The best coffee in Soho, from Bar Italia on
An espresso at the counter of Bar Italia, a £1.20 shot from a shop open since 1887, and a coffee frozen to minus 86. Soho by the cup.
By Only Soho Editorial
Bar Italia at 2am: stand at the counter, order a double, and stay for the people-watching. That is still the best coffee in Soho, and it has been since 1949. But Soho's coffee has grown up around it, from a bean shop that opened in 1887 to a bakery that freezes its glasses. Here is where to drink coffee in Soho, by the hour.
Bar Italia, 22 Frith Street
Bar Italia opened in 1949 as a meeting place for Soho's Italian community, and its Gaggia espresso machine is part of the furniture of Frith Street. Time Out lists it as open until 3am, which makes it the only proper coffee in Soho after the bars shut. The espresso is punchy and the cappuccino is old-school. Go at midnight, take a seat facing Frith Street, and order a double espresso.
Algerian Coffee Stores, 52 Old Compton Street
Algerian Coffee Stores has been selling beans on Old Compton Street since 1887, behind the same wooden counter, shelves and display cases for well over a century. It is mainly a shop, selling beans and speciality teas, but the takeaway counter is the best deal in central London: espresso £1.20, a double £1.50, cappuccino £2. Order a double and buy 250g of a house blend while you are there.
Bar Termini, 7 Old Compton Street
Bar Termini is a tiny 1950s-style Italian bar that does coffee by day and negronis by night. Service is at the table, for 25, unless you order an espresso al bar and drink it standing up, the Roman way. Go mid-morning, before the cocktail crowd, and order the espresso al bar.
Kiss the Hippo, 30 Golden Square
The specialty pick, on the west side of Soho by Golden Square. Kiss the Hippo calls itself the UK's first carbon-negative coffee company, and the café is as design-forward as the cups. Order the George Street flat white and take it out into the square.
Onsu, 55A Dean Street
The newest coffee in Soho comes from a bakery. Onsu, from former Dorchester pastry chef Michael Kwan, serves a Minus 86 Dirty Coffee in a glass frozen to that temperature, and The Infatuation warns of a queue at opening time. Get there early and order the dirty coffee with a wagyu curry bun.
Four more worth the walk
- Colombian Coffee Company, 22 Greek Street. Single-origin Colombian beans, with profits going back to growers. Order a filter and an empanada.
- Old Spike, 15-16 Sherwood Street. Coffee with a conscience: profits fund housing and work programmes for people affected by homelessness. Order a flat white and feel good about the second one.
- Dark Arts at Aries, 13 Bridle Lane. A coffee bar inside the Aries flagship store, with rotating single-origin espressos and filter brews. Order whatever single origin is on as a filter, then browse.
- Bar Jackie, 20 Broadwick Street. An Italian café-bar at the Broadwick Soho hotel, with a street-level terrace. Order a cappuccino and a cornetto, freshly baked.
Coffee with breakfast
If you want a plate with your cup, Soho opens early. Dean Street Townhouse at 69-71 Dean Street starts serving at seven on weekdays. Kettner's on Romilly Street opens at half seven. Govinda's on Soho Street opens at half seven too, for something gentler. And Koya on Frith Street does a Japanese breakfast set from ten, which goes very well with a green tea and very badly with a hangover espresso. Our pick for a working breakfast is the Townhouse: a corner table, a pot of coffee and the papers.
Beans to take home
Soho is still one of the best places in London to buy coffee as well as drink it. Algerian Coffee Stores weighs out beans and blends from behind its old counter and sells speciality teas alongside. Colombian Coffee Company on Greek Street sells single-origin Colombian beans with the profits going back to the growers. Our advice: buy a small bag from each, brew them side by side at home on Sunday, and decide which side of Old Compton Street you are on.
Coffee in Soho, by the hour
- First thing: Onsu, before the queue, or a cornetto at Bar Jackie.
- Eleven: an espresso al bar at Bar Termini.
- Three in the afternoon: a £1.20 shot from Algerian Coffee Stores, and a bag of beans for home.
- Midnight and beyond: Bar Italia, outside, watching Soho go by.
A last word on etiquette. In the Italian bars, an espresso is drunk in three sips and paid for at the till, and a cappuccino after lunch will get a look but never a refusal. Soho has always forgiven its regulars, and after a week of this, you will be one.
