Where to eat in Soho, London

This small, Taiwanese-inspired chain has been delighting Londoners with soft fluffy buns, stuffed with pork, daikon, fried chicken and more, since 2013, when they first popped up at Netil Market in East London. Lexington Street in Soho was their first restaurant proper when it opened in 2015 and remains their best, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The set lunch menu, consisting of a bao, a snack and a noodle dish for £15 is one of London’s best value set menus, and they also offer a solo dining menu for £20. Bookings are recommended.

Bocca di Lupo, on Archer Street, is everything to all people. A quick pre-theatre three courser? Check. A long and sumptuous feast with all of your best friends? Check. An intimate date, albeit in one of Soho’s buzziest restaurants? Check. A solo dinner at the bar? Check again. Chef Jacob Kennedy’s extensive daily-changing menus offer a pan-Italian experience, with the region of origin of each dish proudly displayed. While that includes dessert, those in the know head across the road to the restaurant’s gelateria, Gelupo, for some of London’s best gelato after their meal.

This cosy natural wine bar and restaurant on Dean Street is the perfect place for a casual dinner, with a strong neighbourhood feel. There are all the modern European-inspired, seasonal small plates you’d expect: think caponatas, mackerel with classic accompaniments like gooseberry and cucumber, pastas and roast chicken. All of this can be enjoyed at the ground-floor bar, as well as a second bar downstairs and tables throughout, but we recommend snagging a street-side table if the weather allows, for maximum people watching. 

Widely considered one of London’s best Thai restaurants (just ask chef Jeremy Chan), Kiln, on Brewer Street, is also wallet-friendly and has a Michelin Bib Gourmand as proof. The bar on the ground floor is the place to be, where you can watch the chefs work the clay pots, woks and grills, but for larger groups, try the basement restaurant (neither can be reserved so best to put your name down and then head to a nearby pub to work up an appetite while you wait). Expect bags of flavour and chilli heat – not for the faint hearted. 

­­­Focusing on home-style cooking from Sri Lanka, Kolamba (the Sinhalese word for the country’s capital, Colombo) is a gem on restaurant-packed Kingly Street, brought to you by an entrepreneurial couple who wanted to showcase the food of their homeland. The menu is packed with delicious curries, tasty deep-fried nibbles and of course, classic Sri Lankan hoppers (fermented rice flour pancakes). Spice addicts can turn up the heat a level or several with a selection of sambols. 

This tiny, no-reservations udon noodle bar has been a hot ticket since opening on Frith Street in 2010 and still commands lengthy queues at busy times. The reason is the freshly made noodles and dashi that make eating at Koya a life-affirming experience. If you’re craving a Japanese breakfast in London, this is the place to go, but come later in the day and you’ll be spoilt for hot and cold noodle dishes and plenty more besides, all enjoyed at the counter where you can watch the chefs at work. 

Japanese-inspired, this cavernous restaurant on Wardour Street focuses on live-fire cooking alongside fantastic sushi (take the pain out of choosing and go for the chef’s selection). The menu is divided into raw and grilled sections, and it’s in the latter that the menu really comes alive, with daintier and larger pieces of meat and fish kissed by charcoal and wood. Special mention should be made of the outstanding baked rice, which is unctuous, crispy and the perfect side. 

Gabriel Pryce and Missy Flynn’s modern-American-inspired bistro on Lexington Street (just down from Bao) offers something a little different. There’s a strong emphasis on cocktails here and the restaurant has a more playful vibe than some of the restaurants on this list, with grade-A snacks like gildas with jalapeño, and devilled eggs, up to grilled shrimps, heftier pork chops and cornbread on the side. They also have a small garden out back, which is a rarity in densely packed Soho. 

Upstairs at this famously arty pub on Dean Street, where drinkers spill out onto the street, whatever the weather, chef Neil Borthwick is quietly cooking some of London’s best Frenglish bistro food. The dining room is small, charmingly cosy and storied; the walls covered with black and white photographs of the pub, its famous patrons and Soho over the years. Expect terrines, whole fish and plenty of aligot.