The best restaurants in Soho

If you only book one table in Soho this season, make it Impala on Dean Street, and sit at the kitchen counter under the hanging ducks. After that, the best restaurants in Soho split into two camps: the new arrivals that critics are queuing for, and the old rooms that have been feeding Soho for decades and still do it better than anyone. Here are the ones we would stand behind, each with the dish, the drink or the seat.

The new ones worth the fuss

Impala, 13-14 Dean Street

Impala comes from Super 8, the group behind Kiln, Smoking Goat, Brat and Mountain, with Meedu Saad running the kitchen and cooking from her Egyptian heritage. Time Out gave it five stars and puts it 11th in London. The menu is long and wants a greedy group. Order the dry-aged, wood-fired duck with fig jus, the white bean dip with bottarga and the shefatalia pork patties, then more bread than you think you need. Small plates run £7 to £21. Ask for the kitchen counter, where you can watch the grill.

Kid, 53-55 Frith Street

The door is on Bateman Street, which is the first test. Kid is Sertaç Dirik, who ran Mangal 2, with David Carter of Manteca, and it dresses Anatolian cooking up for a night out. The Time Out review sends you to the sucuk with grilled peach, the smoked aubergine dip with pide and the mackerel done in the style of Istanbul's galata wrap. Drink raki. Mains run £14 to £58, so pick your lane.

Osteria Vibrato, 6 Greek Street

Charlie Mellor, who opened Laughing Heart on Hackney Road, has built the most fun room in Soho: candlelight, fishbowl wine glasses and a waiter in a white jacket who sits down at the upright piano and plays jazz. Go late, go loud, and order the Sicilian red prawns and the rigatoni alla gricia with artichokes. Pasta is £23 to £30.

The Soho classics

Quo Vadis, 26-29 Dean Street

Quo Vadis is old Soho at its most generous. Jeremy Lee cooks seasonal British food, lunch runs Monday to Saturday from noon until half two, and dinner from five until ten. Order the smoked eel sandwich with horseradish, and the pie of the day if it is on. A long lunch here is a Soho rite of passage.

The French House dining room, 49 Dean Street

Upstairs at The French House is a small room with a menu that changes every day. Bookings open 60 days ahead for parties of up to six, and lunch runs from noon until three. Have a half in the bar downstairs first, then take whatever the kitchen says is good today.

Andrew Edmunds, 46 Lexington Street

Andrew Edmunds has been lit by candles in old wine bottles since 1985, in a Georgian townhouse with church pews and tables that sit a little too close. The menu is handwritten daily, and the wine list is priced nearer to retail than to Soho, so this is where to order the bottle you would normally skip.

Counters and walk-ins

Barrafina, 26-27 Dean Street

Barrafina Dean Street takes no bookings, so arrive for opening at noon and take a stool at the marble counter. Order a tortilla, the milk-fed lamb sweetbreads and a glass of sherry, then check the specials board.

Kiln, 58 Brewer Street

Kiln is a steel counter facing the fire, cooking northern Thai food in clay pots, and the kitchen runs until eleven from Monday to Saturday. Sit at the back for the view into the kiln. Order the pork loin with its lime, fish sauce and chilli dip, the beef neck curry and extra brown rice.

Koya, 50 Frith Street

Koya is walk-in only and open from ten until ten every day. The udon is the reason. Order the mushroom udon with walnut miso, or come in the morning for the English breakfast udon, the best hangover cure on Frith Street.

Two more we would send a friend to

• Hoppers, 49 Frith Street. Sri Lankan, small prices for big flavours. Order a hopper, the goat roti and a kari.
• Bocca di Lupo, 12 Archer Street. Regional Italian with a menu that changes twice a day, a two-seat chef's counter facing the kitchen and a bar open until midnight. Order a mix of small plates from different regions and finish with the house gelato.

How to eat well in Soho

Book the new places early in the week and the classics for lunch, when Soho is calmer and the rooms are at their best. Walk-ins are easiest before half six or after nine. For the long list, the Time Out Soho guide runs to 50 places. We would start with these twelve.