Balans (Soho)

Living directly on top of sohos flagship , we eat very often @ balans we find it very convenient & the full on members of members of staff, but @ times made themselves over familiar with diners . This can be a little off putting but nethertheless the service is attentive and somewhat outstanding we do recommend to others all the time .
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Collinflat35 - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Friday, April 27, 2012

Went to Balans on saturday night with a large group of friends for my birthday, first visit for all

Manager accomodated us really quickly, even though they were extremely busy,

Food, Service, atmosphere were faultless

Will most def be going back

Thanks, made my Birthday Dining an absolute pleasure
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Trish Payne
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 09, 2012

Went there last week with a date and I thought it was amazing. We had scallops for starter, crab spaghetti and salmon for mains and a piece of lemon cheesecake with dessert and they were all beautiful. The waiter was lovely and his service was brilliant. I love the table that was given to us as we could actually have some conversation (as I generally hate to go to restaurants that are too noisy even though it is inevitable on a Friday night). Will definitely go back.
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K Bundy
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, April 11, 2011

First time visit, thought the food was of really good standard, starters were fabulous. Considering how busy it was the staff were faultless. I thought it was good value for money for food and cocktails. the table was ours for the whole evening. there was no pushing us out of the door when we had finished eating so had a fab four hours eating and drinking there. I highly recommend this restaurant.
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Meryl
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sandie, Mervyn, Mike Harding - I agree with them all!

We went for a pre-theatre light lunch on 28 December. Got the email saying they would only hold our booking 10 minutes and now we know why - the place was packed!

And with good reason. This was a fabulous experience of food, ambience and service.

We were given the evening menu and chose just some starters, but when we asked the breakfast/day menu was provided. Our party had Eggs Benedict Florentine - delicious and beautifully presented, Beef Hash - a work of art and delicious, Ham and Eggs - devoured by our 9 year old who ought to be a restaurant critic as she is SO FUSSY, calamari - light and crispy and perfectly cooked, a greek plate wth the most delicious tzatsiki ever eaten and a Smoked Salmon Blini of which I was only allowed to sample a morsel as my husband was so enamoured. I drank a very pleasant glass of wine and the others soft drinks. We sat by the bar and watched them create wonderful cocktails and were very jealous (but didn't want to sleep through the show!).

We had two desserts - sticky toffee pudding- rich and gorgeous and Key Lime Pie - absolutely beautiful presentation,maybe a bit light on the lime for our taste.

All through the meal, despite being frantically busy, the staff were really attentive. The manageress was spot on, looking after people's shopping and assisting everyone as quickly as possible, which was no mean feat.

Our waiter was wonderful and a bit special as he appeared to be Ruud-van-Nistelrooy (or at least his double)! He teased and charmed our little girl and nothing was too much trouble. I love people watching and observed the service at other tables and it really was impressive, with waiters going back time and again to their tables and accommodating the odd demands of everyone.

We really couldn't fault Balans even down to the immaculate facilities. The meal was delicious and really set us up for a good day.

And 'we' were a very mixed party - a fussy 9 year old going on 19, a 38 year old high calibre 'chef' with a really keen palette and a real eye for atmosphere and cool, a 40 something and a bit woman who likes good food, and immaculate surroundings and two parents in their late 60s.

It wasn't cheap, but we felt it really was worth the cost. We will be applying for the royalty card and look forward to our next visit.

One review described the place as warm and rowdy and that was a great description. It was full of fun, wonderful smells, the buzz of happy people meeting friends and contentment. Lovely!
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Dragon5
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 31, 2010

Visited a very noisy Balans Soho early on a Saturday evening. Ordered two starters and a two mains. The starters were particularly expensive - in terms of what you got. The mains were just OK.

The bill total was just under £50 for two. But shortly after paying, when we were leaving, were chased by our waiter who accused us of not paying (he had taken £50 in cash and didn't even bother to bring the change!)! Through our embarrassment (in the middle of the restaurant) we reminded him of our order and of our payment which he then finally 'remembered'.

Perhaps the male staff should spend less time preening themselves and flirting with other customers and do what they're paid to do which amongst other things, is being attentive to their customers.
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Londonlee
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, September 19, 2010

Popped in here for brunch while in town. Good, but pretty expensive. An omelette £7.95, two slices of toast £2.40, two coffees £4.80 - total including service £16.88. Now I call that quite expensive.
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David from Ealing - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Monday, August 09, 2010

I think this restaurant is great... great food, great atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff.... good cocktails... been there loads of times and can find no fault.. clearly the people on here that have put bad reviews need to clear off back to mayfair!
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Andy
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 18, 2010

My last 2 visits have been a great disppointment !!!...Over cooked dry as a bone food. Service good but not as good as it used to be. Beware the happy hour bill the promise is not what it seems and you'll end up paying through the nose for supposedly 2 for one cocktails. Having built up and been supported by a gay clientele it now seems to be taken over by tourists who've come to look . Not worth a visit any more.
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 22, 2009

I've never been a big fan of this place and normally only ever go when a group of friends insist, last time I was there the food was so over cooked I sent it back and they still tried to charge me for it, the waiting staff did not seem to get the fact that I'd sent it back as being grounds remove it from the bill, I felt like a big scene was created to try and shame me into just paying, I I won in the end and then refused to pay the service charge that they auto added to the bill, all in all bad service, bad food and WAY over priced, and WAY too noisy
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Steve
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, October 07, 2009