It was after talking to the King of Soho, Sebastian Horsley that I decided to try out the Lorelei as it’s one of Sebastian’s favourites. I’d walked past it countless times without it registering, mainly because it always looked closed and I never trust places in Soho that aren’t widely known. Well the Lorelei as it turns out is widely known (I’m just clueless, but not as clueless as you) and what a place it is. You couldn’t squeeze more character into it if you tried. Tiny with little Formica tables (since well before they were fashionable) and an epic mural of a mermaid on the wall it’s one of my greatest finds, let alone the fact it’s in Soho. It’s nice to be able to recommend somewhere that isn’t Busaba Eathai. The Lorelei hasn’t changed a stitch since it opened back in the 1940s (or thereabouts) and feels like walking into a back alley restaurant in Naples. It’s Italian with pretty much 2 things on the menu, omelettes and pizza. Both are good and cost about £6. My friend sums up the menu “I haven’t seen a dessert menu like this since I used to go on holiday to Cyprus as a kid, the only difference is this one is spelled correctly”. They appear to have various flavours of ice cream and sorbet but when we enquire as to what flavours the tiny little waitress just stabs her finger at the menu squawking “vanilla”, hmm anything else? Any sorbet? “VANILLA” ok ok we’ll take vanilla. Our smirk as she pulls a giant budget sized carton out the freezer quickly disappears as we soon realise the ice cream tastes wonderfully homemade. It’s the small things like the fact that there appears to only be one bottle of ketchup, one set of salt and pepper and one jar of sugar for the whole place so the tiny little Asian lady is constantly grabbing them for whoever asks, not to be returned so make sure you take as much as you need.
Lorelei, 21 Bateman Street, London, W1D 3AL
020 7734 0954
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