Common Tourist Scams in Soho (London) (and How to Avoid Them)
Restaurant + bar pricing scams
- The pattern: tourist-targeted restaurants on Old Compton + Wardour + Shaftesbury add €8 "cover charges", €6 bottled water without asking, "discretionary 15% service" then expect more.
- Defence: read the menu carefully before sitting; ask if "tap water" is available (always free); ask "is service included?" before tipping.
- Better-priced: the restaurants the locals use are typically a block off the main strip — Bar Italia (caffè), Andrew Edmunds, Bocca di Lupo, Koya Bar.
- Contactless terminals: ask the staff to enter the amount you can see; check before you tap.
FAQ
- What scam should I watch for in Soho?
- The legacy clip-joint scam — concentrated around Leicester Square's fringes and the Wardour/Greek Street late-night strip, more than Soho proper but close enough that visitors meet it here. A friendly woman (occasionally a 'promoter') invites a solo male tourist into a 'club' or 'private bar' that isn't on Google Maps; one round of drinks bills at £500-2,000; bouncers prevent leaving without paying. If a venue isn't named on Google Maps with reviews, walk past. Second-place is the Old Compton/Wardour restaurant pricing — £8 cover charges, £6 bottled water you didn't order, 'discretionary service' added on top of 'discretionary service'. Read the menu before sitting, ask 'is service included?' before tipping, and ask for tap water (always free in UK restaurants by law).
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