How to drink sake: A beginner’s guide February 10, 2026 Have you heard the siren call of sake? This Japanese drink is everywhere and it’s the coolest thing to be quaffing (though you can enjoy it chilled, warm or hot). The problem is that it is quite complicated compared to wine, so I have compiled a brief beginner’s guide to make you a speedy sake [...]
Khao Bird: Top Thai restaurant takes over Soho’s last dirty cinema February 10, 2026 What could be a greater sign of the times than a hip pop-up restaurant opening on the site of Soho’s last adult cinema? It’s over! Soho’s dead! First they closed the late night drinking dens and then they pushed out the brothels and now there’s nowhere to watch grubby movies. The final remnants of seedy [...]
Alta review: Serious Spanish food amid the Carnaby crowds January 28, 2026 Alta, Kingly Ct, Carnaby, W1B 5PW | Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus With its jolly pink furniture and candy-striped awnings, Kingly Court has an air of unreality. It’s a Disneyfied version of what food culture might look like if it were imagined by a private equity firm, a place designed to house tourists grappling with their disappointment [...]
DakaDaka review: The comfort food we all need right now January 27, 2026 DakaDaka, 10 Heddon Street, W1B 4BX | Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus Heddon Street has developed its own culinary microclimate. Whether by luck or design, it has become a place where you can almost guarantee a decent plate of food, with its current crop of restaurants including Sabor (superlative Spanish), Fonda (respectable Mexican) and Casa do [...]
Why reports of Soho’s death have been greatly exaggerated March 28, 2019 When Casanova arrived in London in 1763, Soho was his first port of call. It was a place riddled with opium dens and brothels and coffee houses and restaurants, the place you went for cheap rent, good food, great drugs and the best parties. It’s been the go-to place for hedonists and sybarites ever since, [...]