A salad bar and a whopping great big shopping centre might not seem like your typical date destination. You’re right – it isn’t. However, sometimes, things you overlook can turn out to be little treasures. With the twinkle of the Christmas lights and general jovial – even nostalgic – feel of Christmas in the air and its protection from the outside chills; Westfield this time of year is tinged with romance.
Dating can become an expensive affair, not to mention calorific if you’re grabbing romantic nibbles with several different dates a week. Bearing this in mind, when someone suggested we review Tossed – a salad and wrap bar frequented by many for lunch in the City and West End – in Westfield as a place to take a date, it didn’t sound like such an odd idea. It has a reasonably priced, guilt free menu (you can eat anything here and not feel the need to go for a jog in the morning) that includes special grills not featured on other Tossed’s menus. Being located seconds away from the Vue cinema just up the escalators, it’s an ideal place for a mid-week dinner and a movie date, possibly three or four dates in – so this is exactly when we tried it.
A little tip: if you’re a Westfield virgin and meeting for a date here, it’s best to meet your date near a station or outside, otherwise it could take several confused phone calls (as it did us) to find each other, such is the scale of the place!
Meeting straight from work around 6:30 the gleaming white restaurant, which has a yuppie canteen feel to it, was fairly quiet. As we settled in we noticed that as all the regular salads and wraps you’d expect from a regular Tossed, the Westfield restaurant also has special grills and little bottles of white and red wine and beer.
We opted for the freshly made grills. They came in dinner proportions and were served on white plates. The king prawn salad (£9.95) was eye-wateringly large with a generous helping of plump, hot prawns that can only be described as super king in size, accompanied with bean sprouts, lettuce leaves, shredded carrots and peppers and an oriental style dressing. While the steak salad (£9.95) – perfect for any red blooded male – comes abundant with thick lashing of seared steak. We washed down our healthily food fare with delicious warming red wine, which was served in unconventional tumblers, instead or regular wine glasses.
We couldn’t resist a healthy pudding either. So we opted for their rich frozen yoghurt which comes in a variety or flavours. The strawberry option came topped with fresh strawberries and was so morish, if we were not being so polite, I am sure a second round might have been ordered! Suitably full and without the need to wait for our plates to be cleared we hot-footed it up the escalators to catch a movie. Perfect.
Tossed might not seem like a traditional date place and as long as you take it for what it is, you won’t be disappointed. It’s relaxed, inexpensive, un-fattening and it won’t take up your whole evening. With the cinemas just upstairs and no booking required, you needed plan your whole evening, but take it as it comes and you’ll enjoy some good food with, hopefully, good company – but we can’t advise on that bit!
Closest Tube Station: Shepherds Bush
Address: The Balcony, Westfield London Shopping Centre, W12 7GF
Tel: 020 8740 9613
Focal points: Ideally located below the Vue cinemas, many bars and shops.
Opening times: Monday to Saturday 11.00-21.00, Sunday 11.00-18.00
