London's longest-running restaurant grid. Chinatown noodles, Italian counters on Brewer Street, late-night cocktail rooms and Bao's original Lexington Street counter.
Ben Chapman's wood-fired Northern Thai counter in Soho London, opened 2016, sits in front of an open grill that turns out skewers and clay-pot noodles.
OrderClay pot baked glass noodles with brown crab, plus a skewer of aged Tamworth cured pork.
TipCounter seats are walk-in only after 17:30. Lunch tables behind the counter take bookings two weeks ahead.
Erchen Chang and Shing Tat Chung's original Bao counter on Lexington Street Soho in London, opened 2015, the bao that put Taiwanese food on every restaurant.
OrderClassic pork bao with peanut and fermented greens, plus the fried Horlicks ice cream to finish.
TipWalk-up only. Put your name down on the chalkboard outside; the queue moves in 20 to 40 minutes from open.
Jeremy Lee's Dean Street dining room in Soho London, opened 1926 and restored under chef Lee since 2012, runs a daily-changing seasonal British menu.
OrderThe smoked eel sandwich on rye, and whatever pudding is on the chalkboard at the door.
TipLunch menu is a fraction of dinner prices and just as well-staffed; book a Soho-show theatre lunch a week ahead.
Tomos Parry's Soho London second restaurant on Beak Street, opened 2023 above a wood-fired open kitchen, runs Welsh-Spanish cooking and has held one Michelin.
OrderSmoked sardine flatbread, the wood-roast lamb shoulder and whatever pudding is on the chalkboard.
Book6 weeks ahead
TipCounter seats around the pass take walk-ins from 17:30. Bookings open six weeks ahead through Resy.
Gordon Ker's basement chophouse on Great Windmill Street in Soho London, opened 2015, runs charcoal-grilled chops in a 1850s-era basement room.
OrderThe all-in chops board with beef, lamb and pork, plus the bone-marrow gravy.
TipSunday roast is £20 and books two weeks ahead through Resy. Pre-theatre chops at 17:00 walks in for half-price.
The candlelit Lexington Street bistro in Soho London, opened 1985 by print-dealer Andrew Edmunds, still runs a daily-handwritten Modern European menu.
OrderWhatever seasonal main is on the handwritten menu, and the sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
TipBookings take a six-week lead; bar seats at the front are released as walk-ins after 21:30 on weekdays.
John Devitt's hand-pulled udon counter on Frith Street in Soho London, opened 2010, runs the city's most serious Japanese noodle kitchen. Priced at ££.
OrderHot udon with the English breakfast (bacon, egg, mushroom) at brunch, or the kake bukkake at dinner.
TipWalk-up only. Doors open 12:00; arrive at 11:45 for first sittings without a wait. Closed Sundays.
The Layo Paskin brothers' Jerusalem-leaning counter and dining room on Rupert Street in Soho London, opened 2014, runs a kitchen-counter front and a calmer.
OrderKubaneh bread (warm pull-apart with tahini and pepper jam) followed by the octopus mishmish main.
TipCounter seats face the open kitchen and take walk-ins. Tables in the back take bookings two weeks ahead.
Neil Borthwick's upstairs dining room above the historic French House pub on Dean Street in Soho London, opened 2017 in the room Free French resistance used.
OrderWhatever the seasonal main is on the chalkboard, with a glass from the focused wine list.
TipNo mobile phones, no music. Tables book one week ahead. The downstairs pub still pours a proper half-pint of bitter.
Jacob Kenedy's regional Italian dining room on Archer Street in Soho London, opened 2008, plates dishes from Piemonte, Friuli, Calabria and beyond.
OrderSuckling pig porchetta with crackling on a soft roll, and a Lambrusco from the carafe list.
TipCounter seats face the open kitchen and take walk-ins. Tables in the back book a fortnight ahead through their site.
The 1944 Brewer Street deli's first sit-down restaurant on Greek Street in Soho London, opened 2018, runs hand-rolled pasta and Italian-deli classics.
OrderWhatever fresh stuffed pasta is on the daily menu, and the tiramisu in the original Lina recipe.
TipWalk-up only at the deli original on Brewer Street; the Greek Street site takes bookings via Resy two weeks ahead.
Soho's oldest patisserie, opened on Greek Street in 1871, still laminates croissants, mille-feuille and seasonal fruit tarts by hand above the tearoom.
Worth the queueMille-feuille
TipThe narrow tearoom seats around twenty; takeaway counter on the ground floor moves faster. Cash discount on small orders.
Mia Johansson and Bobby Hiddleston's two-floor cocktail bar on Old Compton Street in Soho London, opened 2016, runs an upstairs Irish-coffee bar.
DrinkIrish coffee at the upstairs bar
FoodSnacks upstairs, late kitchen downstairs
TipUpstairs takes walk-ins from 17:30. The basement runs to 02:00 with a deeper whiskey list. The Borough sibling has the same kitchen.
Tony Conigliaro and Marco Arrigo's Italian cafe-and-cocktail bar on Old Compton Street in Soho London, opened in 2015, runs an aperitivo menu and one.
DrinkCaffe corretto and Negroni
FoodItalian snacks
TipWalk-up at the counter and bar tables. Tiny room of 20 seats; the espresso bar runs all day, cocktails from 16:00.
Erchen Chang and Shing Tat Chung's Taiwanese bao counter on Lexington Street in Soho London, opened 2015, runs the classic pork bao that defined the British.
TryTaiwanese steamed bao
TipWalk-up only at the counter; queue 30-60 minutes on weekend nights. £6 per bao; pair with peanut-milk shaved ice for dessert.
London's Lunar New Year festival fills Chinatown and Trafalgar Square with lion dances, food stalls and hot food, and is free to attend.
TipThe Trafalgar Square stalls are the easiest food; Chinatown restaurants take walk-ins only very early or very late on parade day.
Bao Soho counter on Lexington Street in central London, opened 2015, runs the classic Taiwanese bao at £6 each, the city's best-value Asian counter eats.
TryTaiwanese steamed bao
TipThree bao plus a side runs £20-25; budget visit is two bao for £12. Walk-up only with the chalkboard waiting list outside.
Blacklock's pre-theatre chops menu in their Soho London basement, opened 2015, runs the all-chops platter at half price between 17:00 and 18:30 most.
TrySkinny chops at half price
TipWalk-up only for pre-theatre. Last orders 18:30 sharp; the chops platter at the early sitting is the same kitchen as 19:30 service.
Jonathan Arana-Morton and Allan Howe's American-style brunch counter on D'Arblay Street in Soho London, opened 2005, runs pancakes, eggs and a famous.
OrderPancake stack with bacon and maple
TipWalk-in only. Weekday at 09:00 walks in; weekends queue 45-60 minutes. The Spitalfields and Hoxton siblings have shorter queues.
Ross Shonhan's Soho ramen bar on Peter Street in central London, opened 2012, runs late-night tonkotsu ramen, fried chicken bao and a Japanese-American menu.
TryTonkotsu ramen
TipWalk-up only after 21:30. Counter seats face the open kitchen. The Soho original closes at 23:00; the Bond Street sibling runs to 00:00 on weekends.
Alan Yau's Cantonese gastropub on Berwick Street in Soho London, opened 2015 in the former Endurance pub, runs Cantonese dim sum and a late kitchen serving.
TryLate Cantonese dim sum
TipThe upstairs dining room takes bookings; the downstairs pub-and-bar walks in any night. Closed half an hour 16:00-16:30 daily.
Joy King Lau on Leicester Street in Chinatown London, trading since 1985 as a four-floor Cantonese family restaurant, runs roast meats, congee and dim sum.
TryCantonese roast meats and dim sum
TipWalk-in any night for the takeaway counter at the front. The roast goose with rice is the marquee plate at £18.
Four Seasons on Gerrard Street in Chinatown London, trading since 1996, runs the city's most-cited Cantonese roast duck, served whole or half with plum sauce.
TryCantonese roast duck
TipWalk-in any night. Take-away roast duck is half the dining-room price. The Queensway Bayswater sibling runs the same kitchen.
Cay Tre Vietnamese kitchen on Dean Street in Soho London, opened 2009 by Hieu Trung Bui, runs late pho, bun cha and banh mi until 22:30 every night.
TryVietnamese pho and bun cha
TipWalk-in or book a fortnight ahead. The pre-theatre menu at £20 for two courses runs until 18:30.
Bao Soho counter on Lexington Street in central London, opened 2015 by Erchen Chang and Shing Tat Chung, runs late Taiwanese steamed buns and grilled skewers.
TryTaiwanese bao and grilled meat skewers
TipWalk-up only. After 21:30 is the easy slot; weekday last orders at 22:30. The Borough sibling runs to midnight on weekends.
The Frith Street basement opened by tenorist Ronnie Scott in 1959 is the central canon of British jazz, with two sittings a night and a late show that draws the serious listeners after midnight.
TipBook the late show, the room thins out and the playing loosens. Standing bar tickets are the cheapest way in if you do not need a table.
The Dean Street basement opened by Peter Boizot in 1969 sits under a working pizzeria and runs a quietly serious nightly programme that has hosted Diana Krall, Norah Jones and Kurt Elling at room scale.
TipThe pizza is fine, the room is the point, ask for a table on the front banquettes for sightlines to the piano.
The Old Compton Street basement is the only dedicated lesbian bar on the Soho strip, run by Ku Bar with a vaulted basement sound system and a calendar of community nights for women and non-binary people.
TipWednesday Butch Please and the weekend basement parties are the regular highlights, the upstairs bar is the chat room.
The Dean Street pub run by the de Gaulle-era Free French in the 1940s still pours half-pints only at the bar, hangs the Sylvester Stallone portrait behind it, and remains the central Soho writers' room.
TipHalf pints only, no phones, cash welcomed. The upstairs dining room runs lunch and dinner if the bar gets too tight.
The Greek Street Grade II listed pub was the Private Eye crowd's hangout for decades and Jeffrey Bernard's regular, and the room has resisted the redevelopment pressure on every side of it.
TipNo bookings, walk in, the back room fills first. Order at the bar, the regulars hold the front stools.
The Carlisle Street Guinness specialist just off Soho Square pours the best pint of stout in central London, with a basement room that fills before 18:00 and spills out onto the pavement once it does.
TipGuinness only, do not order anything else. The pavement crowd is the bar, the basement is the conversation room.
The Frith Street gothic basement runs a cantina menu of garlic-laced everything and 101 flavoured vodkas through a sound system that is mostly metal, and the upstairs garden patio is the unexpected smoking court.
TipThe garlic beer is the dare drink, the chilli vodka shot is the warning. Skip if you have a date the next day.
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