From Donburi to Deep Cuts: SHŌRI Vinyl Bar, Soho
By Rafi Mercer
New Listing
SHŌRI Vinyl Bar is one of Soho’s freshest listening experiences — explore more in our London Music Venues guide.
Venue Name: SHŌRI Vinyl Bar
Address: 15 Kingly Street, Soho, London W1B 5PS, United Kingdom
Website: shori.co.uk
Phone: N/A
Spotify Profile: N/A
Kingly Street has always hummed with music. Once the haunt of The Bag O’Nails where Hendrix played, and later a centre for fashion, its rhythm has never left. At number 15, a small doorway now holds a new chapter in London’s listening culture: SHŌRI Vinyl Bar. By day it serves donburi, bowls of rice layered with carefully prepared flavours. By night it lowers the lights, brings out the decks, and becomes one of Soho’s most intriguing new listening rooms.
This double identity is the source of its charm. Lunch here feels like a contemporary Japanese diner: clean lines, warm hospitality, and food that understands balance. But come evening, the tables tilt slightly toward anticipation. A cabinet of records emerges, the system comes alive, and the space shifts tone. You don’t just eat in SHŌRI; you prepare to listen.
The inspiration comes from Tokyo’s kissa bars—those jazz-soaked sanctuaries of the 1950s where small rooms held big sound. SHŌRI translates that tradition into central London without making it a caricature. It isn’t themed—it’s lived. The woodwork is simple but resonant. The light is hushed, amber tones bouncing softly off bottles behind the bar. And the sound? That is where the magic reveals itself.
The hi-fi system has been installed with the kind of care you feel before you even clock the speakers. Vinyl hums without strain, letting detail ride naturally into the space. A double bass feels taut, grounded. Horns find their sweetness without ever shouting. It’s not nightclub volume; it’s intimacy, presence. The kind of sound that makes you forget conversation and lean inward.
Programming is eclectic but precise. Expect to hear deep jazz cuts on a Tuesday evening, drifting into funk and Japanese city pop on weekends, with an occasional house groove sneaking in. Selectors are curators here—they treat the records like artefacts, spinning not to impress but to connect. In Soho, a place where music often becomes background to commerce, SHŌRI insists on respect for the record.
What strikes me most is the intention. In Mayfair, listening bars cloak themselves in exclusivity. In Dalston, they swagger with community energy. But here in Soho, SHŌRI does something else: it folds music into dining, blurring boundaries between sustenance for the body and nourishment for the sonic soul. You could come here for a bowl of donburi and leave having discovered a rare pressing of Pharoah Sanders—or vice versa.
The crowd is equally hybrid. You’ll spot office workers lingering past dinner, their shoulders loosening as Miles Davis slides in. You’ll catch crate-diggers sipping highballs, nodding along. And there’s always a sprinkling of curious newcomers, drawn in by the glow of the room and leaving with a new respect for vinyl.
The name, SHŌRI, means “victory” in Japanese, and there is a sense of triumph in what the bar has accomplished: a victory for listening culture in the very heart of W1. Kingly Street once echoed with the sound of live bands; today, the echo continues in pressed grooves, in needles tracing the edge of black wax, in an audience still willing to pause and hear.
As you climb back into the bustle of Carnaby, the sound lingers. Soho, still brash, still restless, but carrying in its pocket a quiet sanctuary where music is not consumed but savoured.
Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe, or click here to read more.
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