Restaurants in Soho, London

Soho is the densest patch of restaurants in London, packed into a few hundred metres between Chinatown and Carnaby. You can walk past forty places in ten minutes and still not know which one is right for tonight. That's the real problem here, not scarcity.

Old Compton Street and Berwick Street carry the daytime buzz, small plates rooms, wine bars, counters where you eat standing up. Gerrard Street and around it is where you go for Cantonese roast meats and dim sum, some of the best in the city. Dean Street and the streets running off it lean toward proper sit-down dinners, the kind of place you book ahead for a date or a birthday.

Timing matters more in Soho than most places. Early evening, before seven, you can usually walk into most rooms. After eight on a Friday or Saturday, the good ones fill fast and the queue outside becomes part of the experience whether you want it or not. Midweek lunch is the quiet window if you want a table without waiting.

What suits whom: if you want something fast and cheap, the counters and noodle bars around Chinatown and Berwick Street do the job well. If you're after a proper meal with wine and no rush, look toward Dean Street and Greek Street. Groups do best in the bigger rooms near Wardour Street, which can seat more people without a long wait.

Below is a live list of food events happening in and around Soho this week, pulled in real time, so you can see what's actually on before you head out.