The complete guide to Soho, from restaurants to bars and clubs

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Jochan Embley8 March 2019

With everything that’s going on there, it’s almost hard to believe that Soho covers little over a square mile. It’s a forever bustling, endlessly intriguing place — it boasts some of the finest restaurants in the world, has a thriving nightlife scene and is lined by upmarket boutiques.

It also has a seedy past. Brothels and unlicensed drinking dens used to be the norm, and the remnants of the grizzly underbelly are still there to be found if you scratch ever so slightly beneath the surface. This, truth be told, is part of the glory of the place.

The whole thing can be walked through in a matter of minutes but if you’re not careful, you can get lost in there for hours.

While much of Soho’s appeal comes by just wandering in and seeing where you end up, there are some definite must-visits. In our guide, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know, from where to eat the best Sri Lankan food to how to plan a wild night out.

Main attractions

Shop 'til you drop: Carnaby Street
PA Archive/PA Images

With so much packed into Soho, you can totter around without a plan and soon find something interesting. Its restaurants, bars, clubs and theatres are some of the best in the city, but we’ll go into more detail on each of those below.

Soho is an area ripe for a shopping spree — Kingly Court, Carnaby Street and Berwick Street are all bursting with shops and boutiques. Of course, just to the north, Oxford Street is home to flagship stores from many of the biggest brands around.

Six-string maestros should head to Denmark Street; its many shops are probably the best place in London to pick up a guitar.

Food

C'est Magnifique: Brasserie Zedel

Soho’s restaurant scene is a world-famous one. Bustled into every street and corner is an almost overwhelming array of cuisines, tastes, smells and sights, drawing in influence and inspiration from all corners of the culinary globe.

Where to start? How about with Kiln — the best restaurant in the entire country, according to the National Restaurant Awards. The vibe is laid-back and the Thai food is astounding: affordable and invariably scrumptious.

There are few better places to go for tapas in London than Barrafina on Dean Street (although the two other branches in Covent Garden are pretty good bets). Keep things Spanish with a trip to Rambla, a haven of delicious Catalan cuisine, or take a quick hop across the Mediterranean and land in Bocca di Lupo, a celebration of all things Italian. It might just do the best burrata in the capital.

Few restaurants in Soho are prettier than Brasserie Zedel — its art deco stylings are a sight to behold. Thankfully the food matches up, offering decent French dishes at a wallet-friendly price. Nowhere in Soho does Sri Lankan food better than Hoppers, while modern day Jerusalem and all its worldly flavours are faithfully recreated at the Palomar — if its not on there already, its polenta should be on your foodie bucket list.

Delightful seasonal fare can be found at both 10 Greek Street, an unassumingly decorated restaurant that excels in simplicity, and Gauthier, the tiny, Michelin starred French restaurant that requires you to ring a doorbell to enter. Jason Atherton’s bistro, Social Eating House, is a relaxed place to settle in and sample the enjoyably unpretentious menu. If you're looking for an old faithful that'll never let you down, try Cafe Boheme.

Drink

A bartenders' favourite: Milk & Honey

You’ll never stay thirsty in Soho — it’s absolutely heaving with places to get a pint or finely crafted cocktail.

Firstly, let’s tackle the pubs. Soho’s boozers are often rough around the edges, an indication of the area’s gloriously unglamorous past, and that's all part of the charm. The Coach & Horses is known for being a old favourite among journalists, but its promise of reasonably priced pints and lively atmosphere means it draws in many more than just lowly scribes. Besides, it's fully vegan and vegetarian friendly.

A swift half can be acquired at the French House – because that’s the only measure of beer its serves – while for a pint of Ireland’s finest, the immortal Guinness, head to Soho’s best Irish pub, the Toucan. If you're in the mood for some metal, try rocker's pub The Crobar.

Old Coffee House is a worth a visit for its decor alone — various knick knacks and oddities adorn its ceilings and walls — as is the Dog & Duck, a pub whose interior has been willingly untouched by its owners, giving it a homely, lived-in feel. The Lyric, meanwhile, offers a cosy Victorian refuge for Soho’s booze-seekers.

De Hems is Dutch by name and Dutch by alcohol-serving nature, providing its patrons with some beautiful beers from the Netherlands as well as its brewing powerhouse of a neighbour, Belgium. For a drink with colleagues after work or with friends at the weekend, the lively Sun & Thirteen Cantons is the place to be.

Onto the bars. The place is abound with cocktails and while some are substandard, the gems are there if you want to find them. Bar Americain, attached to Brasserie Zedel, specialises in the classics from across the pond, while Milk & Honey has a reputation as a bartenders’ favourite for its strong cocktails at prices that won’t strip the wallet. The mixologists at Mark’s Bar are superbly skilled — you feel like part of price should go towards just watching them make the drink — while the cocktails Blind Pig, a Jason Atherton bar, are expertly put together. Swift can be relied on for generously proportioned but never imbalanced drinks.

Tea Room below Bun House deals in the finest Chinese spirits,and more speakeasy vibes can be found up a few flights of stairs in ChinaTown's Opium (though the real gem is hidden bar Peony). Mexico’s favourite tipple, tequila, can be found in abundance over at the Pink Chihuahua.

Wine-lovers should make a beeline for 68, a wine bar offering 25 bottles available for the all-too-purchasable price of £20. Andrew Edmunds, meanwhile, has a wine list that rivals the very best of them.

Dirty Harry’s reputation for a rambunctious night out precedes it, while Trisha’s, a Soho establishment for more than seven decades, can be relied on for a riotously good time, even if the drinks are usually pretty awful.

LGBTQ+

Hotspot: Freedom bar

While there are now thriving hotspots all over London, Soho — and more specifically, Old Compton Street — remains the capital’s most famous area for LGBTQ nightlife. Two of the area’s most famous pubs, the Duke of Wellington and the Admiral Duncan, are iconic gay bars.

G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late, just a few minutes’ walk away from each other, are both famous haunts, while Circa is a lively spot with ever-flowing drinks and party-starting DJs. Freedom Bar, while not strictly a gay venue, is still a favourite, replete with happily inexpensive drinks and stripper poles — a winning combination. For a more relaxed night out, head to Village, a bar that’s been in business in the area for nigh on three decades.

She Soho is an important part Soho’s nightlife — it’s London’s only women-priority venue. It’s a buzzing basement that does everything from DJ nights to karaoke extravaganzas.

Coffee shops and cafes

Coffee shot: My Place

It’s only fair that, as a place that has been responsible for so very many hangovers, Soho is on-hand with excellent coffee shops to pick us all up the morning after. Algerian Coffee Stores, a Soho fixture since the late 1800s, offers what is surely the best espresso in the area — at just £1 a pop.

Bar Italia proves what we all knew — Italians are really bloody good at coffee — and is aided in that sense by Bar Termini, which also turns into an excellent cocktail spot by night; have a negroni to see out the night.

Fernandez & Wells has branched out all over London now but its spiritual home is in Soho. It’s signature coffee is the so-called Stumpy, described by the owners as a “kind of mini flat white”. For a regular-sized flat white, go to cafe that is literally named after the drink: Flat White, situated within Berwick Street Market.

My Place is an endearing little shop, offering delicious coffee and transforming into a buzzing nightspot once the sun goes down.

Nightlife and music

Institution: Ronnie Scott's

Soho is home to some legendary music venues; chiefly among them are Ronnie Scott’s and the 100 Club. The former is probably the best known jazz venue in the capital, hosting everyone from Chet Baker to Curtis Mayfield to Jimi Hendrix. Today, it hosts a mix of fresh talent and established names. The 100 Club is just as illustrious, a champion of live music since the 1940s which has seen its stage graced by none other than the Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones.

PizzaExpress Jazz Club is another institution whose basement welcomes some pretty prestigious names over the past 40 years or so, while the Spice of Life is a thoroughly musical pub, always putting on excellent live acts. For a healthy does of old-school blues, head to Ain’t Nothing But. Borderline puts on plenty of live music too and is particularly popular for its Motorcity club night, blaring out classics from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross.

The Piccadilly Institute is a peculiar place — each of its seven rooms is themed, from tropical indoor gardens to walls lined with human skulls. Head inside for a night that will most definitely be out out of the ordinary. Club 49 is the place to head for chart and r’n’b classics (and to enjoy a happy hour which prolongs itself all the way until midnight).

Arts

Picture this: The Photographers' Gallery (Kate Elliott / Courtesy of The Photographers' Gallery)
Kate Elliott / Courtesy of The Photographers' Gallery

London’s West End theatre scene stretches into Soho, meaning that some of city’s most venues — Queen’s Theatre, Prince Edward Theatre, Palace Theatre and London Palladium — are to be found in the area. They’re home to some of the biggest plays going, from Les Miserables to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Soho Theatre is a bastion of new comedy — anyone who’s anyone in the world of joke-telling has played there at least once. Its cabaret nights are hugely popular, too.

The Photographers’ Gallery has been displaying the best of art form since the 1970s, first in Covent Garden, before moving into its current home on Ramillies Street six years ago. The Marian Goodman Gallery highlights the best work from artists on both sides of the Atlantic. The Frith Street Gallery, which has two spaces within Soho, showcases everything from painting to sculpture.

Most Instagrammable spots

Soho Square Garden

Liberty

Denmark Street

Carnaby Street

And one more thing…

Anyone who’s in the know knows about the noses. There are seven mini nose-shaped art installations dotted around Soho, put there by the artist Rick Buckley in 1997. We’re not going to tell you where they are, of course — the joy is in sniffing them out yourself.

How to get there

Tube: Oxford Circus (Victoria, Central and Bakerloo lines), Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern), Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly), Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo and Piccadilly)

Bus: 12, 14, 19, 23, 25, 25, 29, 38, 55, 88, 94, 98, 139, 159, 176, 453, C2, N3, N5, N15, N18, N29, N20, N29, N38, N41, N55, N98, N109, N113, N136, N207, N279

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