Soho, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

Lakeland-based uber-chef Simon Rogan’s eight-seater development kitchen offers “a fascinating and unique experience”, featuring “some of the most creative dishes in London”. Diners pre-book (at £195 a head) and go to a secret Soho address, where a dozen surprise courses and paired wines are prepared in front of them by two chefs. “We went for our anniversary but the other six diners pulled out; what could have been awkward became a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive pampering!”.

“It feels small now that Barrafina has taken up half of the original space” following a re-jig a year ago, but the Hart Bros’ “gorgeous” landmark (est 1926) remains a “discrete”, “comfortable” and “fun” oasis from the bustle of Soho. Chef Jeremy Lee’s seasonal menu “is frequently refreshed with innovative dishes” and, at its best, delivers “unusual but superb” riffs on British cuisine, alongside a list of “interesting wines” and “fine cocktails”. Top Tip – “a bangin’ place for a traditional breakfast in classy surroundings”.

“So hip, so uncomfortable, so cool it aches” – this funky Soho bar combines natural/biodynamic wines, Italian-North African small plates and sounds on vinyl. For fans, it’s a combination that “just makes me happy” – with its “delicious ingredient-led seasonal food, this place just gets better and better”. As for the “odd and cloudy” vino – “we were complete natural wine cretins and left knowing ever so slightly more, with a new favourite drink”.

“Perfect for dîner à deux” – the “quaint”, “rustic and candle-lit” interior of this “Dickensian” Soho “staple” remains one of the capital’s most romantic destinations, and its long-term ownership by antique print dealer Andrew Edmunds gives it a “charming and unpretentious” style of a rare kind, and fostered by his “genial” staff. “Yes, it’s cramped” (“you squeeze in at a tiny table with lots of noise”) and the “honest” and “straightforward food” – though “perfectly decent” – avoids fireworks. As an overall experience, though, it offers “excellent value” particularly due to the owner’s collection of wine: “Andrew still makes other lists look a rip-off” with “prices not much more than retail” for some fine vintages and “ever changing additions to the blackboard that are a pleasure to explore”. The ground floor is the safest bet – by comparison the basement can appear “dull”.

“With lashings of individuality”, this unreconstructed Soho wine bar from 1977 stands out for its “old-fashioned style and service” – “the owner, Simon, and his crew simply deliver!” – and “is still going strong with a traditional menu” of “classic French bistro food” (gravadlax, calf’s liver, steak…). There’s also a “most interesting wine list that has great depth at good prices, rather than too many wines at very high prices”. It can, though, “become a little overcrowded (due to its seeming popularity with the Chartered Surveyors’ Tribe)”.

“Utterly magic shakshuka served with chunks of roasted sourdough…”, “stand-out salt beef bagels…”, “incredible coffee with a selection of babka sweet breads (in different flavours!)…”, “ZFC – ‘za’atar fried chicken’ – to die for!…” – these “bustling” Israeli delis in Stoke Newington and Soho’s Kingly Court create queues (especially at brunch) with their “quite exceptional and startlingly fresh Middle-Eastern-cum-north-American food. They also make a worthwhile destination at dinner, when the pace is more sedate, the natural wines are flowing and you can actually book a table”. “Casual and relaxed”, they look “gorgeous” too.

“OTT-opulent decor, with a ‘push for champagne’ button in each booth” have carved a big name for Leonid Shutov’s fantastical Soho haunt, whose “high novelty factor” is extremely romantic (“you just have to take a date”). When it comes to Eric Chavot’s menu of luxurious classics (“amazing beef Wellington” for example) results undisputedly taste “very nice”, but the food is “expensive for what it is, and you get more adventurous cooking at the same price-bracket elsewhere”.

“Wonderful when it’s cold outside – with warm fires burning to make it very welcoming” – and blessed with a nice terrace for summer: this all-day Soho House brasserie (part of their hotel, in the heart of Soho) exudes just the right design pheromones to keep it permanently packed. “Just the job for a power breakfast – it serves decent kippers, cracking kedgeree and a full English that deserves the name”. At other times its English comfort food (when did you last see mince and potatoes on a menu?) neither greatly adds nor detracts from the experience.

A “great (and ever-changing) range of fairly priced wines”, together with a handwritten ‘Black Book’ of fine wines at low mark-ups, make this “fun and friendly” – but also “crowded” and “noisy” – modern Soho wine bar a regular haunt for wine trade insiders. The food is also “great”, “reliably delicious, and avoids cliches”, which makes it an ideal spot to “enjoy a long, relaxed, indulgent lunch”. A number of fans caution though that “prices seem to be creeping higher…”

Sitting in the cute courtyard of this “immaculately kept” newish hotel, you would never dream you were a two-minute stroll from Piccadilly Circus, and – in colder weather – its “quirky modern/traditional conservatory” is also a lovely destination. In keeping with other Firmdale hotels, the food avoids fireworks, but they have an “excellent-value set lunch and pre-theatre menu”, and some would argue it’s “the best place in town for afternoon tea – served on quirky china with hand-stitched white table linen and not at all rushed”.