Where to eat at and around Hazlitt's
You are on Frith Street, in the middle of the densest few acres of restaurants in London, and the hotel has no restaurant at all. That is not the contradiction it sounds like. Within two minutes of the front door there are udon, hoppers, a British dining room of the old school and a Spanish counter; within seven there is the rest. Every walk below starts at the door of number 6.
On our shortlists
Within ten minutes on foot
- 2 min walk
Udon counter, walk-ins only · £
Freshly made udon in hot or cold dashi, donburi, tempura and a weekly blackboard, on the same street as the hotel. Its own page gives 10:00 to 22:00 every day and says plainly that it is walk-ins only, which means a queue at eight and none at three. It also opens early enough, with breakfast dishes on the menu, to be the answer when you have decided against paying 14.95 pounds for pastries in your room.
Walk in50 Frith Street
- 2 min walk
Sri Lankan hoppers and kothu roti · ££
Bowl-shaped rice hoppers, dosas, kothus and roasts, with a drinks list built on arrack and genever, next door to Ronnie Scott's and a minute down the street from the hotel. Its own site gives 12 to 3 and 5.30 to 10 Monday to Wednesday, until 10.45 on Thursday, 12 to 10.45 straight through on Friday and Saturday and 12 to 9 on Sunday. Tables of two to four can be booked; everyone else joins a virtual queue at the door, first come first served.
Reserve ahead49 Frith Street
- 2 min walk
Seasonal British, Jeremy Lee's dining room · £££
A Soho dining room with a private members' club attached, where Jeremy Lee cooks what the restaurant calls seasonal, regional British fare. Its own site gives lunch 12 to 2.30 and dinner 5 to 10, Monday to Saturday, and lists no Sunday service, so it is the Monday-to-Saturday answer for a proper dinner two minutes from the hotel, and the one to book for the night you arrive. Reserve through its own site; the room is not large.
Reserve ahead26 to 29 Dean Street
- 2 min walk
Spanish counter, no reservations taken · £££
Counter seats in front of a bed of ice, with the day's produce cooked in front of you and a standing bar for a glass and something to pick at while you wait. Its own page says it is walk-in only, no reservations, and gives 12 to 3 and 5 to 10 on Sunday and Monday, 12 to 3 and 5 to 11 Tuesday to Saturday. Go at opening or late; the middle of the evening is a queue, and the queue is part of the point.
Walk in26 to 27 Dean Street
- 6 min walk
Regional Italian, small or large plates · £££
Dishes from across Italy's twenty regions, each served as a small plate or a large one, on a short Soho back street south of the hotel. Its own site gives lunch 12 to 3 and dinner 5 to 11 Monday to Saturday, Sunday lunch to 3.30 and dinner to 9.30, with the bar open an hour after the kitchen on weekdays and two hours after it on Sunday. It keeps some seats for walk-ins, but the counter in front of the open kitchen on high leather stools goes first, so book.
Book well ahead: tables go weeks out12 Archer Street
- 7 min walk
Candlelit Georgian townhouse, since 1985 · ££
The closest thing Soho has to Hazlitt's with a kitchen: a wood-panelled, candlelit room in a Grade II listed 18th-century townhouse, serving seasonal Modern European food it describes as Franco-Mediterranean bistro cooking, since 1985. Its own site gives lunch from 12 on weekdays, 12.30 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday, and dinner 5.30 to 10.30, from 6 on Sunday. Seven minutes west through Soho's quieter streets, and the right room for a slow evening.
Reserve ahead46 Lexington Street
- 7 min walk
Thai grill and claypots, walk-in · ££
A counter along a wood-fired grill, cooking what its own site calls Thai grill, seafood and claypots, at the Brewer Street end of Soho. Its reservations page says it now runs walk-in only, first come first served and complete parties only, and will text you when seats are ready if there is a queue; hours are 12 to 11 Monday to Saturday and 12 to 9 on Sunday. Sit at the counter if you can, and eat early or late.
Walk in58 Brewer Street
Breakfast
Breakfast is not included on any rate, and there is no breakfast room: it is brought to your door, generally between seven and ten, and charged by the dish. On the 2026 menu the continental of pastries, toast, Emmental and two hams is 14.95 pounds, a bacon sandwich 13.95, porridge 5.20, coffee 4.50 and tea 4.10, so two people eating properly will spend close to 40 pounds a morning before the room. It is good, and eating it in a four-poster is a large part of why people come. When you want a counter instead, Bar Italia at 22 Frith Street is two minutes down the street, Maison Bertaux at 28 Greek Street has been making cakes in Soho since 1871 and is three minutes away, and Koya opens at ten with breakfast dishes on its menu.
What to skip
The restaurants on the Leicester Square side of Shaftesbury Avenue with laminated picture menus and someone at the door inviting you in, and the pre-theatre set menus priced for people who have to be seated by 7.30. Everything above is in the other direction, and none of it needs a photograph to explain what it is.
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Questions people ask
Good questions about Hazlitt's
Where can I eat near Hazlitt's?
You are on Frith Street, in the middle of the densest few acres of restaurants in London, and the hotel has no restaurant at all. That is not the contradiction it sounds like. Within two minutes of the front door there are udon, hoppers, a British dining room of the old school and a Spanish counter; within seven there is the rest. Every walk below starts at the door of number 6. Koya Soho, 2 min walk. Hoppers Soho, 2 min walk. Quo Vadis, 2 min walk.
Our verdict
Hazlitt's suits people who want the 18th century left roughly as it was found, stairs and all. Take a Superior Double, plan every dinner outside the front door, and let Soho do the rest.
Last checked: September 2026