Balans Cafe

Prime location on Old Compton Street/​Soho. Food is nice, space is cramped, a bit lifeless and plain, really nothing more to add. No real complaints but no rush to return.

Not to be confused with the flagship Balans, right down the same street and also open 24/​7, this one is a lot more casual and laid back. Standard cocktails and selection of wine available, great for a light appetizer or heavy meal (they have both a breakfast, brunch, evening, and late night menu with a mix of the day-​side items). A tight squeeze but a café with personality, Balans Café is a great place to frequent for brunch or those late night meals after everyone shuts their doors around 2am. No booze served past that hour, naturally, but you can stay here and feel safe all night long if you just can’t stomach the trek home (a guard stands outside at the door keeping the drunkards at bay), even if you’re staying in Soho and just don’t want to head home at most business’ closing hour. Staff is always friendly, and a great watering hole to hit up for a cup of tea in the late hours, or a hearty meal post-​partying/​clubbing.
The only thing is the music sucks, loud club pop sorta kills the endearing ambiance. I would assume such a cute café with modest personality would stream tunes a little more classy, or at least hipster-​ish, and not so mainstream obnoxious.

Decent breakfast at a decent price. It a destination spot but not regrettable either.

If you’re looking for a nice and quiet place to have a brunch during the week, go there ! I went there with friends on a Tuesday at noon and we had the place for ourselves. Nice English breakfast.
I had the most incredible and original French Pain Perdu I ever ate: Cream cheese stuffed pain perdu with crispy bacon and a lot (I mean it) of maple syrup: fat and sugary BUT awesome.
Later we saw three girls order fish & chips, it seemed delicious too !
So, a little pricy and not the most incredible place in Soho, but I had a good time and the waiter was nice :)

Went here last Friday evening for dinner pre-​show as we couldn’t get into the bigger Balans further down Old Compton St.
The cocktails — Porn Star Martinis — were good as were the quesadillas and banoffee pie we had. Only thing that slightly let down the experience was a slightly attitudey waiter.

We were here twice on our last London visit. Once for breakfast, and once for dinner and drinks. The staff were very patient with our dinner and drinks-​we had late people, and surprise people.
They were gracious and lovey!

The worst coffee in town. Rude personnel. Skip it if you can and select from a wide variety of coffepkaces nearby.

Fun place for a pre-​theatre drinks and munchies stop. At 6pm on a Saturday there was a nice buzz about it, along with most of Old Compton St.
Having opened my mum’s eyes a little by walking past a row of gay bars, we stopped here and took a table by the window for more people-​watching. It’s not very big (I believe it has a bigger sister further up the road) so the tables are squished a little closer together than you’d like.
Not sure if it’s like this all the time but the background music was pumping house — so not a place to relax, but not bad if you’re at the start of your night. My cocktail was more bucks than fizz but my sister’s daiquiri was better. Food-​wise we had a bunch of small plates to share and were pleasantly surprised with the portion size. Quesadillas, nachos and duck spring rolls were ok; the warm goats cheese dish was my fave (though goats cheese is my catnip!).
Our waiter was great — attentive and helpful, so whilst there are defo better places for food in soho, it fits the bill for a quick bite and around the corner from the Phoenix Theatre. They’re brave to stay open so late amongst so many bars though, and I do wonder what state their clientele are in later… I decided not to bring my mum back here after the show to find out: P

If you’re eating here it’s probably not because of the service. Seriously — service here is atrocious. The 2^nd star is only because it stays open all night.

Came here at 2am on a Saturday for drinks. The place we were in earlier had just shut and a friend suggested Balans. The atmosphere was pretty awesome! The crowd was at a good level, and despite the fact that most people were seated, the place was both high energy but relaxed (if that makes any sense). Perfect spot for a few last drinks before ending the night.
The reason it gets only 3 stars is the price. £8.50 for a Hendrick’s and tonic is definitely on the steep side. And to top it off, the only tonic they had was Schweppes. (For why the tonic is so important, see e.g. -
) Considering that even All Bar One uses Fever Tree, I was somewhat annoyed.
That being said, it’s still a great place for that last drink so I’d probably go again.

Staff are really friendly, the atmosphere is great.
Not sure why a orange juice should cost £5 but I can get over that.
Great place really but damn it could do with a good clean!

Ham, eggs, and potatoes at 7am. I’m happy. We went to the café side, not the restaurant side, but there was still a fairly large menu, and I could have had a cocktail if I’d wanted to. At that hour, the place was nearly empty, so the food came fast to satisfy my out-​all-​night-​now-​needing-​breakfast stomach. I’d asked for the potatoes extra crispy and they were, so that’s a win. The ham was delicious, two generous pieces and two eggs for £8. Awesome!

The duck spring rolls were lovely, as was the mozzarella cheese! Had the cheesecake for dessert and it was super creamy and yummy!

This is a nice place for people spotting as the who’s who of Soho is always there.
All of their drinks are good — the cocktails are not that special and a bit on the cheap side of alcohol.
The food is OK, edible but not particularly special.
I do tend to visit it quite often, most of the time for drinks.
Also the toilets resemble a dodgy bar and could use a little pick me up.

Late night spot when there’s nothing else open and you are too drunk to really care about the food quality. Food wasn’t inedible, it just wasn’t good enough to go out of my way to return.
At 11ish pm the crowd was obviously coming (or going) to other clubs or bars — Loud, drunk and obnoxious.
I had to send my Martini back — it was undrinkable. I got a house wine instead (hard to F*ck up, right?) nope! It was also a mistake. It was pretty rank (like from last week’s bottle). I’m not being mean, I’m just stating the facts. If you are going to have a bar, you should hire a bartender who knows how to make drinks and serve decent wine. Waiter was uninterested in providing service, but more into chatting with the pretty girls (or boys).
Probably wouldn’t return, unless I was too drunk to protest.

We had the two eggs «any way» (fried) with toast and sausage, topped off with some coffee and OJ. Everything was fine, though perhaps a bit pricy for a basic breakfast. Still, that’s probably the effect of the neighborhood.
Good spot for a quick breakfast.

It was super hard trying to find al fresco drinking in Soho last night. We didn’t really want to eat (but we did in the end) and basically want to sit outside for a glass of wine (or many as it turned out).
No, we didn’t end up sitting outside, but the tables right by the windows (??) offered a perfect compromise, giving us a roof over our head whiles basking in the healthy Londonium air.
Our waiter was friendly, if a little scattered as the evening went on; mainly due to the fact he apparently knew EVERYONE in London and spent as much time serving as hugging and chatting to people walking past the café– well who won’t want a job where you get to see your mates all the time?
* This is apparently lonesome dining central; if you and your laptop find yourself in Soho for dinner, you will definitely not stand out!

Dear Bouncer at Balans: You really need to check your ego.
We walk up, he stares at us for a full minute.
Tisha B: Can we get in?
Bouncer: we’re not serving alcohol.
Tisha: Uh, good… because we’re hungry.
:Another minute goes by with him staring at us:
Bouncer: (looks us over) 3 people?
Me (mentally): No, dude, can’t you see our imaginary friends.
After much signing through the glass door with the waiter (the café was barely half full, it being midnight and the clubs clearly dont let out for another 2 hours), he finally lets us in, where the waiter basically tells us to pick our own seats (as there was SO much room, it didn’t matter).
Ugh. Egoism kills me.

I’ve never been to any damned santacon but my record was somewhat broken when I arrived in London from Geneva with a Santa outfit waiting for me. Though my spotless record is intact since I missed it and was just a Santa for one picture and just the after parties. Ended up in soho at 3am and ravenous after a night of drinking and running about and being obnoxious in general. This place was still serving food!
Not bad either for late night food. Why can’t SF be like this?! We had duck spring rolls, pork belly, fish and chips, more booze: a bottle of Rioja and a port and a Madeira. Made friends discussing personality disorders with the Scottish traveller next to us before stumbling off into the night where it took another hour to flag down a cab.
So sums up my first re-​entry to London after an absence of 3 (I think) years!

After a night out drinking and dancing till 4/​5am finding somewhere to eat is always tricky. But Balans are open 24hours which is quite cool especially for this area. Food is good and will suffice to fill revellers after a night out. Large portions too.
Balans gets packed quickly around closing times of nearby clubs so getting a table can be a hassle. Service is good even at this time of night/​morning too. Bit pricey, an omelette, fries and drink will be about £14.