Balans in City of London, Westminster

Very good value for money went for breakfast I had the pancakes with bacon and my girlfriend had the French toast. Both where absolutely fantastic would deffenitly recommend. Also the hash browns wow different level!

Simon made our visit wonderful. Lovely food and atmosphere.

Very friendly service and delicious breakfast

The breakfast burrito was veryyyyy filling, and tasted nice! It had hash browns, halloumi, eggs and other bits and bobs. The kimchi pancakes with fried chicken was also nice, but overtime got a bit redundant in flavour and texture. The pancake felt quite dry at the half way point - so perhaps a sauce of some sort, or an additional component aside from the chicken, would benefit the dish overall. The staff were kind, with our server refilling our cups of water regularly - it was a very kind gesture. It was busy overall, but a nice kind of bustle. I’d recommend visiting here if you’re in central london and want a solid breakfast. The pricing was extremely sensible given the area (expect roughly £10-£15 per dish). The steak and chicken were halal, but it’s also worth double checking on the particular dish you’re look at :)

Really good option for a casual catch-up friends or even a special occasion. Good food. Nice atmosphere. Staff are lovely. I’ve been here multiple times.

Balans No. 60 likes to advertise itself as “Famed for its outrageous atmosphere”. In reality should this place should be “Famed for outrageous prices and deeply mediocre cooking”. Poached eggs on toast, a simple dish, classic comfort food which you’d think that the chefs at a late-night diner would have perfected. What came to our table were cold, overcooked eggs on a plate, next to equally cold slices of toast, to be buttered with also near icy packaged pates of butter, presumably to be applied like araldite with a putty knife. Comfort food? More like discomfort food. Cost for this mess: £8, to which we asked for mushrooms (£3), smashed avocado (£3) and sausages (£5.50). Here was the insult to injury. Lukewarm mushrooms came as the smallest possible portion, not quite buttons, not quite portobello, more of a garnish than a side. Even smaller was the portion of avocado smash, less that half an avocado at best. The sausage links were adequate but failed to compensate. Americano £3.50, plus service charge, not on menu but added to the bill. Total cost approx. £20 per head for a meal that any greasy spoon with ambitions to pedestrian success would have charged £15 max. If the food was produced with any care or attention the £20 would be just about acceptable. Any supposed ‘buzz’ in no way compensates for shoddy catering. The place presents itself as a late-night hipster hangout, with mural portraits of supposed Soho legends such as Quentin Crisp, Amy Winehouse plus various non-entities from the 1990s painted on the way downstairs to the bogs, a metaphor for the direction of travel of this touristy rip off joint. Some long established institutions like to rest on their laurels, Balans prefers to grind their laurels into dust. This place deserves to close.

Very delicious food and drinks, love the steaks, definitely recommend for the AM cravings. Very nice security guard, however, not happy at all with the interaction and service of one of the waitresses. I’ve visited this place many times but this lady’s attitude and service is very cold, unwelcoming, even disrespectful with her body language, facial expressions and speech. It’s understandable that it’s not ideal working hours but for the 10 + times I’ve visited this place, her service has been the same. If we are being served by her, my friends and I always feel very uncomfortable and it definitely brings down the mood. I have previously worked in hospitality jobs and completely understand it’s tiring but this is horrible service, interaction and definitely makes the guests uncomfortable. I’ve noticed that it’s not just us who have felt this way and I hope something is done about this as it’s a shame. Have had normal experiences with the other workers.

Nice place for a meal. We stop by for their pancakes. It was on the dense side. Drowned in syrup but not overly sweet. Definitely worth a try if you like pancakes

"Famed for its outrageous atmosphere" says the website, should read famed for its outrageous prices and mediocre food. The meal served at brunch I attended at the beginning of the year was lacklustre in the extreme. Two poached eggs on toast came with eggs overcooked and the toast stone cold (£8) plus ordered two small sausages (£5.50), 3 mushrooms (£3) and spoonful of mashed avocado (£3). Poached eggs are pretty easy to cook, one would think, and it would take a pretty cack handed cook to serve up such an afterthought of a meal. Portions are small, packaged butter straight from the fridge had to be laden on cold toast with a putty knife, The chef and crew must have been suffering from a hell of a hangover. This place is not so much resting on its laurels and in full weight squat, the laurels ground underneath being ground to powder.

Gran servicio de varios miembros del personal, gran ambiente y muy bien equipado. Los precios eran muy razonables y sin duda volveremos a disfrutar de algo de comida, esta vez solo un par de copas de fizz pre teatro

Very nice place for brunch. Lovely staff and great food.

Just had my first English breakfast, and I have to say, it made a great impression on me! The beans were slightly tangy with a tomato flavor, and the potato cubes had a spiciness that was quite unexpected. The "Spritz" cocktail was okay, but the "Porn Star Martini" definitely caught my attention, both being rather mild in flavor. It was lovely to enjoy a full English breakfast at 1 am on January 1st, a perfect spot to unwind after the fireworks. The waiters were also very friendly. Overall, a great experience.

Came for dinner on NYE and were helped by John who was super helpful and gave us perfect service, really enjoyed our evening!

I entered the restaurant by chance Honestly, it's a fantasy Clean and delicious food cooked just for you Return it a second and third time I ordered a beef burger And two types of potatoes, all of them, and fresh And fresh salad Rice with vegetables, but it wasn't just rice and vegetables Thank God I entered

Nice food, friendly staff, great place in Soho.

We went there for the first time for brunch and we loved it so much that we had all our brunches there. The decoration is pretty, you will find a table without queuing, the staff is very friendly and the food is excellent. I recommend! PS: the hot chocolate and their cupcake are to die for

Always a pleasure to come to Balans. Highly recommend

We stopped for a coffee, and it was a nice spot to take a break. Excellent service. Food on other tables looked great.

We had their full English breakfast and French toast and it did not disappoint. The quality of the food was top notch and I have a newfound appreciation for the simplicity of baked beans. John our server was spectacular; he provided strong recommendations and even better conversations. He definitely deserves a raise!!

Kudos to Balanas Soho, for being open till 6am and serving hot food till 5am, well done. Cute interior decoration with friendly staff. Two bouncers make sure no drunken craziness walks in. The cocktails hit the spot and the comfort food goes well along.

I highly recommend this brunch place! It's way bigger than I expected. Their pancakes are amazing, but the full English breakfast is my absolute favorite. I came without a reservation and was lucky to get a table, as it was pretty crowded.

Honestly I'm heartbroken because as a customer of many years this place has gone down hill, the menu is not great, there is next to no ambience, the staff and the manager who served me was rude (male tall ish blonde European guy by the name of Marco) honestly I was a happy member but I don't want to come back! Shame!

Popped in for quick bite and a drink. Was nice.

Great place to meet friends or family) very tasty food!

Superb premium experience on a very busy Saturday evening. Our party of 6 was looked after by Michael - who made the whole evening a delightful experience. Everyone loved the food itself. I had the delicious scallops and fettuccine. Not cheap (as you would expect for the west end).. but excellent!

I wanted to share some feedback about our visit to Soho Balance 60 on Wednesday for a Christmas dinner with friends. We’ve come to your restaurant for special occasions at list 6 years in roll. in the past and always enjoyed it, but this time, the experience was really disappointing. ( we spend over 1k) One of my guests didn’t get their pre-ordered starter, and despite asking a few times, it never arrived( we ask waiter 3 times) Getting drinks was also a struggle we had to ask multiple waiters for wine and Prosecco, and eventually, I just went to the bar myself because no one was bringing them. Throughout the evening, no one checked on our table to see if we were okay or needed anything, which made us feel completely ignored. At one point, a guest tried to pour some water since no one was around to help, and they accidentally spilled a bit, as he is not a waiter so is happen. When a waiter finally showed up, their attitude wasn’t great, and they even pushed one of my guests, which was completely unacceptable. The frustration just kept building, and unfortunately, some of my friends left early because of the poor service. I spoke to the manager at the end of the evening to share how let down we felt, but instead of addressing the issues, I was told I was banned from the restaurant. I work in hospitality myself, and I was calm in how I brought it up, so I was shocked by how dismissive and unprofessional that response was. Meny of the issues could be sort out on the day, however now one was bothered. I’m sharing this feedback because I hope it helps improve the experience for other customers, but I’ll be honest—I won’t be returning after that

necesitaba nada, lo que nos hizo sentir completamente ignorados. En un momento dado, un invitado trató de echar un poco de agua ya que no había nadie alrededor para ayudar, y accidentalmente se derramó un poco, ya que no es un camarero por lo que sucede. Cuando un camarero finalmente apareció, su actitud no fue genial, e incluso empujaron a uno de mis invitados, lo que fue completamente inaceptable. La frustración siguió creciendo, y desafortunadamente, algunos de mis amigos se fueron temprano debido al mal servicio. Hablé con el gerente al final de la noche para compartir lo decepcionados que nos sentimos, pero en lugar de abordar los problemas, me dijeron que me prohibieron entrar al restaurante. Yo mismo trabajo en hostelería, y estaba tranquilo en cómo lo planteé, así que me sorprendió lo despectiva y poco profesional que fue esa respuesta. Meny de los problemas podían ser resueltos en el día, sin embargo ahora uno estaba preocupado. Comparto esta opinión porque espero que ayude a mejorar la experiencia de otros clientes, pero seré honesto: no volveré después de eso

Fantastic girls ‘late’ lunch. Super attentive service from Daniel - he was helpful, knowledgeable and funny! Food was delicious - we ordered all of the small plates 😋 the honey truffle chicken was delicious as were the quesadillas! If fact it was all lovely. The doughnuts are but to be missed! Lovely cocktails and champagne. Thank you for making our lunch and afternoon such fun. We will be back!

Perfect service, good food, I recommend this place, full of joy

Dreadful food - 1 prawn turned up for 15 pounds. Avoid at all costs. Tourist trap.

Perfect breakfast spot, delicious food and soft atmosphere.

Be sure to book, super popular, bit noisy but great food.

Balans No. 60 está en el corazón de la zona del Soho de Londres y es, en mi opinión, uno de los mejores lugares de Londres para la gente que mira mientras disfruta de buena comida y un menú de cócteles creativo. Estuve con un amigo para una cena antes de Navidad y encontramos el ambiente frío una experiencia abrumadoramente positiva gracias a un flujo saludable de cócteles 'Make Me Sweat' y 'Lavender High Jump' maridados y algunos platos excelentes (el suflé de queso dos veces horneado y el curry de dopiaza definitivamente merecen una mención en los despachos). La crítica tampoco estaría completa sin un "grito" a nuestro carismático y encantador camarero para la noche, Daniel. ¡Hizo su magia con una combinación de humor cáustico y bromas chispeantes! Vinimos por comida y bebida y nos fuimos después de haber disfrutado de la experiencia completa de los Balanes!

Went as a group of 10 for a set 4 course festive dinner. Very impressed by the food and service. Had a fantastic dinner.

Great lunchtime catch up with friends....and even made our Pug feel at home. Thanks !

Simon was amazing . Friendly and fast service . Thank you !!!

Super tasty brunch! I got Eggs on Hell this time and god it was delicious. Absolutely love this place!

Great food, lovely and warm on such a cold day, coffee was delicious and as it is the Christmas season it came with a mini minced pie square

We had a great experience at Balans on Saturday, not our first one, and definitely not our last one. Food is always amazing and the service was again very friendly and attentive.

I mean, we have a sense of humor, so we laughed at this breakfast setup, but others might be furious if they saw their breakfast like this—and I wouldn’t blame them. I understand that the meal is quite basic, but I think a little extra effort in presentation, along with some additional veggies or a piece of toast, would make a big difference. Otherwise, what’s the point of going out for brunch? Even though my plate looked better, it still arrived cold. That said, the service and the atmosphere are lovely.

Nice atmosphere and good service

Fantastic !! So different from the usual places....Not to be missed!

We had a fantastic meal- Daniel is the host with the most. He truly made a special occasion more special for us all. Daniel <3

Had a fantastic Sunday roast, and had excellent service as always

Personal y ambiente increíbles, la comida era brillante. ¡El pato era perfecto! Realmente disfrutamos de nuestro tiempo aquí con ganas de volver

Great food and personable service. We visited Balans again last Friday with friends and had a great time. Lovely cocktails and food. The cod and tuna dishes were very tasty and the doughnuts for dessert delicious. John our waiter was very attentive and made the whole experience even better.

Pathetic service. Waited 10 mins to sit at the table, 30mins for them to come and take the order, and then another 30 mins for the food to arrive. The tables after us had the same dishes arrive before us. I don’t know what the issue was and if we weren’t just pretty enough like the two girls next to us. Never coming back here again. The ladies washroom was closed so everyone had to share the men’s washroom. And cherry on top - £20 for an average at best burger.

We had great time! Having being here before, we were already expecting awesome experience, and we werent proven wrong. Great and fast service, friendly and super helpful staff, delicious dishes, relaxing atmosphere, plus a surprise birthday cake. Thank you guys!!

The chicken was extremely dry, and the service was terrible. The restaurant wasn’t that busy so I don’t understand why it took forever for my food to come and it was so hard to get the server’s attention. I should’ve just gone to Morley’s.

Super place to go ! Good food ! Super service !

We had a really nice time yesterday - the food was delicious and plentiful, came out quickly but not too quickly, our waiter (Albanian guy) was great and really friendly. The staff really looked after us and a lovely time was had. Will be back

I've had brunch here a few times as I know I can rely on good food, good service and a comfortable environment. I had steak and eggs this time and it was excellent.

loved this place! had cocktails and late lunch on a busy saturday. waiter was so friendly and easy going, food and drinks weren't as expensive as the location would suggest and the buzzing atmos was fun too

Hands down the best cheese omelette I’ve ever eaten !! Staff fabulous and very attentive especially replenishing water every 5 minutes !! I wish more restaurants would do this ! My friend had the English breakfast also very enjoyable !! Please open in Putney !!

Wonderful service. Great scollop!

Visiting London from Liverpool. We had a table reserved at 6:30, seated straight away. Atmosphere was lovely, Simon looked after us and was very attentive. He sold us on the pork special! Food was absolutely delicious, couldn’t fault it. Thank you very much for a lovely experience, we’ll be back again! Hope to be served by Simon again, fabulous host!

Food is divine, lovely and cozy atmosphere, brilliant cocktails! DOG FRIENDLY, which makes it my number one place to go in soho. My pup was really welcomed and stayed on the sofa next to me. Amazing place! 10/10

Restaurant très bien situé dans une rue bien animée. Il n’y a que 3 tables en terrasse et nous avons eu la chance d’en profiter ! Les plats étaient vraiment délicieux. Et le service extrêmement sympathique ! Le prix des vins est correct pour Londres !!! 😉. Je le recommande vraiment !

Abbiamo ordinato un pollo al curry con riso veramente immangiabile.Il pollo erano pezzi pieni di scarti duri da masticare e il piatto era di un piccante davvero insopportabile e a me piace la cucina molto piccante.Prezzo elevato per una cena pessima

Nothing to say about the waiter but £30 for 2 glasses of wine and a £3.34 tip for the waiter, style iver substance. First and last.

We went there for an English breakfast, and we were delighted with our visit to this restaurant. Very well received, attentive staff. Very generous plates and good quality products. I recommend.

Always a happy experience. Daniel our waiter was lovely, friendly and helpful.

Lovely and lively. Food & Service was good

Very nice shop, highly recommended

I use to go after work.. is very nice to have a very late dinner. Nice prices also

Great place for drinks with friends. The staff is friendly

Neat decor, charming service and succulent dishes (lobster hot dog, truffle macaroni, etc.) One of our best memories of London. Thanks again

They hide a tip on the bill. And then pressure for a bigger tip. This practice needs to stop. Other than that, nice place.

Very expensive priced and fairly mediocre food / service A few of us ordered Chicken & Gnocchi, and when it turned up it was Chicken with a few small potatoes - apparently the kitchen had ran out of gnocchi and so decided to just put a few boiled potatoes on the plate I have never come across this before where a major substitution is made in a dish without even mentioning or asking the guests in advance - we made it clear we were unhappy about this (nothing comp’d or any apology about the fact the food was wrong) Beyond that one side dish never turned up and the prices were expensive (e.g. £22 for a burger and chips + service) Unfortunately despite it being in a convenient soho location we won’t be back

Would give 6/5 stars if we could to our waiter Kyle. His vibes and service were immaculate. Brunch and cocktails also delicious!

Nice atmosphere. Good food but overpriced. Service is over-attentive.

We absolutely loved this place! Very warm and friendly staff. The food was so yummy and the tea and coffee was great. Also pretty good sized portions. Meron are server was lovely and gave excellent service. We will definitely be going back to Balans. It's our new brunch spot.

The place to go that would be open any time. Till very late with good food and good price. Recommend 👌🏻👌🏻

My daughter and I had a lovely brunch, staff were friendly , service was snappy and the food really good. Atmosphere was abit dry but having been here early hours of the morning previously ill pop that down to the time of time we both visited

Terrific breakfast / brunch location. Witty, clever decor. Service was good. Highly recommend.

Lovely food, lovely staff and lovely atmosphere. Our first time here and will definitely come back

Great atmosphere, great drinks and great service. All requests were met with no issues whatsoever. Will definitely be going back! edit: been back twice and has never even gotten close to the first experience. disappointing due to it being a special place for my partner and me

Expensive and uneventful. Lost its touch

Simon was great! Very knowledgeable, friendly and attentive, very rare to get in London! Highly recommended

Wonderful service from the lovely Simon and the food was just as delicious as the convos happening around us!

The visit at Balans was amazing! It’s rare to find a place nowadays where the food, service and atmosphere are to the highest levels. My friends and I were warmly welcomed by the lady with short blonde hair who throughout our time there was making sure we had a good time. She recommended some of the new expresso martinis which were amazing. Definitely 5 starts for the service and we’ll definitely return as we found out it’s open until late during the weekend!

We had breakfast in this very cozy place! They have awesome coffee and tea. The food is great, and the service is very friendly. We had a great time. I can't recommend this one enough.

Was here Thursday 16/5/24, grateful to’ve still found a bar that serves food and drink after an eve at the cinema (the most banal and normal thing to do in the rest of the world, not so though for the UK. Still, in 2024. 😡) Have deducted two stars for: - the horrendous “music,” the bs that has vocoders galore and does nothing than aggravate, especially if it is: - too loud!!! A London speciality, offered here too of course. Had we been able to stay longer than half an hour, I’d have asked to turn the noise down. I didn’t, as I handily had my earplugs with me. Enough said. PS: Have literally gone back to my above review here to deduct the stars I initially gave: we needed to escape yesterday (23.9.24) the banging house at Compton's: my mate and me haven't had a chance to catch up, so yearned for somewhere comfy to sit in a quieter place. He had a bulky piece of equipment, so weren't keen to leave again, when we noticed the sheer volume here of the music (and wrong selection: why rap? why chose a soundtrack of a bored-sounding bloke mumbling into conversations people trying to have? why loud Rock on a Sunday eve, 10:30pm?! with only half a dozen of customers?!) We had to ask the staff and the management several times to turn it down. At first we were grateful when one manager did. We were finally able to hear each other properly and continue to catch up. He then cranked up the volume, just minutes later. I'm saying it again: he cranked up the volume, again! That's bordering on malice. I was so seethingly furious, for the sake of my friend who was also tired, I reigned it in. It'd have otherwise properly escalated. I can hence assure you dear reader, here the staff demonstratively don't care. Avoid at all costs.

The food here is always really really good. The staff are on point and friendly. Great for Brunch, and ideally located close to Shaftsbury Avenue if you've got an afternoon show on.

A good choice for lunch and dinners Nice people working there I never had a bad meal there.

So I came to have brunch at 12 in the evening after a night out. With very few options in soho that open late for food, this place ticks many boxes. The food itself was so tasty but the portions were so small. I ordered extra avacado which was priced at £5.50 which I was happy to pay if the portion size reflected the cost. It was literally a spoon full of smashed avacado. I was so surprised that I had to ask the waitress (Aisha) whether this was a mistake. She explained this was the standard portion but would pass my feed back to the kitchen. She returned with a large portion. Her service in general made up for the few issues that we had with the food. I would say this place overall was great but they need to adjust the portion sizes to reflect the prices.

No one seemed to be assigned to my table. I had to wave someone down after 15 mins of waiting to place my order. Never once did he check on me. I asked for my bill from another member of staff. I asked for service to be removed and she didn’t even ask why. Clearly she didn’t care. She processed the charge and ran away. Never offered to give me a copy of my receipt. The rum espresso martini was also rather bitter. Needs a little more sweetness.

Thoroughly enjoyed the all day dining here. Food was made freshly and the coffees were very nice. Staff paid attention to reservations details and prepared a surprise birthday cake for us which made this a memorable experience.

Came here for dinner with my friends. Location and service were great, but food leaves much to be desired…I ordered vegetarian butternut squash schnitzel, and instead I got a super dry thick slice of the squash, with a slight burnt flavour, no spices and just a bit of a crunchy crumble on top. It came with boiled potatoes and slaw. Everything was lacking any flavour and was incredibly dry… I wish I have checked the photos of the meal before ordering.

Superb service, food and atmosphere. Our server, Simon, was attentive, friendly and approachable throughout our visit. We have already booked our next visit. I cannot recommend Balans No. 60 enough! 5*

Fabulous place for breakfast in Soho. Good food options for veggie and vegan. Attentive service too. Highly recommended

Came here for dinner and its was lovely! The staff were very welcoming and friendly and accommodated our dietary needs. The food was presented beautifully and was delicious, the drinks were also really nice. The Passionfruit Martini wasn’t too sweet, it was probably the best i’ve had. Would definitely recommend coming here for a meal when out and about in London.

Nice food and the service team is great!! 😊

Great as always! Food is delicious and nicely presented. I had the steak and eggs and my friend got the fried chicken pancakes. I forgot how big are the portions! 😆 Absolutely a place to try. Also, the waiter was very nice and funny. Will be back for sure.

Fantastic food and staff and atmosphere! Will definitely be back soon

Having had lunch at No. 34 the afternoon prior, I was not disappointed when a friend took me to No. 60 after a few drinks in SoHo. Buzzy with the dinner crowd, the food and the service were excellent. We both thoroughly enjoyed our steak frites.

I had the absolute pleasure of being served by the man named Kyle. I can’t say too much about the food as it wasn’t what led me to review but the service was just outstanding. He was very attentive and very friendly and it’s just not something you tend to see in restaurants anymore and so for that I am grateful for my experience at balans!

I ordered a glass of wine (overpriced, 10 quid for a glass of house white) and it was tasting VERY bad - I didn’t even finish it, only drank half of it. It gave me the strongest migraine of my life which made me feel very sick all night long. I didn’t even drink anything before hand so I wasn’t drunk or anything. Also, Very bad service overall… the hostess/manager seem to be very upset and didn’t spare anybody one smile. Very disappointing…

Very disappointing have to say food wasn't great

Super night at No.60. Loved the cocktails. Great menu for an eclectic group of tastes and superb service. Loved it.