Soho has been Central London's louche after-dark quarter for centuries — a tight grid of narrow streets between Oxford Street and Leicester Square that holds more bars, restaurants, jazz clubs, and theatres per acre than anywhere else in the city. It is also the historic heart of London's gay community, especially around Old Compton Street, and still draws a mixed, animated evening crowd from across the city.
The character is best taken in by wandering. Dean Street, Frith Street, and Greek Street run north-south through the heart of the district; Old Compton Street cuts across them with its concentration of bars and cafes. The French House on Dean Street has been a Soho institution since the war. Bar Termini on Old Compton serves the city's best negroni. Restaurants here range from the Cantonese food stalls of Chinatown on the southern edge through to the Taiwanese buns of Bao on Lexington Street.
Daytime Soho is quieter but still rewarding. The Photographers' Gallery on Ramillies Street is the largest of its kind in the UK; Liberty's Tudor Revival department store on Regent Street is as much an architectural attraction as a shopping one. Berwick Street market, once a pure fruit-and-veg market, now mixes street food with vintage shops and record stores.