The best restaurants in Soho

The Devonshire is a team-up between top landlord Oisin Rogers, founder of Flat Iron Charlie Carroll, and chef Ashley Palmer-Watts. There's a traditional pub on the lower level and a wood-ember grill restaurant on the upper floors. Downstairs, the pub sells some of the best Guinness in London (as well as unique features like three hidden snugs). The wood-ember grill upstairs takes classic grill dishes and elevates them considerably, with some of the best lamb chops in London, a great suet pie and a standout chocolate mousse.

Tomos Parry is the man behind the uber-successful Brat and this is his just as successful Soho restaurant. Here Parry takes his influences from both Spain and Wales, with a big eye on local sourcing and both cheese and bread made in-house. Expect top sharing plates like lobster caldereta, grilled meats and some excellent small plates too.

Jacob Kenedy's Soho Italian wins universal praise for its cuisine, a well-chosen wine list and for being one of the best counter dining spots in London. Pull up a stool at the counter and enjoy the regional Italian dishes on a menu that changes regularly..

Bob Bob Ricard remains one of our personal favourite spots in town. We don't know whether it's the fantastically blingy design, the rich food with just a hint of Eastern European in there, the "press for champagne" button or... who are we kidding, it's definitely the Press For Champagne button.

Quo Vadis has Jeremy Lee in the kitchen and he's been cooking up a wonderfully British menu. The restaurant has recently had a revamp, bringing it back to former glory and it now fits in twice as many diners as before. The food serves some of the best British/European dining in town, and the pies and smoked eel sandwich are a must.

This restaurant is from the founder of the Smoking Goat, still focusing on Thai food but going for simplicity. Expect a short grill menu and a daily noodle dish and a regularly changing wine list. It's primarily counter dining too and the very devil to get a seat at key times due to its popularity.

This restaurant in Soho has become a perennial Soho favourite. Expect a daily-changing menu that will concentrate on seasonality and fresh ingredients. And on top of that, a particularly good wine list too, called their "Little Black Book".

This classic French institution has been in Soho for more than 100 years, serving up classic French cuisine. And, as you can imagine from the name, it serves the very best snails in London. A wonderful institution that still has great life in it.

The French House is mainly known as a classic Soho pub - but it also has a dining room upstairs. It's a small affair - it almost feels like a private dining room - but it's hosted some great names. It's now home to chef Neil Borthwick who's very much at home here serving up French classics.

Victor Garvey's Soho restaurant looks towards Californian fine-dining restaurants for its inspiration. So there's a West Coast USA vibe to the restaurant, fitted into its Soho location.

After a number of years in pop-ups and other spaces across town, Rita's have settled in Soho for their main restaurant (they also do sandwiches in Dalston). The menu is inspired by owners Gabriel Pryce and Missy Flynn travels across the Americas and the wine list is pretty special too.

This is top chef Angelo Sato's solo Soho restaurant and while it started life as a restaurant that was all about chicken, it's now changed into a much broader omakase affair that's described as serving a "Japanese-inspired 8-course tasting menu with a European accent."

Asma Khan's restaurant returns to where it all began, in Carnaby's Kingly Court. Now the restaurant is much more of an open affair, showcasing the kitchen. The menu still serves up some of the best Indian food in London, as well as their much-loved biryanis.

This is the follow up to the original Noble Rot, led by Mark Andrew and Daniel Keeling. This Soho outing is a purely restaurant affair, which takes on the building that used to be the Gay Hussar. Dishes explore the heritage of that Hungarian restaurant and, of course, there's an excellent wine list.

Set on a prime corner site on the junction of Berwick and Noel Street in the heart of Soho, this tapas restaurant sees North London restaurateur Stephen Lironi hitting up the West End for his first central London opening. The food might be Spanish but there’s a strong Scottish influence here too, with super fresh razor clams and hake arriving down from the Scottish coast daily.

After success at Arcade food hall with Plaza Khao Gaeng, this is Luke Farrell's first standalone restaurant. It's all about bringing a taste of the late-night canteens of Bangkok’s Chinatown to Soho offering curries, stir fries, drunken noodles and more.

The original Milk Beach opened in Queen's Park before opening this second more central restaurant in Soho. It's part of a redevelopment of the area brought about by the launch of the Elizabeth line. As with the original, this features a mix of South-East Asian and Mediterranean cuisine with an occasional Australian flourish.

Bubala first started out in Spitalfields (with pop-ups before that) before opening this second Soho restaurant, featuring food that takes its inspiration from across the Middle East. It's also an entirely vegetarian experience.

People may complain about the sharp table-turning at this subterranean Chinese restaurant - Alan Yau's follow-up to Hakkkasan, but you'll never hear a bad word about the dim sum. If it's something sweet you're after, head for the street-level patisserie and tea shop.

Often cited as one of the most romantic restaurants in London, this Soho stalwart is also a great old-fashioned bistro with a decent wine list. If you're looking for somewhere to be flatteringly lit by candlelight - this is the spot.

Alexis Gauthier brings his own take on French cuisine in the marvellous setting of this Georgian townhouse. The menu is now entirely vegan, making this one of the best fine dining vegan spots in town.

Hands down one of the best counter dining experience in town, albeit not the quietest one. Expect a Jerusalem-style menu here, with additional influences from Southern Spain and Italy, North Africa through to the Levant. You can grab a table at the back - but try for the full-on counter experience if you can.

Blacklock's main speciality is chops - beef, pork and lamb and all at pretty good value. You'll want to go all-in with the chops dripping onto flatbread, but keep an eye out for some great steaks on the specials board. With very affordable cocktails too, a good time is guaranteed.

This was Yotam Ottolenghi's first full-blown London restaurant, following in the footsteps of his still-crazily popular delis. The menu features plenty of sharing dishes - signatures include their courgette and manouri fritters and Valdeón cheesecake.

From the same people behind Barrica, this is one of Soho's most popular tapas bars - all stools and standing space only. The menu changes daily and you can find many Spanish tapas classics on it, with lots of Spanish wine to go alongside.

This North Italian restaurant was a bit of a sleeper hit at first until word got out about how great the food was. Descend to the basement restaurant for dishes like pappardelle with slow-cooked hare or hand-chopped raw veal with Parmesan as well as a 10 seater bar specialising in Vermouth.

This restaurant comes from the people behind Salt Yard and takes its inspiration from the rural Basque and Italian methods of smoking and grilling over charcoal. The menu is almost entirely cooked on a custom built charcoal fired grill.

Coming from the Sethi siblings, best known for Gymkhana and more, this is inspired by roadside shacks (boutiques) of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. These shacks focus on hoppers and dosas which is what Hoppers is all about. Persist in trying to get a table at peak times, it's worth it and very affordable.

Blanchette is from three brothers Maxime, Yannis and Malik Alary who are behind this "French bistro serving simple, classic and inventive French food". It's primarily based around sharing "French tapas" plates.

After beginning life in a shipping container as one of the first restaurants in Pop Brixton, Kricket has come a long way. Inspired by Indian cuisine, they offer an ever-changing menu of Indian small plates. And they feature what may be one of our favourite snacks in town, the samphire pakora dish.

Downstairs from Soho pub The Blue Posts is this tiny restaurant, run by head chef James Goodyear. It's a small counter dining affair with only 11 seats. Expect a regularly changing menu that mixes up British produce with Scandinavian and Japanese techniques.

The original Barrafina moved from its Frith Street location to take up pride of place beside (and a chunk out of) Quo Vadis. This is the Spanish tapas brand's main location in Soho and features some of the best Spanish food in London, as well as great counter action.

Randall & Aubin is a Soho institution, having been here for over 20 years. And there's a reason for its longevity - eating here is a lot of fun. There's a big emphasis on sustainability, on French and British seafood classics - as well as some great rotisserie chicken.

Paradise took over the space once held by Spuntino, serving up British and Sri Lankan ingredients in a menu that's inspired by the owner's childhood trips to Sri Lanka. This is matched by a sleek room designed by the people who did Smoking Goat and Klin.

If you love nothing more than getting stuck into a kebab then prepare to have your horizons widened by Berenjak, which focuses on recreating proper Persian-style kebabs, stews, sides, with a Soho twist. It all comes from JKS, the same people who've had successes with Hoppers, Trishna, Bao, Brigadiers and more.

The original Lina Stores deli was open for 75 years in Soho, giving them plenty of time to get things right before opening this, their first restaurant. Counter dining on the ground floor allows you to see all the action - and the pasta, as you'd expect, is great.

One of the most successful example of street food vendors going permanent, this is one of the toughest places to grab a seat at in Soho. But when you do, the steamed milk buns that are at the heart of the menu make it all worthwhile.

Koya Soho may only seats 25 people but it has a huge reputation that belies its size. Here you'll enjoy some of the best Japanese udon noodles in town here - and there's a great breakfast if you're after a top way to start the day.

Mikael Jonsson wowed many with his first restaurant, Hedone, but being all the way out west in Chiswick and being rather spendy it was never going to be everyone's cup of tea. Jonsson is one of the partners in this wine bar in the middle of Soho which means whatever you drink, you must also order some bread to go with it.