October 5, 2026
Plenty of lists promise the best things to do in Soho, London. The streets are short and the detours are good. A shop window pulls you left and the smell of coffee pulls you right. We run Bar Crispin at 19 Kingly Street so this is our own patch. This is the afternoon we would plan for a friend visiting from out of town.
Start at Oxford Circus station. Kingly Street is about five minutes on foot from there.
Three or four hours is plenty. Pick one shopping street and one sweet stop. Add one quiet cultural detour and one good seat for the end.
Carnaby is the loud end of the afternoon. Independent shops sit under bright signs and the pavement fills up by mid-afternoon. Carnaby Street food runs from quick lunches to long tables so eat lightly. You will want room later.
Kingly Street runs just alongside and feels like another neighbourhood. The pavements are narrow and the pace drops. Our door is at number 19 and you can walk the whole stretch in a few minutes if you resist every doorway.
Kingly Court is a courtyard just off Carnaby Street with cafés and restaurants on every side. Take a coffee and something sweet and sit where you can see the sky. This is the pause that makes the rest of the afternoon work. Your feet get a rest and your shopping bags get set down. Nobody here minds if you stay for a second cup.
Soho is full of small galleries and bookshops and most will let you browse without any pressure. Pick whichever door is open. Twenty minutes with a photography book or a wall of prints resets the mind before an evening of eating and drinking.
We have a soft spot for this kind of stop. Our Clapham restaurant sits inside Studio Voltaire, a contemporary art gallery, so cooking and looking at art have always shared a roof for us.
By now it is late afternoon and you have earned a seat. Bar Crispin is at 19 Kingly Street in Soho (W1B) and it is compact. There is bar seating and a handful of tables. Walk-ins are welcome and tables of up to six can book online. People tell us it feels more like a friend's kitchen than a restaurant.
Our Green Room is a 14-seat private cellar dining room designed by Jermaine Gallacher. Larger groups can ask about the Green Room when planning something longer than one afternoon.
Start with a glass of Loire Chenin. It can taste crisp and appley or rounder and closer to honey depending on the producer. Some bottles come in small quantities and sell out for good. Ask what is open that day and look through the wine list before you order.
Then order the Comté gougères. They are warm cheese puffs served with pickled walnut ketchup and they disappear quickly. The monkfish crudo with blood orange and chilli is bright and cold. The crab rarebit is deep and mustardy and the French fries might be the best in town.
Soho at dusk is a different place. The lights come on and the street noise settles into a hum. You do not have to leave. Many of our guests arrive for one glass and stay through dinner.
If you are planning a longer evening with friends or colleagues the Green Room is there for exactly that. It suits a birthday or a small client dinner with a feasting menu paired to the cellar.
The next time you search for things to do in Soho London try ending the day on Kingly Street. Tables of up to six book online and groups of seven or more can enquire through the website.
