London’s restaurants are among the loudest in the world, according to a new survey.
Sound data was collected randomly at 1,350 popular London restaurants by SoundPrint, an app that lists venues by sound levels.
The readings for London showed that noise levels were the highest in Europe and second only to San Francisco worldwide.
In over half of cases decibel levels were above 76 dBA, defined as safe for hearing but difficult for conversation. Anything above 80 dBA is considered unsafe for the human ear.
During peak times, 50% of London restaurants exceeded the dangerous noise level of 80 dBA, and 80% hit the point at which chitchat becomes a struggle.
The noisiest registered was Shak-Fuyu in Soho, at an ear-splitting 94dBA.
