Soho is one of the densest eating and drinking quarters in London, packed with theatres, record shops and late night bars. Tucked among them is a crop of independent cafes doing genuinely good coffee without a chain logo in sight. I pulled four of the highest rated from Google Maps, every one independent and every one rated 4.5 stars or above, then dug through the reviews to find what visitors actually praise and where they grumble. If you enjoyed our Manchester coffee crawl, this is the London edition.
Hideaway Coffee House, a courtyard escape down a Soho alley
The highest rated of the four, Hideaway Coffee House holds 4.8 stars from 1,306 Google reviews at 7 Farrier’s Passage, London W1D 7DP. The draw is the setting as much as the coffee, a hidden gem courtyard tucked down an alley off Soho. The flat whites get called very good and consistent, the staff are friendly and among the most praised topics in the reviews, and the pastry case does brownies, banana bread and croissants. It opens Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5pm, Saturday from 9am to 5.30pm and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. The complaints are the flip side of popularity. It is no longer a secret, so expect queues to the door at weekends, service can be a little slow at peak times and seating is limited. Get there early.
Sacred Grounds, calm coffee on Dean Street
At 54 Dean Street, London W1D 6AE, Sacred Grounds is the quiet one of the bunch, with 4.7 stars from 319 reviews. It is a church connected cafe with a cosy, relaxed atmosphere that reviewers say is ideal for unwinding or getting work done in the middle of hectic Soho. The coffee earns some of the strongest praise of the four, with reviewers calling out both the espresso and the brewed filter options as excellent. Banana bread goes down well, vegan options get a mention, and the staff are described as wonderful and friendly. Hours run Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and Saturday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Complaints are almost nonexistent. Only 8 of the 319 reviews are one star, and the only recurring grumble in the readable reviews is a single visitor whose friend did not enjoy the matcha. By Soho standards that is close to spotless.
Cafe Vins, a chic hideout just off Carnaby
Cafe Vins sits at 1 Marlborough Court on Carnaby, London W1F 7EE, and holds 4.8 stars from 626 reviews. The drinks menu backs up the hype with gorgeous specialty coffee, flat whites, oat flat whites and matcha alongside yuzu tea and dirty chai. The interior is chic, cosy and stylish with curated books on the shelves, and the calm, less busy feel makes it an oasis compared with the Carnaby Street crowds outside. Good music and legit friendly baristas round it out. It opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and at weekends from 9am to 6pm. The one warning worth heeding comes from a 2 star review that says simply not to get the hot chocolate, and that same reviewer scored the service two out of five. With only 10 one star reviews out of 626, the crowd is overwhelmingly happy.
Toi and Moi Cafe, Berwick Street brunch favourite
The heavyweight of the four, Toi and Moi Cafe at 38 Berwick Street, London W1F 8RT carries 4.5 stars from a huge 3,878 reviews. This is the brunch pick of the crawl. Pancakes are the top mentioned topic with 145 mentions, joined by eggs benedict, French toast, crepes, hash browns and avocado toast, plus a fresh flaky croissant with jam and iced peach tea. The food arrives quickly, the staff are kind, and the women owned, LGBTQ friendly welcome gets plenty of love. Hours run Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm and Saturday to Sunday from 8am to 7.30pm. The grumbles are real though. Brunch lands at £20 to £30 a head, one 1 star review calls it an expensive, disorganised Soho disappointment, the space is small with seating downstairs, and one reviewer says they would not recommend it to vegetarians. With 217 one star reviews out of nearly 4,000, it is still a firm favourite, just not the cheapest stop on the list.
How to walk it
The beauty of this crawl is that it all fits inside a few streets. Start at Hideaway Coffee House down Farrier’s Passage, drift across to Cafe Vins just off Carnaby, head up to Toi and Moi on Berwick Street, then finish at Sacred Grounds on Dean Street. Opening hours shift with the seasons, so check Google Maps before you set off. For more city crawls, try the Leith coffee crawl on Edinburgh’s waterfront or our Shoreditch reviews from Brick Lane. Four cafes, one neighbourhood, and not a chain in sight.
