people save up to go to. On our visit, the chef, maître'd and owner - busy table-hopping and glad-handing the revellers - appeared to be turning a blind eye to the high jinks, although perhaps they were politely asking them to tone it down.

Maybe we visited on a particularly riotous evening. Visit at a quieter time and you might get an opportunity to admire the restrained refurb of the interior, with its beautiful stained glass windows. Courteous staff may greet you at the door. Your fellow diners might behave graciously.

Chef Jeremy Lee built up the reputation of the Blueprint Café from scratch, where he worked for 16 years. Now, he's brought his sensibilities to Soho, and created this heartily British menu, not unlike his well-rehearsed Blueprint.

The ingredient quality was consistently good, for example in a fresh piece of turbot, though it was very slightly undercooked (not quite to translucence). Goat is something we don't see often enough on fine dining menus, but the loin of kid here was nicely done and not dry, if rather prosaic. Both dishes were good, though not culinary fireworks. The desserts were better: a slice of moist chocolate cake with a dash of brandy, and a lemon posset with rhubarb which was prettily pink.

Once the wellwishers and socialites have moved on - give it a couple of months - then will be the time to visit. But for the moment, it's home to Ms Campari and Mr Martini, so be forewarned. Or better still, take advantage of the off-peak set meal deals, to avoid the clamour completely.