Soho is all about the buzz but in a perverse kind of way sometimes the throngs of people and the area’s popularity don’t allow you to see what lies beneath it all. Take Café Boheme for example. Its prime location on Old Compton Street makes it the perfect spot, which attracts posers and passersby to frequent it in equal measure. It is always busy. Its line of well positioned tables outside are a great spot for people watching but it can often feel like you’re about as likely to find a spare seat looking up onto Greek Street as you are to find anyone with a single bad word to say about Jersey Boys across the road. It’s that busy and, yes, Jersey Boys is that good! Inside it’s the same. The tables are taken early and those who snag the best booths are treated to a venue that deserves far more credit than it gets. What lies beneath the crowds that make Café Boheme so hard to swan up to and take a seat, is a super stylish brasserie that stands out from the chains. If only you got the chance to see it empty more often.
The red buttoned booths, the gilded edged bar, the tiled details on the floor, the dainty red lamps, the dark wood and glass divider walls; all these features create a charming interior that calls to mind images of a chic Parisian transplant that has somehow ended up in London.
Open all day (and all night on weekends) you can stop by for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Try the pastries, any style eggs and crepe Nutella in the morning; move onto French toast with pecan butter for brunch and finish with calves liver and bacon or bavette steak, herb butter and fries for dinner. The brasserie menu also offers a range of main plates along with pate and charcuterie and a selection of entrees.
The café stocks a wide variety of wine that starts from £19 for a bottle and heads up to around £50. Carafes are also available at cheaper prices. If wine is out of the equation you can choose from a small selection of beers and a large cocktail list at £8.50 each.
Café Boheme is one of the only places in London you could get away with smoking a café crème and still remain the height of contemporary sophistication. And that is a compliment.
