Late-night food in Soho: where to eat after 11

The best late-night food in Soho is a bowl of noodles on Wardour Street at 3am, and Noodle & Beer at number 27 is the door, open until four. Soho never really closed, but its kitchens did, and the trick after eleven is knowing which ones still have the gas on. Here is where to eat late, by the hour, finishing where every good Soho night finishes: at Bar Italia.

Before midnight: a proper dinner

If the show ran long, you can still sit down. Bocca di Lupo on Archer Street takes its last booking at a quarter to eleven and keeps the bar open until midnight, with wines by the glass for the slow finish. Kiln on Brewer Street cooks until eleven from Monday to Saturday: order the pork loin and the brown rice. And Golden Phoenix on Gerrard Street serves dim sum until a quarter to midnight from Monday to Saturday, so the salted egg custard lava buns are a fair post-theatre supper. Add the turnip cakes in XO sauce and the roast duck, and ask for a table on the second floor, where it is quieter.

Midnight to one: the grown-up rooms

Two Soho townhouses keep going late. Kettner's on Romilly Street stays open until midnight from Monday to Wednesday and until 1am from Thursday to Saturday, in one of the prettiest dining rooms in London. Order the steak frites and a glass of champagne. Dean Street Townhouse at 69-71 Dean Street runs until midnight in the week and 1am on Friday and Saturday. It is our pick for a late plate and a nightcap in the same room.

One to two: dumplings and drunkard's noodles

Dumplings' Legend at 15-16 Gerrard Street stays open until 2am from Thursday to Saturday, and its soup dumplings are the thing to order: bite, sip, eat. Nearby, the upstairs bar at Speedboat Bar on Rupert Street runs until 1am at weekends, with the drunkard's noodles downstairs to soak it up. And if you are still drinking, SOMA on Denman Street pours Indian-spiced cocktails until 3am at the weekend.

Drinks with your late supper

• El Siete, Brewer Street. A neon-red agave bar below El Pastor, open until 1am every night, with seven margaritas on the list. Order one with mezcal.
• The Black Book, Frith Street. A sommeliers' basement with one of London's biggest by-the-glass lists, open Wednesday to Saturday, and members can stay on after 1am. Order a glass of something old and rare.
• SOMA, 14 Denman Street. Until 3am at weekends, with jazz early and hip hop late. Order the rum sour with clarified chai and ginger.

Two to five: the Wardour Street shift

After two, Chinatown is the only game in town, and The Infatuation has the two kitchens that see dawn coming.

• Noodle & Beer, 27 Wardour Street. Sichuan, open until 4am. Order the braised beef short rib noodles, or the miso noodles, and a cold beer.
• Old Town 97, 19 Wardour Street. Big tables and a kitchen that closes around 4am. Order the stir-fried duck in black bean sauce and the fried udon with shredded duck. Bring the whole party.
• Lanzhou Noodle Bar, 33 Cranbourn Street. Just over the Chinatown line, open until 2am in the week and 5am on Friday and Saturday. Order beef brisket on noodles in soup, or crispy siu yok, or spicy peanut noodles if you are done with meat for the night.

The last stop: Bar Italia, 22 Frith Street

Bar Italia has been pouring coffee on Frith Street since 1949, and Time Out lists it as open until 3am. This is how a Soho night ends. Stand at the counter, order a double espresso, and stay for the people-watching, as half of Soho drifts home past the window and the other half decides whether the night is over. It usually is not.

Late-night Soho, the rules

• Check the day. Most late kitchens push hours at the end of the week. Dumplings' Legend shuts at ten on a Monday and at 2am on a Saturday.
• Walk in, do not book. After midnight, nobody takes reservations, and nobody needs to.
• Order more than you think. Noodles at 3am are never regretted. Being hungry at 4am always is.
• Be kind. The people feeding you at this hour are working the hardest shift in Soho. Tip like you mean it.