After-Work Drinks in Soho: Why Bar Crispin on Kingly Street is the Destination

There's a particular kind of Friday that starts with "just one" and ends three hours later, coat still on the back of the chair, second bottle open. If you know that feeling, you already understand why after-work drinks in Soho need somewhere that can hold a whole evening, not just a first round. That's what we built Bar Crispin for.

We're on Kingly Street, tucked between the noise of Carnaby Street and the crush of Oxford Circus, close enough to reach in the time it takes to close your laptop, quiet enough that you can actually hear the person across the table.

The after-work ritual

Soho does after-work drinks better than almost anywhere in London, but a lot of it is standing-room-only, elbows-in, shouting over someone else's playlist. We wanted something different: a wine bar Soho regulars could treat like a second office, somewhere to land at 6pm on a Wednesday and somewhere to still be at 9pm on a Friday.

The rhythm of the week shows up in who's at the bar. Early evening brings people straight from meetings, tie loosened, phone finally face-down. By eight, the tables have settled into that unhurried Friday drinks London pace, plates arriving slowly, glasses refilled without much discussion.

Why Kingly Street?

Kingly Street sits just off Carnaby Street, a couple of minutes from Oxford Circus station, in the part of Soho that keeps its character even as the rest of the neighbourhood gets glossier. It's a street of small, independent-minded places, and we're glad to be one of them.

We're at 19 Kingly Street: easy to find, easy to walk past without noticing, which is rather the point. No queue rope, no illuminated signage. Just a door, a bar, and a room that fills up gradually rather than all at once.

The wine list for a Friday

We built it around wines with a strong sense of where they come from rather than a famous name on the label. Especially to the Loire Valley, Beaujolais, Savoie, the oxidative styles of the Jura, and volcanic wines from Tenerife, Sicily, and Greece.

"Oxidative" simply means the wine has had some deliberate contact with air during its making, which gives it a nuttier, sherry-like edge rather than the crisp, sealed-in freshness of a typical white. "Volcanic" refers to wines grown in mineral-rich soil from old lava flows, which tends to give the wine a smoky, saline character. Neither requires prior knowledge. Both reward a bit of curiosity.

A Friday at Bar Crispin often starts with something light and gulpable by the glass, then drifts toward whatever Daniel's poured himself. Ask what he's drinking. It's usually the right answer.

What to eat

The food menu is snack-led and built for grazing rather than courses. It works as well for a solo glass of wine after a long Tuesday as it does for a table ordering everything twice on a Friday.

Expect small, well-seasoned plates that arrive quickly and disappear faster:

• Comté gougères, warm and just holding their shape
• Anchovy toast with cultured butter
• A cold cut or two from a small producer, sliced thin
• Something pickled, something a little sharp, to reset the palate between glasses

Nothing here needs a knife and fork balanced on your knee. It's food designed to keep pace with the wine, not compete with it.

The terrace in summer

Kingly Street isn't wide, but on a warm evening the pavement outside Bar Crispin fills with people who'd rather have a breeze than air conditioning. It's a proper Soho wine bar evening out there: glass in hand, the street humming, no rush to move on.

There's no formal booking for outside seating it works on a first-come basis, so arriving a little earlier on a sunny Friday tends to pay off.

When to arrive

• 6–7pm: the after-work crowd, quick glasses, people still half in work mode
• 7.30–9pm: the evening properly settles in, food orders slow down, conversations lengthen
• 9pm onward: fewer people, more space, the kind of hour where a second bottle feels reasonable

If you want a table rather than the bar, the earlier end of the evening gives you the most flexibility.

Book or walk in

Bar Crispin is walk-in friendly, and plenty of our regulars simply turn up and see what's free at the bar. But if you're planning a proper long Friday, or you want a table guaranteed for a group, booking ahead is the safer bet, particularly from 7pm onward.

Whichever way you arrive, the invitation is the same: come for one, stay for the evening. We'll keep the wine coming.

Ready to plan your visit? Explore Bar Crispin, Book a table.