London Soho Restaurant Guide

“The wait can sometimes be twice the time spent at the counter”, but no-one seems to mind at the Hart Bros kick-ass small group of Barcelona-inspired tapas haunts in Soho (now relocated to the ground floor of Quo Vadis) and Covent Garden. “The buzz is amazing” and, having nabbed a perch (fewer than 30 in each branch), everyone “loves the open kitchen and watching the keen staff at work”, while the dishes themselves are genius – “fresh seafood is amongst the highlights” but “even something as simple as tomato bruschetta is transformed here”. (So far, the February 2017 departure of founding group exec head chef, Nieves Barragán Mohacho, to found Sabor, has had zero effect on ratings – the new incumbent is Angel Zapata Martin.)

“The charming necessity to ring the doorbell to get in” helps “to whisk you miles from Soho” at this “intimate” and “elegant” townhouse, whose “calm and quiet atmosphere is amazing for somewhere just one street away from Shaftesbury Avenue”. Alexis Gauthier’s “mind-blowingly fantastic” seasonal cuisine is “some of the best French cooking in London” – “classic, but never old fashioned” – and backed up by an “unusual and interesting wine selection”; while “uncloying” service is of the “nothing-is-too-much-trouble” variety. “The absence of a Michelin Star since 2012 is baffling” and starkly calls into question the judgement of the tyre men. Top Tip – “lunch is a real snip”.

“Benefitting from its reduction in size to accommodate Barrafina’s move from Frith Street, QV is now more intimate” than it was before, and the ground floor of the Hart Bros’ Soho classic also feels even more “relaxed and convivial”, aided by its “sublimely attentive, yet also informal staff”. Appreciation for Jeremy Lee’s cuisine has stepped up a notch too – “sensational British food using the best seasonal produce”.

“Living up to its name” – Jason Atherton’s Soho ‘Social’ provides “one of the most enjoyable dining experiences” in town, with its “rare combination” of “exceptional value” dishes (“such modern, interesting yet ‘familiar’ food, focussed on flavour and pure pleasure”) delivered by “really attentive yet un-pushy staff” in “a casual and buzzy setting”.

“My daughter in law (born in Delhi) says it reminds her so much of Bombay food – and that is really high praise!” These “high energy” replicas of Mumbai’s Parsi cantinas are “quite exceptional” for a chain, with Indian reporters feeling “nostalgia for my childhood… the noise, the bustle, the products on display in the loos!” “The evening queues are deeply tedious” (“you can only book for 6 or more”) but the payoff is “exceptionally flavoursome Indian street-food with a difference”, “a fun cocktail list” and “a real buzz”. “Breakfast with a twist” is another option and it’s easier to get a table. Top Menu Tips – black dhal, or, for breakfast, their “reinvented bacon butty” – “a bacon naan with spicy ketchup is a great start to the day!”

“The ‘dirty’ steak is just something else” at Misha Zelman’s (of Goodman’s fame) genius brainchild – a cutely tucked-away, industrial cool unit (with an offshoot in residence at Harvey Nicks), where, he has reinvented “steak as a fastish-food concept”, providing “really superior steaks to share with generous side portions”. There’s also a “varied and not too expensive beer and wine list”, which helps fuel the fun atmosphere.

“Living up to all the rave reviews… and then some!” Rik Campbell and Will Bowlby’s “fun dive, off increasingly gaudy Shaftesbury Avenue” (the Soho successor to the wildly popular Brixton prototype in a shipping container) is “a whole new ball game!” offering “a great experience, even if it’s mad and rushed”. The “design is simple but sophisticated”, with much of the seating on stools at a long counter; and the “profoundly original dishes” – “derived largely from Mumbai street food but either elevated a notch or transformed imaginatively” – is “spicy without being overpowering” and “quite exceptional”.