Soho is at its most revealing in the morning. Before the pavements fill and the evening crowds arrive, its cafés, streets and long-established businesses have room to breathe. This walk begins with coffee at Bar Italia before continuing through the neighbourhood to Maison Bertaux for a second breakfast shaped by French pastry and Soho history.
Morning coffee at Bar Italia
Bar Italia has occupied its narrow Frith Street address since 1949. Founded by Lou and Caterina Polledri, it became a meeting point for Soho’s Italian community and remains a family-run landmark. The room is compact, bright and full of character: a long counter, closely arranged tables and the energy of a place designed for conversation rather than lingering anonymity.
The visit is deliberately simple: coffee, breakfast and a seat outside from which to watch Soho start moving. Bar Italia works because it does not need to manufacture atmosphere. Its identity comes from continuity, the people behind the counter and decades of customers passing through the same small room.
Walking across Soho
From Frith Street, the route continues through the compact network of streets that gives Soho its distinctive rhythm. Cafés sit beside pubs, restaurants and small independent businesses. The Three Greyhounds marks another familiar point in the neighbourhood before the walk turns towards Greek Street.
French pastry at Maison Bertaux
Maison Bertaux has been making cakes in Soho since 1871 and describes itself as London’s oldest French pâtisserie. Its Greek Street shop is immediately recognisable, with pastries displayed in the window and tables gathered close to the frontage. Like Bar Italia, it feels inseparable from the street around it.
The second stop brings coffee and a generously filled croissant at an outside table. It is a different style of breakfast from Bar Italia, but the appeal is similar: direct, independent and rooted in the life of Soho. The pastry is crisp, rich and substantial enough to turn a coffee stop into a proper meal.
These two cafés show why Soho rewards repeat visits. Neither depends on novelty. Bar Italia and Maison Bertaux have survived because each offers something recognisable, personal and difficult to reproduce elsewhere. Together they make a compact breakfast route through two strands of Soho’s European character.
Watch the Soho breakfast walk
The original film follows the complete journey, from the morning approach into Soho to coffee at Bar Italia and pastry at Maison Bertaux.
This article forms part of Roberts London’s continuing study of living and working in London.
