Last weekend I visited the Soho area of London in collaboration with Hotels.com, with the idea being that I was to explore the local area and discover any hidden gems. This blog post is aimed at people who are staying at a local Soho hotel, and simply want to explore the streets of Soho to find something unique that only this part of London can offer.
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We decided to start in true The Girl on the Move style and headed to a local tea shop called Yumchaa on Berwick street. Being a tea-lover, I was spoilt for choice when it came to picking my brew, with over 40 different types of tea from all over the world to choose from.
In the end I opted for a classic assam tea, which was just what I needed early in the morning, whereas Jack was a little more adventurous opting for their Matcha Peachu drink, which was essentially an iced green tea blended with peach slices. Feeling a bit naughty, we also grabbed a slice of cake too! As we sat sipping our tea and eating our cake we discovered that Berwick street was actually part of a famous old vinyl street in Soho, with the Yumchaa building being a key record shop in a previous life. Once we had our morning dose of caffeine, we got up and began exploring.
The area was filled with unique bakeries, tea rooms and restaurants. Some were so popular that people were actually queued up outside eagerly awaiting their turn for brunch. I would have joined them to dine in The Breakfast Club or the Coffee Haus, but I didn’t particularly fancy standing outside for over an hour in the cold!
Once we had visited a few shops, got lost a few times and scratched our heads as to what to eat, we stumbled across a little gem; Obicá, an Italian mozzarella bar (yes, you read that right) on Poland street. The idea of this restaurant comes from that of sharing small plates with friends and family, which means it probably isn’t the place to take Joey Tribiani… Once seated, we decided to order ourselves a selection of different cheeses and breads, and then proceeded to tuck into the Italian feast in front of us. The food, service and atmosphere was wonderful, and I would happily recommend this place to anyone. Make sure that you order a decent amount of sides though; they give you a LOT of mozzarella!!
After gorging ourselves on Italian goodies, we slowly began to walk around and explore the rest of Soho. We decided to go inside the famous Liberty London to have a look at the unique merchandise that they were selling. I could have stayed looking at their jewellery section for days; it was just all so beautiful! I also enjoyed myself in the stationery section (who doesn’t…) and found some really cool posters and gift ideas!
Afterwards we carried on walking down the cobbled streets, and stumbled across Department of Coffee and Social Affairs just off Carnaby Street, apparently one of Soho’s best coffee shops. Stepping inside I instantly felt cooler and grabbed a latte to go so that I could explore more of the unique stores and boutiques in the area. It is safe to say that the latte was one of the best I have had in a while, so if you are in the area you just have to try this place out.
To end the afternoon, we really fancied some chocolate, and as luck would have it Soho now has its own chocolate factory all the way from Rome! Located on Broadwick street, the cafe is called SAID, and it specialises in chocolatey treats! My all-time favourite dessert has to be profiteroles, and when I spotted them on the menu, I just could not resist this! As desserts go, it was pretty good. However, the cafe/ shop is extremely small, and we found it quite difficult to move around! We also admit we didn’t really do this place properly; we were still so full from our Italian lunch that we could barely imagine eating more than a profiterole each! However, we did see some very tasty dishes being served to other customers, and the triple-chocolate sauce looked amazing!
It swiftly became late-afternoon however, and our time in Soho was nearing the end. I feel like I discovered a side of London that I had not seen before, and would gladly visit again in the near distant future. However, next time I don’t think I’ll eat quite as much cheese…
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Did I miss anywhere in Soho? Is there anywhere that I should add to my list for my next visit? Please let me know in the comments below! Until next time, V x
The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.
