The Best Restaurants Soho, London: Where to Eat in 2026

The hard part of picking the best restaurants in Soho, London is not finding good food, it’s choosing between hundreds in half a square mile. This guide is organized by what you are in the mood for rather than by ranking. There is a section for Thai cooked over fire, for tapas, sushi, vegan fine dining, and a proper pub, each with what to order. My favorite is last, a pub where you can get the best traditional fare. Most fill by 7pm, so book ahead.

Best Overall Restaurant in Soho: Kiln

Kiln is the Soho restaurant most critics name first, and it is the one I would send anyone to for a single meal. It serves regional Thai food cooked over live fire, with British ingredients and a menu that changes often. The upstairs counter is walk-in only, with seats overlooking the open kitchen and the flames, and the downstairs room takes bookings. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, the guide’s award for good food at good value.

What to Order: The clay pot noodles with pork and brown crab meat are the dish to get, along with the jungle curry. Sit at the counter if you can, since the cooking is part of the experience.
Best If: You want one great Soho meal that is exciting without being expensive, and you do not mind queuing for the counter.
Skip If: You want a quiet, spacious dinner. Kiln is tight, loud, and built around the counter, so it is a poor fit for a calm gathering.

**Patara Soho is a great alternative if you love Thai food and a swanky environment**

Best Italian Restaurant in Soho: Bocca di Lupo

Bocca di Lupo serves regional Italian food on Archer Street, with dishes drawn from across Italy rather than one region. Plates come in small or large sizes, so you can order widely and share, and the counter seating faces the open kitchen. It is a long-running Soho favorite that stays consistently busy, and the gelateria across the street, Gelupo, is run by the same team for dessert.

What to Order: The fritto misto and the seasonal pastas are reliable, and ordering several small plates is the way to eat here. Cross to Gelupo afterward for the gelato.
Best If: You want regional Italian cooking beyond the usual pizza and pasta, in a lively room good for sharing.
Skip If: You want a cheap plate of spaghetti. Bocca di Lupo is mid-range and built for grazing across several dishes, which adds up.

Best Sushi and Japanese in Soho: Sushi Kyu and Engawa

Soho has two strong Japanese counters for sushi, both built around omakase. Sushi Kyu, on Brewer Street, is a 10-seat omakase counter and the better-value of the two, with a pre-theatre omakase under £50 and a dinner omakase around £75. The menu changing daily with the catch. Engawa, in Ham Yard Village, focuses on wagyu and sushi, with three and five-course omakase menus and a sushi box at lunch for around £45. Both seat you at the counter to watch the chef work.

What to Order: At Sushi Kyu, the omakase nigiri progression, with the pre-theatre menu for the best value. At Engawa, the omakase with both wagyu and sushi courses, or the lunch sushi box for a cheaper option.

Best If: You want proper Edomae-style sushi or wagyu at a Soho counter, and you can book ahead for a seated omakase.

Skip If: You want a quick, cheap bite or a big group table. These are small counters built for advance booking and seated omakase, not walk-in casual dining.

Best Taiwanese Food in Soho: Bao

Bao Soho built its name on steamed bao buns and Taiwanese small plates, and it holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for good food at a fair price. The original Soho site, on Lexington Street, is tiny and walk-in only, serving fluffy gua bao filled with braised pork alongside xiao chi, which are small portions of Taiwanese street food. It’s fast, affordable, and busy, with a queue at peak times that moves quickly.

What to Order: The fried chicken, classic pork bao and the confit pork bao, plus the fried Horlicks ice cream for dessert. Add the daikon and the aged-beef bao if you are hungry.
Best If: You want a fast, affordable, high-quality Taiwanese tasting in the middle of Soho without booking.
Skip If: You want a long sit-down dinner or a quiet table. Bao Soho is small, busy, and built for a quick meal at the counter.

Best Vegan Restaurant in Soho: Gauthier Soho

Gauthier Soho is a well-known vegan fine-dining restaurants in London, set in a Georgian townhouse on Romilly Street. Chef Alexis Gauthier turned the kitchen fully plant-based in 2021, and the food is French in technique, served as a tasting menu across several courses. It’s a special-occasion restaurant rather than a casual dinner, and it books up well in advance.

What to Order: Go with the tasting menu, which is how the kitchen is designed to serve. The brioche and the vegan caviar come up repeatedly in reviews as high points.
Best If: You want plant-based fine dining for a celebration and you can book ahead.
Skip If: You want a quick or budget vegan meal. For that, Gauthier’s more casual spin-offs nearby are a better fit than the flagship tasting menu.

Best Tapas in Soho: Barrafina

Barrafina serves some of the best Spanish food in London from a counter on Dean Street. There are no tables in the traditional sense. You sit at the marble bar, watch the chefs work, and order tapas as you go. It is walk-in only, so there is usually a wait, and the regulars order a glass of cava and some bar snacks while they stand in line. It holds a 4.5 rating across thousands of reviews. I stayed at Mimi’s SoHo around the corner and this place was always packed but worth the wait.

What to Order: The daily specials on the chalk board are usually the best things in the kitchen, built around what came in fresh. The tortilla and the seafood plates are dependable.
Best If: You are happy eating at a counter, you want top-tier tapas, and you do not need a reservation or a private table.
Skip If: You are in a large group or want to sit at a normal table. The counter-only format does not suit either.

Best Value Restaurant in Soho: Brasserie Zedel

Brasserie Zedel is a grand French brasserie in a 1930s art deco hall just off Piccadilly Circus, and it’s a great value for central London. The prix-fixe menu costs around £16 for two courses, which is rare for a room this size and this central. It’s large enough to usually seat walk-ins, and the attached Bar Americain and the Crazy Coqs cabaret venue make it a full night out.

What to Order: The prix-fixe is the reason to come, with the steak haché and the choucroute as great options for mains. The onglet steak off the main menu is a step up if you’re interested.
Best If: You want an affordable, atmospheric sit-down dinner near the theatres, especially before a show.
Skip If: You’re after refined or inventive cooking. Zedel relies on value and the room, not on cutting-edge food.

Best Pub in Soho: The Dog and Duck

The Dog and Duck is a Grade II listed Victorian pub on the corner of Bateman and Frith Streets, built in 1897 on a site licensed since 1734. The interior is the draw as much as the food, with thousands of glazed tiles, mahogany panelling, and decorative mirrors that make it one of the best-preserved period pubs in London. George Orwell was a regular in the 1940s, and the upstairs dining room is named after him. It’s a Nicholson’s pub, so the food is traditional British, with pies, fish and chips, and chicken tika masala as the specialities.

🏆 My Personal Pick

The Dog and Duck is my pick of the whole list, and for my money it’s the best restaurant in Soho, London. The Victorian interior is worth the visit on its own, and it has the history I was looking for in a London pub. The traditional British pub fare is really good too. I loved the game pie, and my wife had the root vegetable version and rated it just as highly. Go upstairs to the Orwell room for a pie and a pint, and get there early, because it is tiny and fills up fast even on a weeknight.

What to Order: A pie from the Nicholson’s menu and a cask ale at the bar. The game pie is the one to get, with a good root vegetable pie for anyone skipping meat. The pies are the kitchen’s speciality and the reason to eat rather than just drink here.
Best If: You want a historic Soho pub with genuine character, a pint, and traditional British food in the middle of the West End.
Skip If: You need space or a quiet table. The Dog and Duck is small and gets packed, so it is not the spot for a long, relaxed sit-down dinner.

I went back for the fish and chips at Dog and Duck and it was also delicious

Best Restaurants in Soho: What to Know Before You Go

A few practical points apply across these. Soho is small and walkable, so you can easily combine a drink at one spot with dinner at another a few streets away. The walk-in places, Kiln’s counter, Barrafina, and Bao, are best early or off-peak to avoid the longest queues, while Gauthier Soho needs booking days or weeks ahead. Prices range from a £16 prix-fixe at Zedel to a multi-course tasting menu at Gauthier, so match the spot to the occasion. For halal diners, check with each restaurant directly, since most of these are not dedicated halal kitchens.

Where to Stay in London: My Top Picks

Generator London is my go-to budget spot in the city. It’s comfortable and stylish in a way most hostels aren’t, and it’s an easy base near King’s Cross.
Mimi’s Hotel Soho is one of my favorite hotels in London for the vibe, the price, and the location, right next door to the Dog and Duck and a short walk from the rest of my Soho picks. Be aware that some rooms don’t have windows, which the website states clearly, so check before you book if that matters to you.
Canopy by Hilton London City is another favorite, close to the Tower of London and an easy walk to both Borough Market and Sky Garden, which are in my top recommendations. The hotel also has a great rooftop bar and first floor restaurant.
The Ned London occupies the old Midland Bank building in the City, and is about ten minutes from Sky Garden. The ground floor holds a whole collection of restaurants under the original banking hall columns and the brunch is outstanding.
The Savoy London is the classic London splurge on the Strand, with Kaspar’s for seafood and the American Bar for a proper cocktail.

🍪 Final Bite

Soho is easier when you know what you want before you go, since the variety is the hard part. For one great meal, go to Kiln. For value and atmosphere, Brasserie Zedel. For a special occasion, Gauthier Soho or a seat at Barrafina’s counter. And when you want a pint and a pie in a room with real history, the Dog and Duck is the best pub in the neighborhood and my pick of the lot. Soho is compact enough to do two or three of these in a single day if you pace yourself.

Got a Soho restaurant or pub you always go back to? Tell me your favorite in the comments.

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