Balans Soho Society

The food isn’t anything to write home about but it’s decent. Came here for a bit of brunch so I ordered the eggs benedict with salmon (eggs royale) but the hollandaise sauce was quite bland and a bit too acidic.
And it seemed quite hard to get service at times if you’re inthe corner, it would always be the same guy running around trying to do everything. The table next to me just wanted drinks but they couldn’t get anyone’s attention until the last minute when they wanted to leave.

I’ve come to Balans on several occasions and it does what it does well and 24hours a day! I wouldn’t say the food is outstanding — but it’s pretty decent and I seem to find myself coming back time and time again (especially after those nights out and everything other than McDonalds is closed)
I came here for brunch this morning and whilst service was pretty quick and the food was tasty as always, there was a lot of things wrong with our order due to miscommunication.
Nothing drastic to worry about though, it was all sorted out pretty quickly & we enjoyed yet another meal at Balans. It’s just one of those easy to go to casual places to come to in soho.

We stumbled across this place quite by accident on our last day in London, and we could not have been more pleased! The service was top notch and the food was delicious (sea bass, pâté, scallops). Lots of energy and great people watching make this a place we’d come back to if we lived here.

Yeah getting an amazing Thai red curry in central London at 1.30am is pretty cool. So so tasty!

Love their Eggs Benedict staff is as friendly and efficient as the have been for the last 15? years I’ve been going here.
Stop for lunch, dinner or late nite drop in with ur friends.

Very contemporary hip space, with classic fare that hits the spot. I had the fish and chips with mashed peas, generous portions, crispy and delicious! We also tried the wild boar sausages and the sticky toffee pudding… Both top notch!

Balans is nothing but consistent. We have been coming for years and you always know that you will get great food in a friendly casual atmosphere.
Great as a couple or as a group.
If it’s busy and you have to wait for a table it’s no problem as you can grab a cocktail (or two or three) at the bar.
Always good value

If you’re on track for a late one, it’s definitely worth a visit to Balan’s for breakfast at 5am. They have a large menu, the food is decent and the coffee is much-​appreciated! The vegetarian breakfast burrito was delicious, and prices are not exorbitant (which they could be, given the late hour). I’m sure I’ll be back here for another early breakfast soon!

The service is personal and quick. I loved the food. I had the full English. It was well cooked and well rounded. My husband had the cream cheese filled French toast and it was delicious as well since I stole a taste.

We had an amazing mid-​night snack here. Will definetely come back here again. I would recommend the fish and chips (you won’t find better at this hour), the burger and the roasted chicken.

Great place for breakfast. Good staff and service and very decent food. Nice and buy atmosphere without being too noisy or overpowering.

Summary:
+ A casual all-​day restaurant
+ OK food and good location
Overall:
Balans is a casual all-​day diner at the heart of Soho. It is stylish and casual.
I tried mixed berry pancakes for a late breakfast on a weekday. Staff was friendly and helpful. The restaurant was not very busy and the service was pretty quick.
I went for mixed berry pancakes.
The pancakes were good. They were fluffy like they should be. But they were a little too sweet as they were soaked with syrup. I much prefer to have syrup (and butter) separately so I can control how much stuff I add as I make my way through the stack of pancakes. I always enjoy eating the plain pancakes first before adding syrup.
I have never been here in the evening but apparently they open till late.

Been many times and living in centre London Balans is one of my locals and funny enough we are regulars there. Slightly annoyed as have been informed today the table we’re about to sit for our meal need to be vacated by 8.30. Now we have always been told Balans do NOT book tables so what is this about? Aparently regulares (which it looks like we are not even though we eat there once a week sometimes) can book tables! Feeling a bit insulted… I wonder if all the regulars are «Men»? Not good at all. Food still top quality, a bit loud at times but we enjoy the music and busy environment.

The ambience in Balans is fantastic. It’s definitely lively and even when you’re massively hung over like I was on this vist, the mood just lifts you up and you can’t help but order a cocktail or 3 with your dinner.
Food-​wise it’s only okay. On this occassion I had the crab linguine washed down with a mojito, caipirinha, and something slushy and strawberry which was deceptively strong despite it’s cute appearance. The linguine could definitely use a few more punches of flavours and the cocktail while good were not amazing.
There are definitely better food and cocktails served elsewhere in London but I do return to Balans primarily because of the atmosphere, especially if I’m about to head out for the night, this place just puts me in the right mood for it.
ps. They do a decent Sunday roast however for that calming comfort hug that you need after a big night out.

No Roast Beef left on a Sunday afternoon.
Balans Chiswick & now Balans West Brompton have both closed.
Long wait for expensive food in a deafening restaurant with small mean tables & high prices.
Berry Smoothie had seperated or fermented.
Disappointed my favourite restaurants are sliding down the quality scale.
Staff are doing their best, but it’s time to try other options…

Went here after a night of hanging with the bros in Soho. Ordered an app and a main, I will say the Gnocchi app was better than the main. Take heed, if you come from elsewhere besides the UK this Cobb Salad might not be what you’ve have tried in others. The dressing just wasn’t a winner on any level. Thank god I my salad items came separated so I was able to salvage some sort of protein from my plate.
The ambience was great, even the service was on point. The food was simply not good at all, my buddy mentioned the same thing about the burger her ordered and he’s from the UK!
This place should be used as a meeting place for apps and drinks. :/

I thought the food here was pretty good — I just had a couple of cocktails as well as a plate of Mediterranean appetizers.
Atmosphere is fun and lively and really helps with getting the evening started.

Late night dinner, early morning breakfast — not sure how 3am meal after a night out qualifies, but Balans is really a place to be for it.
I love the fact that staff is so nice to drunk people –I think they probably do realise that the drunkenness is what really earns them majority of the money — they are not going to throw you out if you appear tipsy at the door. It just means you’re going to order a lot more you can eat :)
The food itself could have been better — for example I did not like the seafood Jambalaya, though my friend swears by it. They do have nice calamari rings and scalops. And as far as I can recall on my post-​birthday dinner/​breakfast (at 3am!) I had a nice fish & chips.
Do be aware that they stop serving alcohol at 3am… which is such a shame — majority of the clubs close at 3am and sometimes you just want to have that one drink — but it’s not a reason not to give full 4 starts to the place.
The place itself is clean in addition to all other its merits and as I said before — staff is nice and very patient.
I love it — I love the atmosphere, kind of buzzy middle-​of-​the-​night oasis of life — while soaked in alcohol Soho closes its eyes for the rest of the night.

Um. Let’s start with the good:
— kitchen opens late, serving courses until 3am
— trendy modern ambiance
— decent service
— price is okay, around 7 for appetizers and 12 – 15 for mains
And then the not so good:
— cocktail is way too sweet (pornstar for 9+GBP, felt like i was drinking passionfruit syrup)
— food is just overly underwhelming. i tried: greek plate (pass), pot stickers (barely passes), pork belly (fail — worst dish possible), thai currie noodle (fail — really coagulated sesame/​peanut paste), burger (fail — dry).
I would not eat here again.

Simply reviewing the breakfast here as it was recommend by a friend and local. Balans has the perfect mix of English & American breakfast items to get your day started right, or to dry and soak up the beverages from the evening before (this is London afterall).
Traditional English breakfast was solid, but they also have crispy American bacon and dishes that feel just lie home

Vu les différents avis précédents, nous avons longuement hésité avant de choisir ce restaurant pour un dîner en tête à tête dans Soho.
De plus nous voulions particulièrement celui-​ci et non son homonyme mais façon café qui est dans la même rue.
Notre choix s’est donc révélé le bon car non seulement nous avons été ravis et de l’accueil, du service et des plats (même du rapport qualité prix d’ailleurs), mais du coup nous y sommes retournés le lendemain soir et encore le suivant.
Trois soirs de suite: je peux affirmer que leur cuisine est de qualité (et de quantité), c’est frais, bon, savoureux. Le service est agréable, rapide, efficace. Les prix sont assez élevés mais en rapport avec le tout.
Une pensée émue pour le dessert: Leur Sundae est une tuerie, moi qui n’aime pas trop la chantilly, la leur faite maison m’a scotché dès le premier soir, j’en ai repris les 2 soirs suivants Our best experience in London without any doubt. We look forward to another time in the city to enjoy it again (We ate there 3 nights in a row)