Exploring London's Soho Neighborhood
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An icon among London's gay cafes, First Out opened in 1986 and has enjoyed a phenomenal lesbian and gay following ever since. It's a great little community hub serving creative veggie cuisine (falafel, curries, pastas) and fair-trade organic coffee. A cheery little bar in the basement is popular with after-work types for wines by the glass, imported beers, and designer cocktails. Although mixed male/female most of the time, First Out draws a mostly lesbian crowd on Friday nights.

Along Frith Street, which is rife with excellent eateries, drop by stylish Barrafina for such authentic Spanish tapas as octopus grilled with capers, and chorizo sausage with potatoes and watercress. Boheme Kitchen earns high marks for its stellar contemporary European fare and rustic decor (exposed brick walls, wood-plank floors) - it's a favorite for weekend brunch (try the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon). Tasty, affordable ethnic fare is easy to come by in Soho - consider Imli for superb and creative Indian fare, including cumin-mint tilapia with a pine-nut coriander sauce; and Bar Shu for tantalizingly good Szechwan cuisine amid artful surroundings.

Much of the city's hard-core gay-clubbing action has moved to the scruffy but much-hyped South London neighborhood of Vauxhall (a.k.a. "Voho"), where countless discos lie side-by-side beneath an expanse of railway arches near Waterloo Station. Still, good old Soho claims a couple of world-famous queer clubs and legions of smaller, convivial gay pubs.

Heaven, one of Europe's definitive gay discos, is a wild show that keeps busy until 5 in the morning. Ku Bar is fun and stylish, catering to a stand-and-model under-30s set, while G-A-Y Bar is Soho's premier see-and-be-seen hangout - lesbians tend toward the intimate basement lounge, while the other three floors draw a mix of women and men. It can get a bit touristy here, but that also means it's an easy place to meet folks visiting London from all over the world. At G-A-Y Bar, you can learn the latest about upcoming G-A-Y Club parties - these wildly popular events take place several days a week (usually Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) at the London Astoria nightclub on Charing Cross Road.

Candy Bar is Soho's most inspired lesbian hangout, offering up a good mix of music, drinks, and entertainment, including strippers. On Wardour Street, stop by the Duke of Wellington pub to check out the multi-generational, mixed-gender bunch of revelers. Edge is a distinctively decorated (note the huge fish tank as well as a baby grand piano) four-story club overlooking Soho Square and drawing a fairly professional bunch of women and men. If it's cabaret you're into, check out 79 Charing Cross Road, which presents popular piano entertainment nightly and also has a popular open-mic night on Sundays.
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