Date night in Soho: where to go
Candles in wine bottles on Lexington Street, a waiter at the piano on Greek Street, a button that summons champagne. Soho does romance better than anywhere in London.
By Only Soho Editorial
The best date night in Soho starts with a negroni at Bar Termini, moves on to dinner by candlelight at Andrew Edmunds on Lexington Street, and ends in a velvet booth at Disrepute. Soho has been the place Londoners take each other to impress for a century, and it still has the rooms to do it. Here is where we would book, depending on the date, with the dish to share and the seat to ask for.
For the romantics: Andrew Edmunds, 46 Lexington Street
Andrew Edmunds is the most romantic room in Soho, and it knows it. It opened in 1985 in a Georgian townhouse, and it is still candlelit, wood-panelled and furnished with church pews, with candles stuck in old wine bottles and tables so close you will make friends with the next couple. The menu is handwritten every day. The wine list is the secret: older and rare vintages priced nearer to retail than restaurant. Book for eight, order a bottle you would never see elsewhere, and share whatever the kitchen is proudest of today.
For a first date: Osteria Vibrato, 6 Greek Street
A first date needs noise, so nobody hears the silences. Osteria Vibrato is heroically convivial: candlelight, pewter candlesticks, wine in fishbowl glasses and a waiter in a white jacket who sits down at the upright piano and plays jazz. Order the Sicilian red prawns to share and the rigatoni alla gricia, and if it is going well, the veal alla castellana for the second round.
For the show-offs: Bob Bob Ricard, 1-3 Upper James Street
Bob Bob Ricard calls itself London's most glamorous all-booth restaurant, and every booth has a Press for Champagne button. It is camp, it is ridiculous, and it works. Order the beef wellington to share, press the button at least once, and let the evening get away from you.
For the old-fashioned: Kettner's, 29 Romilly Street
Auguste Kettner opened his restaurant in 1867, and today Kettner's has one of the prettiest dining rooms in London, a Champagne Bar and 33 bedrooms upstairs, should the evening require it. Three courses are £29. Order the soufflé and share it, steak frites, and two spoons for the mousse au chocolat. It stays open until 1am from Thursday to Saturday, so there is no rush.
For the curious: the counter at Bocca di Lupo, 12 Archer Street
Side by side is easier than face to face on an early date. The chef's counter at Bocca di Lupo is a run of high leather stools facing the open kitchen, bookable online, and the regional Italian menu changes twice a day. Order three small plates and let the cooking do the talking.
For a long lunch: Noble Rot Soho, Greek Street
Some of the best dates happen at one in the afternoon. Noble Rot took over the old Gay Hussar on Greek Street and runs a set lunch every day it opens, Monday to Saturday, with a classic list heavy on Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône. It is licensed as a restaurant, so you will be eating, which is the point. Order a white Burgundy by the glass, take the set, and cancel the afternoon.
For the adventurous: Impala, 13-14 Dean Street
If your date likes to talk about food, take them to the kitchen counter at Impala, under the hanging ducks, where the cooking is Egyptian and the menu is long. Order the wood-fired duck with fig jus to share, and plenty of bread.
Before and after
Bar Termini, 7 Old Compton Street
Start here. Bar Termini is a tiny 1950s Italian bar with seats for 25, where the house negroni is poured right to the brim. Order two and do not spill.
Disrepute, beneath Kingly Court
Disrepute is underground, all velvet booths, brass and mirrors, and DesignMyNight rates it as a date-night bar for good reason. It sits on the UK Top 50 Cocktail Bars list too. Book a booth for after dinner and let the bartender choose.
Bar Italia, 22 Frith Street
And when it is late and neither of you wants to go home yet: Bar Italia, open into the small hours, for a coffee at the counter. If the date has gone well, this is where you will tell the story from.
Date night, the rules
- Book the table, walk to the bar. Restaurants need a reservation. Bars like Termini are better on the off-chance.
- Ask for the right seat. A booth at Bob Bob Ricard, a corner at Andrew Edmunds, the counter at Bocca di Lupo.
- Share a pudding. One soufflé, two spoons. It is the oldest trick in Soho.
- Walk between stops. Soho is small. The stroll from Lexington Street to Frith Street is part of the date.
