Exploring SOHO, London, England
Note: This post has been updated on September 30, 2023.
There are no shortage of things to do and see in London. Every time we come back, we find new areas to explore and new things to learn. Because of this, we have broken out our London post into several.
The below information is a complete guide of the top rated places to dine and drink, and all there is to see and do in the SOHO. For transportation tips, as well as a summary of the history of this amazing city, please refer back to the London post.
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Where to Dine & Drink
Aulis
Those wanting a little taster of L’Enclume without making the trip to the Lake District can book at Simon Rogan’s cosy counter restaurant, concealed in an alley in Soho. Expect around 14 dishes of various sizes, explained in detail by the chefs. Everyone’s served together, so be sure to arrive on time.
Berenjak
Compact, casual spot for Iranian cooking with local, seasonal produce, designed for sharing.
Bob Bob Ricard
Uniformed staff serve French-inspired & Modern British fare & cocktails in cool art deco surrounds.
Brasserie Zédel
Grand French art deco restaurant with classic brasserie dishes and choucroutes in 1930s building.
Cahoots
Afternoon tea & cocktails served in a vintage-style speakeasy set in a disused underground station.
Evelyn’s Table
A Michelin-starred restaurant in a tiny former beer cellar of an 18th Century pub, for Modern European dishes and lesser known wines.
Gauthier
Intimate dining on three floors of Regency townhouse, starring Alexis Gauthier's modern French cuisine.
Humble Chicken
Convivial restaurant offering Japanese-inspired plates, seafood & cocktails, plus outdoor seating.
Imad’s Syrian Kitchen
Down-to-earth restaurant serving falafel, grilled meats, hummus, veggie dishes & desserts.
Kitchen Table
A two Michelin-starred restaurant with a 19-seat U-shaped table, around a cooking station, with a multi-course menu of small European dishes.
Kricket
A classic & creative selection of Indian-inspired dishes & cocktails in a contemporary eatery.
Noble Rot
Elegant, snug eatery with a European menu featuring seafood & meat plates, plus a robust wine list.
NOPI
Serene destination with a chic vibe offering a creative menu of Mediterranean dishes.
Sabor
Lively, 2-story Spanish eatery offering tapas plates plus bar & countertop dining in casual digs.
SOLA
High-end, inventive Californian cuisine in refined surroundings where SOho meets LA, hence the name.
Sucre
Sophisticated fine-dining restaurant preparing elevated dishes with carefully sourced ingredients.
The French House
Compact bar hung with photos, where this literary crowd prefers wine to beer, and embrace the no-tech rule.
The Palomar
Modern fare from Jerusalem meets a variety of international influences in mosaic and wood surrounds.
Things to See & Do
Broad Street Cholera Pump
In the fall of 1854, 500 people died, in just 10 days, in the center of London, in the worst of a series of cholera outbreaks. At the time, the way that cholera spread was a mystery, generally attributed to miasma, or bad air. Dr. John Snow, however, had a different theory: the drinking water was killing people.
In the 19th century, drinking water was provided to residents by several competing water companies who operated public pumps in water districts around the city. Most of these companies pumped their water directly out of the polluted Thames River.
London had suffered a series of debilitating cholera outbreaks before the 1853 outbreak, including serious outbreaks in 1832, and the worst outbreak, which killed some 14,137 residents in 1849. That year, Snow published his first paper outlining his theory of water-borne disease. In 1854, he got the chance to test his theory.
After studying the patterns of deaths and plotting their locations on a map overlaid with the various water districts, he identified one water pump on Broad Street as a potential cause. This particular pump was supplied by a company that drew water from an uncontaminated part of the Thames, which led him to the conclusion that it must be a problem with the pump itself, not the overall water supply. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that the Broad Street pump was only a few feet from an open cesspool, and residents reported that the water has smelled foul a few days earlier. After appealing to community leaders, he took matters into his own hands and removed the handle to the pump. The outbreak immediately ended.
Now stands a replica pump, marked by a red granite curbstone on the north side of the John Snow pub, situated on the corner of Broadwick and Lexington Street. Every year, members of the John Snow Society hold “Pumphandle Lectures” on subjects of public health, accompanied by a ceremony of removing and then re-attaching the pump handle.
Upstairs at the pub, there is a collection of materials related to the life and works of Snow.
Seven Noses of soho
In 1997, with the proliferation of CCTV cameras spawning a controversy in the U.K., artist Rick Buckley undertook a project to critique the spread of “Big Brother” society. Inspired by the Situationists—a midcentury artists’ group with a flair for avant-garde performative works—Buckley made 35 plaster casts of his own nose and affixed them to buildings scattered around London. Targeting well-trafficked areas and important public buildings, like the National Gallery and Tate Britain, Buckley installed his guerrilla artworks right “under the nose” of the burgeoning surveillance state. He painted the noses to match the walls they were affixed to and did not publicize his project whatsoever, curious to see if he could execute his plan without being detected and hoping that the unnoticed noses would simply become part of the structures themselves.
Most of the noses were discovered fairly quickly and removed, but for those few that remained, he accomplished his goal—with some unintended consequences. Buckley didn’t publicly claim responsibility for the noses until 2011, allowing 14 years for the new architectural details to generate origin stories, ranging from the misguidedly speculative to the endearingly fantastic. What is perhaps the best-known legend refers to the “Seven Noses of Soho”, and states that if you manage to find all seven of the mysterious noses, hidden around London’s historic entertainment district, you will become fabulously wealthy (sources provide confirmation of only five noses in Soho and one of them is not a Buckley nose, so the prize still awaits intrepid treasure hunters).
A number of legends revolve around one nose in particular: the one stuck to the Admiralty Arch that leads from the Mall to Trafalgar Square (often included among the Soho noses, though it is technically not in Soho). One story stated that it was put there to mock Napoleon, fixed at a height that allowed cavalry troops to tweak it as they passed under the arch. Another held that the nose is a nod to the Duke of Wellington, who was famous (among other, more world-historical accomplishments) for possessing a very large schnoz.
The most amusing myth is that the nose is a potential spare for the memorial statue of Admiral Lord Nelson that stands atop a column in Trafalgar Square. Apparently, there was concern that the uppermost extremity of Nelson’s likeness would be damaged when the statue was lifted to the top of the high column, so a spare was stashed on the arch.