Restaurants, Bars and Hotels Near the Prince Edward Theatre
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You could not put a theatre in a better place to eat. Old Compton Street runs through the middle of Soho with Chinatown at one end and Piccadilly beyond that, so the problem here is not finding somewhere, it is choosing!
One piece of timing advice that applies to all of it: most Soho pre-theatre menus stop serving around six, so for a 7:30pm curtain book for six and tell them you are going to a show.
Eat
Wong Kei, Wardour Street. Chinatown Cantonese, a menu the length of your arm, and famously fast. This is the one for four people, forty-five minutes and no reservation.
Bill's Soho, Brewer Street. British and European all day, with a pre-theatre menu. The place that copes when everyone in the group wants something different and nobody will decide.
Viet Food, Wardour Street. Vietnamese, quick, and lighter than most of what is around it, which counts for something when you are about to sit still for two and a half hours.
Bocca di Lupo, Archer Street. Regional Italian, small plates or full sizes of the same dishes, and the best dinner within a few minutes of this theatre. Book it, because it fills up and it does not do walk-ins well on a show night.
Speedboat Bar, Rupert Street. Thai, loud, built for sharing and quick when it needs to be. The one for a group who want the meal to be part of the night rather than the thing before it.
Drink
Waxy O'Connor's, Rupert Street. The nearest pub of any real size, six levels of it built around a tree. Most Soho pubs cannot take a pre-theatre group and this one can.
The Blue Posts, Rupert Street. A proper corner pub over several floors, quieter than the streets around it and one of the few places nearby where you will actually get a table before a show.
Rupert Street, Rupert Street. Glass-fronted, busy and easy to spot, which is what you want when the party is arriving from four different directions.
Stay
The Z Hotel Piccadilly. Compact modern rooms at a sensible price, and the practical choice when you are out at the theatre all evening and only need somewhere to sleep.
The Londoner, Leicester Square. Large and modern with several restaurants and bars of its own plus a rooftop, so anyone not coming to the show has somewhere to be.
W London, Leicester Square. Bold, loud and geared to a night that carries on after the curtain rather than one that ends with it.
Hazlitt's, Frith Street. Three Georgian townhouses knocked together, panelled and full of four-poster beds, and the closest hotel of any character to this theatre. There is no lift and the stairs are original, which is part of the appeal and a problem if you are carrying a case up three floors.
Hotel Café Royal, Regent Street. The expensive one, and it knows it. Marble, a spa and a room rate to match, for when the hotel is meant to be half the point of the trip rather than somewhere to sleep afterwards.
Nearby FAQs
Where should I eat before a show at the Prince Edward Theatre?
Soho and Chinatown are both on the doorstep, so the constraint is time rather than distance. Book for six for a 7:30pm curtain and say which show you are seeing. If nobody booked anything, Chinatown will feed four people in forty-five minutes without a reservation.
Are there pubs near the Prince Edward Theatre?
Plenty, though most Soho pubs are too small to seat a group before a show. Waxy O'Connor's on Rupert Street is the big one, and The Blue Posts nearby is the one where you might actually get a table.
Where should I stay near the Prince Edward Theatre?
Leicester Square and Piccadilly are the two clusters within an easy walk. The Z Hotel Piccadilly is the sensible-price option, The Londoner and W London are the bigger nights out. All three put you close enough that the walk back after a show is a short one.