Greek Street, Soho: where to eat, from the snail house to the cake shop

Greek Street runs from Soho Square down to Shaftesbury Avenue, and it is a street of old restaurant names. It is where you take someone you want to impress without trying too hard. Here is the street from the top, with what to order in each.

Why Greek Street

According to the Survey of London, the name was in use by 1679, before much of the street was built, and it almost certainly comes from the Greek Church put up in 1677 nearby. The street's residents have included Casanova, who was living here around 1764. In 1774 the potter Josiah Wedgwood took numbers 12 and 13 as his London showroom, and that year he put the famous dinner service made for Catherine the Great on display across five rooms. Wedgwood stayed until 1797. Greek Street has been showing off to customers ever since.

The top of the street

Start at the corner with Soho Square, where number 1 Greek Street is a grand Georgian house, now the House of St Barnabas. The Survey records that Joseph Pearce built the mansion in the 1740s, and that it stood empty until 1754, when Richard Beckford, of a rich family of West Indian planters, bought the lease. The two smaller houses below it, numbers 2 and 3, went up at the same time and were first lived in in 1748. Today they hold a wine restaurant and a whisky shop, which feels like the right use for them. Stand on the corner, look at the doorways, then go in.

Milroy's, 3 Greek Street

At the Soho Square end, Milroy's is a whisky shop with a bar, and behind a bookcase there is a second bar, The Vault, for cocktails and jazz nights. Come here first. Take a stool at the whisky bar and order a dram from Milroy's own bottlings.

Noble Rot Soho, 2 Greek Street

Next door, Noble Rot Soho is the Greek Street outpost of the wine magazine's restaurants, with a long wine list and a private dining room. It is the place for a slow lunch that turns into an afternoon. Let the sommelier choose a bottle and order whatever the kitchen has put on for the season.

Maison Bertaux, 28 Greek Street

Halfway down, Maison Bertaux has been making cakes in Soho since 1871. It is a Soho survivor in the way only a cake shop can be, and the cakes are made for the long Soho afternoon. Go on a weekday afternoon, when you can get a seat, and order a slice of cake and a coffee.

L'Escargot, 48 Greek Street

Lower down at number 48 is L'Escargot, which calls itself London's oldest French restaurant. It was established in 1896 and has been on Greek Street since 1927, with private rooms upstairs and a welcome for dogs. It is open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday, and it runs a prix fixe menu built to get you to the theatre before curtain up. Book a table for six o'clock and order from the prix fixe.

Lina Stores, 51 Greek Street

Across the road, Lina Stores opened its first restaurant here, a short walk from the original 1944 deli on Brewer Street. It serves the classic pasta dishes the deli is known for, with antipasti and dolci, and it is open all day from Friday to Sunday. Take a table, order a plate of pasta and a glass of red, and finish with a dolce.

Kettner's, 29 Romilly Street

Just off the bottom of Greek Street, on Romilly Street, is Kettner's, founded by the chef Auguste Kettner in 1867. Today it is a townhouse with 33 bedrooms, a French bistro and an Art Deco Champagne Bar. The menu goes back to its roots with Terrine de Campagne, Poulet aux Morilles and Côte de Boeuf. Book the bistro and order the Poulet aux Morilles, then take your last drink in the Champagne Bar, which stays open until 1am from Thursday to Saturday.

How to do Greek Street

For a long lunch, Noble Rot. For a pre-theatre dinner, L'Escargot at six. For a weeknight supper, Lina Stores. Then a whisky at Milroy's or a glass of champagne at Kettner's to finish. Greek Street is short, so you can do two of those in one evening and still make last orders.