Where to eat breakfast in Soho before nine on a weekday
Six doors that are open and serving before nine on a weekday, from a 7am espresso on Frith Street to Syrian fatteh in Kingly Court.
By Only Soho Editorial
Soho is a late-night district, but it does a decent early shift. These are Monday to Friday hours, so check before a weekend trip, when times shift. Here is where to go, in order of how early you can get in.
Gail's Bakery, 128 Wardour Street
The earliest door on the list. Gail's gives weekday hours of quarter to seven in the morning until seven at night. This is a bakery and takeaway stop rather than a sit-down fry-up, so treat it as the grab-and-go option. Sourdough, pastries, sandwiches and breakfast pots, with barista coffee. Order: a pastry and a flat white, eaten walking.
Bar Italia, 22 Frith Street
Open from 7am, and it has been in the Polledri family since 1949. The interior has barely been touched since, and there is counter seating for the quick version. Order: the Italian breakfast of a pastry and a double espresso. If you want something heftier, Ideal Magazine lists ciabatta rolls with Italian sausage or bacon at £4.20, which it calls an absolute steal for this part of town. There is a second Bar Italia at Outernet on Tottenham Court Road, but Frith Street is the one to visit. For the full effect, take a stool at the counter.
Dean Street Townhouse, 69 to 71 Dean Street
Breakfast from 7am in a pair of Georgian houses built in the 1730s, with a dining room of armchairs and British art. It belongs to Soho House but is open to non-members, and it suits a breakfast meeting. Booking a dining-room table is sensible. The menu runs from avocado on toast and a sausage sandwich to pancakes with bacon and syrup and a Full English. Oisin Rogers, landlord of The Devonshire, told Hot Dinners it has the best eggs Benedict in Soho for breakfast. Order: the eggs Benedict, at a table in the dining room.
The Breakfast Club, 33 D'Arblay Street
Weekdays from half seven until 3pm. Comfort food is the business here: pancakes, burgers, and a queue at busy times. Check whether you can book before you go, and arrive early if you cannot. Order: blueberry pancakes with bacon, or the full Monty if you have been up since dawn. There are also branches at 18 Old Compton Street, which opens at half seven, and on Berwick Street.
Dishoom Carnaby, Kingly Street
Breakfast runs from 8am to quarter to twelve on weekdays, in a 1960s Bombay-style café. Dishoom invites you to book to be first in line, or to walk in. The bacon naan roll is the one people queue for, and the menu also lists a sausage naan roll. If you want to go further, there is keema per eedu, chole puri halwa, and a pau bun dipped in chai. Bottomless chai is part of the Bombay-style breakfasts. Order: the bacon naan roll with a pot of chai.
Imad's Syrian Kitchen, top floor of Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street
Weekday breakfast starts at half eight and finishes at around half eleven. It is the most distinctive plate on this list. The menu is largely vegetarian, and the fatteh is the dish to choose. Ideal Magazine also points to the shawarma benedict, with chicken thigh and a poached egg on a crumpet under hollandaise, and Syrian coffee scented with cardamom. Imad Alarnab, who was a restaurateur in Damascus before settling in London, opened it in 2021, and it later moved to a larger space at the top of Kingly Court. It holds a Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Michelin Guide UK. Tripadvisor lists Imad's Breakfast at £18. There is no breakfast on Sundays. Order: the fatteh with cardamom coffee.
Just after nine
If you miss the window, Koya at 50 Frith Street opens at 10am every day and takes walk-ins only. It is worth the wait for its breakfast udon.
How to choose
- Fastest: Gail's on Wardour Street or the counter at Bar Italia.
- Meeting: Dean Street Townhouse.
- Hungry: The Breakfast Club or Dishoom Carnaby.
- Something different: Imad's, after half eight.
Details and menus: Bar Italia, The Breakfast Club, Dishoom Carnaby and Imad's Syrian Kitchen.
