Soho

• Caffeinate while you shop when BEAR opens in Jack Wills' Soho branch

  Next time you pop into Carnaby Street’s Jack Wills, BEAR’s new in-store cafe will be on hand to ensure you’re fueled up with coffees, croissants or if it’s after 5pm, a glass of something stronger while you flick through the rails.

• Test Driving BaoziInn - dim sum and Sichuan dishes in Soho

  We try out BaoziInn's Newport Street restaurant for some very colourful dim sum and Sichuan cuisine.  

• Test Driving L'Escargot - the Soho institution still has it

  This classic French restaurant is a Soho stalwart and is still getting raves. We popped along to see why L'Escargot is still a Soho hit.  

• Iconic Soho cafe Patisserie Valerie closes its doors on Old Compton Street

  

   It's not been a good week for Soho and Old Compton Street in particular. Five days ago, we heard that Ed's Easy Diner (on Old Compton Street since 1987) had closed its doors. And now it's the turn of Patisserie Valerie.

  It's all sounding very familiar. A company starts with a bit of gentle growth in the 80s. It's then taken over

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• Yosma is moving its Turkish tavern from Baker Street to Soho

  

  It's all change for Yosma. The Turkish meyhane, mangal and raki bar (essentially a Turkish tavern) opened in Marylebone in 2016 to acclaim - all inspired by the streets of Istanbul. We were also pretty impressed with the place ourselves. And now we hear that they're shutting up shop on Baker Street - but they'll be opening in central London

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• Ed's Easy Diner owner converts its original Soho spot to Slim Chickens

  

  London's restaurant scene is constantly in churn - with new restaurants replacing old. That's the nature of the beast. But even we admit to being a bit surprised at our emotional reaction to the news yesterday that Soho classic Ed's Easy Diner was no more.

  Reported in a tweet by The Guinea's GM Oisin Rogers, it transpires that the American diner on the corner of Old Compton Street and Moor Street has been taken over by another American import -

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• Swedish-style cafe Soderberg is opening in Soho's Berwick Street

  Popular Scottish chain Söderberg is expanding to London, bringing their cardamom buns and open sarnies to Soho's Berwick Street.

• Test Driving The French House in Soho with Neil Borthwick in command

   

  Neil Borthwick has taken over the kitchen at The French House and is getting rave reviews. We popped down to check out the menu. 

• Yeni in Soho will be top Turkish chef Civan Er's first London restaurant

  Acclaimed Turkish chef Civan Er is bringing a flavour of his Istanbul restaurant Yeni Lokanta to London's Soho.

• Bar Jaleo in Soho is the latest from Rambla's Victor Garvey and it's all about paella

  Victor Garvey launches his next restaurant. It's still Spanish but this time it's dedicated to paella. 

• Wild Rice and Mamasan comes to Brewer Street - a double-decker restaurant with two takes on Thai food

  London's love affair with Thai food continues as a young Thai pair open a pair of new restaurants serving up different takes on Thai food in the same building on Brewer Street.

• Bowls comes to Soho serving up, yes, bowl food

  This restaurant does what it says on the tin - it serves up bowl food. Those bowls will be inspired by worldwide cuisine, including the Caribbean, South America and South East Asia.

• Calcutta Canteen by Darjeeling Express is Asma Khan's new all-day cafe - updated

  Updated with a first look at the food. As Darjeeling Express goes from strength to strength, Asma Khan has a new venture ready. Calcutta Canteen is an all-day North Indian/Bengali-inspired cafe in Carnaby and the big focus will be on filled bread buns called Pau buns.

• Yamagoya ramen returns to Soho and there will be raindrop cakes

  Yamagoya ramen originally started as a pop-up upstairs at Shuang Shuang. Now they're back, taking over the main restaurant for good and are bringing their famed raindrop cake with them. 

• Test Driving Berenjak - Iranian kababs in Soho from the JKS group

  JKS Restaurants turn their superpowers to the humble kebab - inspired by Iranian hole in the wall spots. Seems like Soho's not all that far from Tehran after all.