Soho
Soho is where we eat when we are on the clock and when we are not.
An editorial note
Soho has been the centre of London’s restaurant life for longer than anyone still in the restaurant trade has been working. It used to be French. Then Italian. Then sex. Then media. Then food again. Now it is all of those at once, in rotating proportion, depending on which street you are on and what hour you are in.
Clara has eaten through Soho for twelve years and still has opinions about which corner of Lexington Street is the best corner. Nathaniel drinks in the French House and knows when to leave.
What Soho is good for
Walk-in dinners before eight. Theatre pre- and post-. Early drinks at a bar you cannot book. Lunch on a Tuesday in something small and Italian. A long afternoon.
What Soho is not good for
Parking. Quiet. Reservations at short notice on Friday night.
Where to eat in Soho
Bar Gemella
A small Italian wine bar on Lexington Street that takes walk-ins until nine. Three marble tables, a short list, and a cl...
Kiln
Ben Chapman's tiny Thai counter on Brewer Street is still the best bowl of clay-pot noodles in London. Walk in at the co...
Ottolenghi Nopi
The Ottolenghi flagship on Warwick Street is still the best Middle-Eastern-tinged restaurant in Soho. Go for lunch with ...
Quo Vadis
Jeremy Lee's Soho institution on Dean Street is the best lunch in the neighbourhood. Go for the smoked eel sandwich, the...
Swift
The upstairs cocktail bar on Old Compton Street is the best pre-dinner stop in Soho; the downstairs whisky and music roo...
The French House
The Dean Street pub that serves beer only in half pints is still Soho's most civilised long afternoon. The upstairs dini...
Worth a wander
- Lexington Street
- The short stretch between Beak and Brewer. Bar Gemella, Andrew Edmunds, Milroy's. Arrive hungry.
- Dean Street
- From Quo Vadis at the north end to the French House halfway down. A proper Soho afternoon.
- Berwick Street
- Market stalls at lunch, record shops in the afternoon. A Chinese bakery you will not find on a list.
