Bala Baya hosts private dinners, corporate evenings and celebrations for up to 60 seated or 100 standing guests on its private mezzanine. A second area on the ground floor, along the bar and the open kitchen, takes 30 seated or 50 standing. The restaurant serves modern Eastern Mediterranean cooking under the Old Union Yard Arches on Union Street, in Southwark, London.
Seminars and company events
The format here is the shared table rather than the meeting room. Companies book the mezzanine for corporate events such as a client dinner or a team celebration, and the restaurant also takes private soirees and birthdays, from small gatherings to large parties. Sharing menus keep service relaxed for mixed groups, and a dedicated events team plans each booking with the organizer, from the menu to the drinks. The site lists no meeting room or presentation equipment, so this is a venue for the evening after a seminar rather than for the working day itself.
Rooms and capacities
The mezzanine is the main private space: 60 guests seated or up to 100 standing for a reception. It sits above the dining room and gives a group its own level. The ground floor and bar area takes 30 guests seated or 50 standing, with a full view of the open kitchen, which suits a cocktail evening where guests watch the chefs at work. From the ground floor, guests step out onto the outdoor terrace, which can be heated in cooler months. The homepage also mentions private dining for groups of up to 65, so the exact figure for a seated dinner is worth confirming with the team.
Catering
All food comes from the restaurant's own kitchen, led by head chef Eran Tibi, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London. Events use sharing menus built on Eastern Mediterranean flavors: olives, pitas, hummus, Persian dumplings and chickpea dishes, followed by desserts such as Burnt Babka and Midnight Malabi. A vegetarian and vegan sharing menu is available, and other dietary requirements can be met on request. The bar pours wines, beers and cocktails, with and without alcohol, and the house gazoz, a fermented soft drink, also comes in a version with Prosecco, vodka, gin or arak.
History and setting
The interior follows a Bauhaus line, with terrazzo tiles and a replica of the pita oven used by the chef's father. The dining room, open kitchen, mezzanine and large terrace occupy the arches of Old Union Yard. Kapara, a sister restaurant, belongs to the same team. Bala Baya serves lunch and dinner every day and brunch at weekends, which also opens the door to a daytime gathering.
Getting there
Southwark station on the Jubilee line is about three minutes away on foot. The restaurant sits south of the Thames, in the streets between Bankside and Borough, within walking distance of Tate Modern and the South Bank. For guests arriving by train, the walk from the main line stations on this side of the river is short.
