Our favourite Soho private dining experiences

The Salt Yard Group strikes again with its Soho restaurant and bar, Ember Yard. The two-storey bar & kitchen comprises a street-level restaurant with an open-plan kitchen and a cosy bar on the lower ground floor. The restaurant and private dining room are stylish, offering an understated elegance so as not to detract from the tapas served from the kitchen, allowing the charcoal cooking of Spain and Italy to speak for Ember Yard's private dining hospitality.

Indulge in menus centred around wood-fired flavours. Each dish is crafted with locally sourced ingredients, with a selection that ranges from signature jamon and manchego croquetas to patatas bravas. Partake in expertly crafted cocktails and wines that pair with the complexity and depth of the tapas.

The ground floor restaurant, with a view into Chef Mumin Ramadan Ali's kitchen, is available for hire with a capacity of 62 guests, and the dark and elegantly appointed private dining room can accommodate 24 guests for a Soho private dining experience.

Ember Yard operates on a minimum-spend basis and offers set menus for private dining experiences, functions, and events.

Luxury hotel Broadwick Soho has raised one glittery-tipped and bejewelled middle finger to the face of minimalism. Everything about their maximalist aesthetic embraces bold patterns, colours, and textures, flamboyant Italo Disco touches mingle with leopard print. Artful tiles evocative of Portugal are lit by seductive Murano lighting. Pastoral floral wallpaper recalling English country homes somehow blends perfectly with the glamour and opulence that is Broadwick Soho.

Enter left stage, the Dining Room. A Soho private dining experience that's all about luxury, glam, and exclusivity. The eighth-floor dining room seats 28 guests on one table and the showstopping décor complements the room's views of the central London skyline views through floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Dining Room is ideal for executive board meetings, creative workshops, and the ultimate private dining experience. It's eccentric, it's wild, and it perfectly captures that mad luxurious side of Soho. It's oh-so-perfectly Instagrammable.

There are a number of reasons why Bantof is a top-tier destination for private dining in Soho. First, the restaurant and cocktail bar-cum-art space was designed with people in mind, in other words, nothing too fancy, but instead expect a relaxed ambiance, and comfortable and stylish modern decor that complements - rather than detracts - from the rotating art exhibitions on the walls.

Bantof's ground floor houses the Cocktail Room, an effortlessly cool with plush forest green cushions and accents throughout. The Cocktail Room can accommodate 25 seated and 40 standing for a top-notch Soho private dining experience. The first floor and terrace, the Wine Bar, is marked by a wave bar, luxe soft cushion seats, and can accommodate 25 (seated), and the lovely outdoor terrace can seat 15.

Bantof's cocktail menu features classic cocktails as well as signature cocktails that embody the character of Soho. The kitchen at Bantof produces signature dishes designed to be enjoyed via tasting plates in keeping with the restaurant’s relaxed and collaborative vision. Lastly, the walls of Bantof showcase a rotating collection of up-and-coming and established artists.

Located on Great Windmill Street and only moments from Piccadilly Circus station, Bantof is a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Soho's busy bohemian streets.

Sweet, elegant and Spanish, Aqua Nueva’s central tenants read like a dream hinge profile. Style is obviously at the forefront of this Central London eatery, with marble tile flooring, parabolic copper ceiling and a rooftop terrace bringing the big guns.

Substance is not, however, an afterthought. Small plates feature across the menu, bringing melt-in-the-mouth bites of Iberico, Beetroot Salmorejo and probably the best croquetas you can get without flying into Adolfo Suárez airport.

Two adaptable private dining rooms with a private terrace provide multiple event options or larger events can hire the space exclusively.

Zahter located in the Carnaby Lanes in Soho is a cosy and understated little Turkish restaurant that specialises in Istanbulite cuisine. The Loft is a private event space that features a unique open-plan kitchen and bar counter. It's laid-back and stylish with lounge-style furnishing. The Loft can accommodate up to 25 people and can be hired for private dining and parties.

Zahter offers 2 different kinds of buffet menus and can tailor drinks and canapes to suit your event. Zahter also offers a wine menu and an Istanbul-inspired signature cocktail menu that we highly recommend – the Istanbul Highball or Zahter's Night come highly recommended.

“Blue, blue, electric blue / That's the colour of my room / Where I will live” Sound and Vision, David Bowie.

Another historic joint, Quo Vadis has the curious honour of once being both the home of Karl Marx and a former brothel.

Forsaking vice and international revolution, the Great Dame of Dean Street now operates as a Private Member's club and restaurant. The latter boasts no less than three private dining rooms, one of which is, fittingly, very blue.

The Blue Room can hold up to 45 guests, who will be surrounded by tastefully chosen furniture and large windows overlooking the churn of Soho. The food is decidedly British and seasonal – if you’re feeling adventurous, we recommend the griddled Ox tongue, alongside some vinegared Oysters, both of which are rumoured to possess aphrodisiac properties. When in Rome.

Falling under the now-ubiquitous Bone Daddies group, Shack-Fuyu transitioned from pop-up to full-blown venue. The Japanese-with-a-twist eatery endeared itself with not-so-authentic dishes like Kinako french toast, Iberico Katsu Curry and Okonomiyaki prawn toast. Jiro has not dreamed of this, we assure you.

The private dining offering is a 16-seater table, in a room adorned with vintage Kurosawa film posters and an Izakaya-like feel.

With a David Collins-led design and a classic British and Russian menu, Bob Bob Ricard puts other spaces to shame – the beautiful and over-the-top interiors beguile and delight in equal measure. Where else could you dine surrounded by patterns lifted from backgammon boards, ‘press for champagne’ buttons, and food that looks like it came straight from the set of Ana Karenina?

For Private dining, you can hire out the ‘Royal Dining Carriage’ room, which seems to echo the style of the famously stylish Orient Express. The Soho private dining room can seat up to 16 diners, and the full à la carte menu is offered.

The minimum spend is £1000 plus service at lunch, reside to £1500 plus service at dinner. You can reserve online or call up. It’s truly extravagant and indulgent, but then what else would be more Soho than that?

With a name chosen so you’ll never have trouble finding it, 100 Wardour St is another excellent private dining room in the apparently very populated ‘heart of Soho’.

100 Wardour St. advertises ‘easy yet delicious’ food on its menu. This translates to a wide range of cuisines, you’ll find everything from salmon nigiri to aubergine paella and chocolate fondant. The ‘easy’ it appears, is in the eating, not the cooking.

The exclusive Playroom offers seated and standing options for 10 to 40 guests, and comes with its own billiard table, which can be transformed into a dining table if needed. The interior resembles a particularly comfortable study, with bookcases, heavy curtains and enough soft lighting to make anyone look attractive.

Located in a large warehouse-style space just off carnaby street, marsha is a refreshing departure from georgian townhouses and snug Soho dining rooms. The site was previously home to the vaunted Whyte & Brown, a much missed Kingly Court classic.

The huge, three-storey venue can cater up to 200 diners. With three distinct event spaces (including an outdoor area), versatility is the name of the game here.

Marsha’s food option is unapologetically dedicated to poultry. Expect chicken prepared in so many different ways, you’ll start to doubt the existence of other meats. For a full Marsha experience, opt for the Maple glazed chicken thighs with truffle fries, and a side of crispy chicken skins. It’s not fine dining, but it is good.

Scarlett Green is one of the many, many Daisy Green venues appearing all over London. The low-key, relaxed Australian food and coffee venues promise summery, Mediterranean ingredients prepared with an Asian twist. Scarlett green promises Soho an ‘iconic space that becomes a local destination and meeting point for local residents'.

Marketing schtick out of the way, Scarlett green comes into its own during the brunching hours. Avocados will be smashed, eggs will be poached, salmon will be smoked and there’s something called ‘cold fermented activated charcoal sourdough’ which, to be honest, makes us feel old.

The Aussies offer an underground space which brings a speakeasy vibe for 80 people. You can also hire out the whole venue, if you want, and get 200 guests fully brunched out.

Ideally located on Dean Street, The Gennaro Room in The Groucho Club is a respite from the (albeit wonderful) chaos of Soho's streets. The Groucho Club is a private members' club and was established in the 1980s as a bastion and refuge for arts, literature, and media folk, and remains so today.

With an overall standing capacity of 80, The Gennaro Room can accommodate myriad events and offers several seating arrangements to suit your needs. The Gennaro Room is modern and minimal, with white walls that act as a blank canvas for the art prints on the walls and superb lighting that can be adapted to create any mood.

The space is best suited for intimate dinners, cocktail parties, and even seminars and workshops – a versatile space if there ever was one. While we love this Soho private dining room best for parties with its offering of top-tier menus, wine, cocktails, and, of course, hospitality, The Groucho Club's ability to host all types of private events makes it one of Soho's top private dining destinations.

Lending significant weight to the argument that ‘restauarant names sound better in french’, L’Escargot has been feeding Soho’s hungry francophiles since 1927.

Occupying 48 Greek Street, the building is a magnificent Georgian townhouse that dates back all the way to 1741 and has seen an embarrassingly rich list of culinary greats: From snail pioneer and founder Georges Gaudin, to restauranter Elena Salvoni and original kitchen nightmare Marco Pierre White.

The Le Vert room is decked out, disconcertingly, in a slime green colour, yet somehow remains a classy affair. The maximum capacity is for 45, but really you’ll want to max out at 12 if you want a sit-down meal on the large dining table. If you don’t know what to order here, run the restaurant’s name through google translate.

Sometimes, all you want is a pub. Enter The Crown & Two Chairmen stage left.

Located on the corner of Dean and Bateman Street, this restored Soho boozer offers no-thrills pub food to the stumbling crowds of Soho. We’re talking pies, burgers and mash. The Steak, Shin & Pale Ale Pie, in particular, goes fantastically with a pint.

If privacy is your thing, then you can hire out the ‘Chairman’s Lounge’, an upstairs area with an impressive capacity of 100 people. The furniture can be moved to accommodate whatever sort of private dining you’re seeking, and there’s even a private bar. Now there’s no excuse not to get a round in.