A Viking's guide to Soho - Part 1
Created | Updated Jun 6, 2003
When you arrive London you you may have many hopes and expectations... many of them may, and will crumble. But if all else fails, there is nice to have one thing to fall back on.
You will always have Soho.
In search for joy and delight and all pleasures of this earth, a person may accidentally stumble across Soho and its, vivid and colorful, to say the least, nightlife. These complete series will present - a complete, yes, complete guide - and account, for every restuaurant, bar, pub, club, in the writers' most humble opinion, worthy of attending to. So this is not just your run of the mill tourist guide, but walk-through through the narrow, over crowded streets of Soho, through the jungle of bars, all from the broke student's point of view.
So buckle your seatbelts and prepeare for:
The Complete Guide To Soho - Part 1
First a few boring facts:
This district has been renowned for pleasures of the table, the flesh and and the intellect all since 17th century. As for the 17th century people, well, they really knew how to party, and Soho residents, well they had had parties that has gone down in history.
Among the most famous residents of Soho can be found: Karl Marx, founder of communism, Cassinova, the world greatest lover (or the world's biggest liar), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who used to live nextdoor to Bar Italia, Thomas de Quincey, famous author and opium slave ("Confessions of an English Opium Eater"), Dr John Polidori (think vampires) and William Blake, English poet, painter, engraver; one of the earliest and greatest figures of Romanticism.
Now, with a background like that, how can anything possibly go wrong?
Soho is also London's most multicultural district. The first immigrants here were supposedly 18th century Huguenots from France, and has its own Chinatown with a multitude of Chinese restaurants.
Running through the centre of Soho is Berwick Street, but to me, the two most important streets in Soho were Old Compton Road, Wardour Street, Greek Street, and Dean Street. And for tubers, the nearest underground station would be Leicester Square or Picadilly Circus... not really sure who's the closest.
So... what can you do on a typical night out on Soho? Ok, you can walk around aimlessly, watch theatres or have a caffe latte, but at the end of the day, its pretty boring. So the guide will hereby start with the most important aspects of life - drinking and eating (in that order). Bars first, that is.
Before the bars gets introduced, please be patient and spare a moment to read this special bar-rating-extra-applicable-system-thing (BREAST), all copyrighted, of course, divided into these three parts:
1. Crowdometer - A thing that strikes you in most of London is that people are actually out on the streets, drinking, laughing and talking outside of the bar in question, when there's often not enough room innside the bar. The crowdometer measures this on a scale of 1-10, where 10 is a mass off people occupying not the entire bar flor, but the street, the stairs, windows, the roof, the next bar, etc. 1 is, well, completely abandoned save for a the local rats. The crowdometer only applies to bars and pubs, as the clubs often tend to shut people inside with violent threats, blackmail, ropes and cover charges, and woe to those that may try to seek refugee in another pub or club. Just like a normal bar in Oslo, so to speak.
2. Costometer - The the size of your valuet after having left the place in question. 1, is of course, complete bankrupcy, anguish and despair, hours of dish-washing and morgage of house, wife and dog, and 10, is happy weeks instead of happy hours and 10 drinks for the cost of nothing. Not that it will ever have much relevance in Soho, given the rather stiff price of everything.
3. Cheerometer - Are the people in the place in question having fun? Well, that's what cheerometer's all about. 1-10, where 10 is a near impossibility, unless all drinks are free and, 90% of the customers are models of the oposite gender (may depend a bit on your personal preferences) and willing and they actually pay you comming inside. 1 is.. like having an axe put in the head when you ask the burned-out 40 year old, muscle-woman behind the bar for a scotch, and old drunkards splashing Guiness all over your new silk shirt you when you try to head for the sign 'exit'.
The first topic of this guide will be a bar/restaurant recently explored - Cafe Boheme (13-17 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, W1)
This fashionable bar is at the corner of Old Compton Street, near the Three Greyhounds pub.
***Warning, do not even try to find a seat here after 11 pm***
During summer the corner of Old Compton Road is a chapter for itself as the customers pulsate in and out of bar and around the corner to take almost complete domination of the street: in other words, no-one is going through here without noticing the rather large ammount of trendy people hangning around here, enjoying the music, the cool afternoon air, and the flashy drinks the bartenders distribute with relentless efficiency. Through the loud-speakers pulsates moderatly cool chill-out-tunes, while under a pretty open exterior that leads to a clean, professionally run bar, and into the locales you can find the restaurant section and if you're lucky, get a seat. The writer must humbly admit he never got a chance to try the food there because, well it was quite full, so he had to settle for drinks in the bar, but that can a tidious affair for the impatient. The small bar is frequented by a crowd ten times its size, so needless to say the bartenders are working at high gear to get things going. You may end up waiting 20 minutes for a drink, and be lucky, and then have to wrestle 5 other people to get a yourself chair. The bartender's level of expertise is excellent, if you order, say, a rum and coke and suppose you'll get it - no questions asked, you're in for a surprise. A number of options will be presented to you - what kind of rum, white, golden or dark, double up or single shot, with ice, no ice, and so on. And you may as well get charged £ 5.50 for all this - yikes!
Cafe Boheme certainly expects its customers to be cool, trendy, and well aware of what they want out of life. In return they offer excellent service at a speed quick enough to get by. The mood of the place beats most other open mainstream bars/restaurants in Soho - the Londoners are enjoying themselves - gladly spending hard earned cash in huge ammounts, waving around Amercian Express and Visas, to pay for it all. For those who have well-paid jobs it may be no problem - for us students its an entirely different situation. If your preffer not to spend £-a-whole-lot-of-quids for a few small drinks, and if you're out to drink a few more than a few drinks, and again a few more than that, this might not be the place for you. But it certainly is a great place to hang out, try to have a drink, stand on the corner of the street and absorb all the good mood - listen to mainstream chill-out complications or, if you want, the nearby street guitarist, with all the happy, trendy, beautiful, people...
Crowdometer: 9
Costometer: 2
Cheerometer: 7
End of part 1
You will always have Soho.
In search for joy and delight and all pleasures of this earth, a person may accidentally stumble across Soho and its, vivid and colorful, to say the least, nightlife. These complete series will present - a complete, yes, complete guide - and account, for every restuaurant, bar, pub, club, in the writers' most humble opinion, worthy of attending to. So this is not just your run of the mill tourist guide, but walk-through through the narrow, over crowded streets of Soho, through the jungle of bars, all from the broke student's point of view.
So buckle your seatbelts and prepeare for:
The Complete Guide To Soho - Part 1
First a few boring facts:
This district has been renowned for pleasures of the table, the flesh and and the intellect all since 17th century. As for the 17th century people, well, they really knew how to party, and Soho residents, well they had had parties that has gone down in history.
Among the most famous residents of Soho can be found: Karl Marx, founder of communism, Cassinova, the world greatest lover (or the world's biggest liar), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who used to live nextdoor to Bar Italia, Thomas de Quincey, famous author and opium slave ("Confessions of an English Opium Eater"), Dr John Polidori (think vampires) and William Blake, English poet, painter, engraver; one of the earliest and greatest figures of Romanticism.
Now, with a background like that, how can anything possibly go wrong?
Soho is also London's most multicultural district. The first immigrants here were supposedly 18th century Huguenots from France, and has its own Chinatown with a multitude of Chinese restaurants.
Running through the centre of Soho is Berwick Street, but to me, the two most important streets in Soho were Old Compton Road, Wardour Street, Greek Street, and Dean Street. And for tubers, the nearest underground station would be Leicester Square or Picadilly Circus... not really sure who's the closest.
So... what can you do on a typical night out on Soho? Ok, you can walk around aimlessly, watch theatres or have a caffe latte, but at the end of the day, its pretty boring. So the guide will hereby start with the most important aspects of life - drinking and eating (in that order). Bars first, that is.
Before the bars gets introduced, please be patient and spare a moment to read this special bar-rating-extra-applicable-system-thing (BREAST), all copyrighted, of course, divided into these three parts:
1. Crowdometer - A thing that strikes you in most of London is that people are actually out on the streets, drinking, laughing and talking outside of the bar in question, when there's often not enough room innside the bar. The crowdometer measures this on a scale of 1-10, where 10 is a mass off people occupying not the entire bar flor, but the street, the stairs, windows, the roof, the next bar, etc. 1 is, well, completely abandoned save for a the local rats. The crowdometer only applies to bars and pubs, as the clubs often tend to shut people inside with violent threats, blackmail, ropes and cover charges, and woe to those that may try to seek refugee in another pub or club. Just like a normal bar in Oslo, so to speak.
2. Costometer - The the size of your valuet after having left the place in question. 1, is of course, complete bankrupcy, anguish and despair, hours of dish-washing and morgage of house, wife and dog, and 10, is happy weeks instead of happy hours and 10 drinks for the cost of nothing. Not that it will ever have much relevance in Soho, given the rather stiff price of everything.
3. Cheerometer - Are the people in the place in question having fun? Well, that's what cheerometer's all about. 1-10, where 10 is a near impossibility, unless all drinks are free and, 90% of the customers are models of the oposite gender (may depend a bit on your personal preferences) and willing and they actually pay you comming inside. 1 is.. like having an axe put in the head when you ask the burned-out 40 year old, muscle-woman behind the bar for a scotch, and old drunkards splashing Guiness all over your new silk shirt you when you try to head for the sign 'exit'.
The first topic of this guide will be a bar/restaurant recently explored - Cafe Boheme (13-17 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, W1)
This fashionable bar is at the corner of Old Compton Street, near the Three Greyhounds pub.
***Warning, do not even try to find a seat here after 11 pm***
During summer the corner of Old Compton Road is a chapter for itself as the customers pulsate in and out of bar and around the corner to take almost complete domination of the street: in other words, no-one is going through here without noticing the rather large ammount of trendy people hangning around here, enjoying the music, the cool afternoon air, and the flashy drinks the bartenders distribute with relentless efficiency. Through the loud-speakers pulsates moderatly cool chill-out-tunes, while under a pretty open exterior that leads to a clean, professionally run bar, and into the locales you can find the restaurant section and if you're lucky, get a seat. The writer must humbly admit he never got a chance to try the food there because, well it was quite full, so he had to settle for drinks in the bar, but that can a tidious affair for the impatient. The small bar is frequented by a crowd ten times its size, so needless to say the bartenders are working at high gear to get things going. You may end up waiting 20 minutes for a drink, and be lucky, and then have to wrestle 5 other people to get a yourself chair. The bartender's level of expertise is excellent, if you order, say, a rum and coke and suppose you'll get it - no questions asked, you're in for a surprise. A number of options will be presented to you - what kind of rum, white, golden or dark, double up or single shot, with ice, no ice, and so on. And you may as well get charged £ 5.50 for all this - yikes!
Cafe Boheme certainly expects its customers to be cool, trendy, and well aware of what they want out of life. In return they offer excellent service at a speed quick enough to get by. The mood of the place beats most other open mainstream bars/restaurants in Soho - the Londoners are enjoying themselves - gladly spending hard earned cash in huge ammounts, waving around Amercian Express and Visas, to pay for it all. For those who have well-paid jobs it may be no problem - for us students its an entirely different situation. If your preffer not to spend £-a-whole-lot-of-quids for a few small drinks, and if you're out to drink a few more than a few drinks, and again a few more than that, this might not be the place for you. But it certainly is a great place to hang out, try to have a drink, stand on the corner of the street and absorb all the good mood - listen to mainstream chill-out complications or, if you want, the nearby street guitarist, with all the happy, trendy, beautiful, people...
Crowdometer: 9
Costometer: 2
Cheerometer: 7
End of part 1
