Ballie Ballerson London — Restaurant in London

Well, what can I say? Those who know me understand that the sesh chose me. I opted for 'Ballie Seshlehem Part Two' in Edinburgh, an obvious extension of 'Seshelem Part 1' in London.

In 2021, I was blessed with my first visit to Ballie. Just as lockdown ended, I was suffering from severe sesh withdrawal. I gathered my pixie friends from 'pastyland' and let me tell you, we made up for a year's worth of wall-staring. The ball pits were spacious and clean, and the music was downright impeccable. Never before had I been so eager to have balls in my face. I personally inhaled so many creative cocktails that I, too, was bouncing off the walls. At one point, I got so tangled up in the ball pit that I started resembling a modern art installation. My friends had to perform a rescue operation, and I emerged from the colorful abyss like a sesh superhero. We returned that same weekend, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't because we have an affinity for balls.

Recently, in October 2023, I ventured to the Edinburgh venue with my step-sister. This time, we secured a table and lucked out with a splendid spot, along with complimentary shots and pizza on top of the cocktail trip package we booked. FYI, the cocktail trip package is a must! It's such good value, and the pizzas, too (disclaimer: no actual 'trip' was induced 👀). But if you're looking for a different kind of trip, just stepping into the venue and seeing those UV wall designs might do the trick! Anyway, there's a giant slide, and I might have enthusiastically yeeted my step-sister down it. The ball pits are slightly more petite than those in London, but come on, THERE'S A SLIDE.

The ball pits should come with a warning (no, not the one you're hoping for, don't get too excited). When you emerge from the ball pool, your hair will be standing on end, and you might get a mild static shock if you touch anything metallic like the bars. I'd say this is a downside, but apparently, electrocution is the only thing that reminds me I'm not entirely dead inside.

The staff were friendly, and it was evident that they like their job at both venues. The venues themselves are a stroke of genius, and I'm already plotting to give the Cardiff venue a whirl next year.

Now, you might be wondering, 'Have they showered this girl with bribes for such a glowing review?' Well, let me present you with two options. One, I've been known to sesh so hard that I've sported the club version of beer goggles, and truthfully, I've fallen into that delightful trap more times than I'd like to confess. Or two, I'm a PhD student juggling a dash of mild, undiagnosed ADHD, still attempting to decipher the elusive concept of work-life balance. I'll leave it up to you to choose😏

Overall - 10/10 would recommend 🤹🏻‍♀️🛝🍹

P.S. My sincere apologies to the Ballie Instagram team and owners. It's not just my friends who have to endure my constant social media updates; now you all have to endure my endless story and...

I would 100% not spend my money here again! Paid 39 pounds x 2 for me and my friend to do the bottomless brunch on a Sunday evening. The bottomless brunch is advertised as 2 hours of unlimited pizzas and 90 minutes of bottomless drinks with your choice of Pornstar martinis, spicy margaritas, beers, and seltzers. The booking website says nowhere about being automatically served a certain drink or only having two pizza options to choose from. The evening started with our server automatically bringing us two champagne glasses, two martini glasses, and a bottle of Prosecco. She then poured whatever this establishment calls a "pornstar martini" and she came to refill it from a big shaker every time we took a sip. The drinks were incredibly weak and tasted like sugary juice mixed with water. We asked for 2 spicy margaritas and our server recommended we get just one to try for taste, we then ask for 2 again and we are only delivered one each time we ask for two. The margaritas were watered down as well and were very weak drinks. The pizza options we were given were Pepperoni or Cheese and we got one of each, no seasoning whatsoever and both of them were undercooked in the middle. Our server, the entirety of our visit was putting songs from her phone on to the speakers and would be dancing with customers for multiple songs in a row before bringing us the drink we had ordered 15+ minutes before. Our server was a very nice and lovely girl, but she paid no attention to us other than to refill our juice-filled "martinis" every time she passed us. The ball pit was cool..... a lot smaller than advertised and shown in the pictures, and seemed to be a hazard with a bunch of inebriated adults falling below the balls where they cant be seen and other people walking into the pit at the same time.

Unfortunately I cant un-recommend a place more. I would not spend your money or your time here, you will feel full of sugar and undercooked food afterwards and will not leave having a fun experience. I would not recommend and I will...

I am so sad because I used to LOVE this place. I've been here so much for the past 4 and a half years. I haven't been there in about a year or so this time (usually I would frequent every few months) but I couldn't due to moving. I was SO excited to come back. I even recommended this place to someone. I feel awful for doing that. 1.). They got rid of my favorite thing, which was their specialty cocktails. The only way to have their specialty cocktails was to order a big sharer version as some were offered that way, or buy a flight of 4 drinks. But ... I was only there with one person who had to work the next day, and I personally limit myself to 2 or 3 drinks. 4 or one big sharer cocktail to myself was way too much for me to handle. I would have been throwing up. Now the drinks are all boring, basic drinks you can get really anywhere. 2.) We were told, unless I misheard the booth was still only 2 hours even though the booking said 9 pm to 2 am and I PURPOSEFULLY contacted their staff in advance to check on this and they specifically confirmed the booth was from 9 pm until 2 am that night and it was longer because of the halloween party night special. I had screenshots of that. Now, it didn't matter because we did have to leave early, but the contradicting information was really confusing. 3.) We were told the fryer was down and they weren't going to bring what we ordered, but then when we double checked we found out it was just a 10 min delay (they seemed ready to not bring it at all before we asked). 10 min is really no big deal.

All in all, I was really sad with this experience. Last Halloween was so much better. The timings were clear, there were fun special cocktails, this just felt ... eh. I felt like I ruined my one day back in London. And I was embarrassed for recommending this place. I didn't even buy more than 1 drink. And I hated the drink....