There’s nothing like a girly trip to Westfield. With all the favourites including Dune, Oasis, Miss Selfridge and New Look are in close proximity, Westies (as I like to call it) is a little piece of weatherproof shopping heaven. Along with the hundreds of shops, it’s also home to almost 50 restaurants, ideal for a post shopping refuel or a girl’s night out. Last week, I experienced the latter thanks to lovely guys at Westfield and I’ve got to say, it was the perfect venue for a chilled out girl’s night out.
I grabbed four of my favourite girls, Jenny from The Style PA, stylist Frankie and the gorgeous Maria, and headed to Balans for a night of girly gossip, delicious cocktails and yummy food. Balans is situated on the Southern Terrace and is beautiful and slick inside, the dark wood gives a minimalist feel while the outdoor terrace area is perfect for alfresco dining in summer. Described as “modern European”, the menu had plenty of tempting dishes.
It actually took us so long to pick what we wanted to eat that we got through two bread baskets as we perused the menu! Highly impressed by the super soft, warm bread, we were eagerly anticipating our meals. I went for chicken gyoza to start followed by Thai red curry with rice for my main and it was scrumptious. The gyoza was probably the most delicious I’ve had and the Thai red curry was spicy but super flavourful. The girls were equally impressed, I think the only time we were actually quiet was when we were eating! As I was still suffering from tonsillitis, I was on fresh mint tea which was just what the doctor ordered, while the other girls indulged in some rather impressive cocktails.
Oh and there were the desserts. Hello, thin apple tart. The name really, really does not do this culinary masterpiece justice. All I will say is that it comes with salted caramel icecream, and yes it really is as good as it sounds! In fact, I had such a great experience I returned less than a week later and had another superb experience.
If you haven’t experienced a girly night out at Westfield yet, you really should, I can’t recommend it highly enough. There are so many restaurants to choose from (go to Balans) and both the tube and overground are super close by. If you’re a driver like me, definitely take advantage of the valet service – by the time I’d finished my meal, my car was sparkly clean and ready for me to collect. Perfect.
The food was scrumptious!