Five Westfield bites under £5

Westfield, located at Shepherd’s Bush within West London, is one of the largest shopping centers across Europe. The incredibly large shopping mall is jam-packed with local students during the weekend, which is not surprising with its variety of both shops and restaurants. However having a decent lunch or dinner at this middle-class orientated mall where everything is relatively overpriced, will undoubtably cut a hole in your back pocket… So here we are, it’s time to take a look at five delicious foods that can be found at Westfield that won’t send you into the deep, dark depths of your overdraft (slight exaggeration, but you get the drift).

To begin with, the first mouth-watering bite at Westfield are Mr. Pretzels, well… Pretzels. The German phenomenon known as ‘Pretzels’ (which are claimed to represent hands in prayer) are becoming more and more popular within Britain’s food culture. Forget all about those stale tasting, miniscule ones that we all stayed well clear from at the family buffets – the texture of this pretzel is so fluffy, and regarding size, well they’re huge. The must-try Pretzel on the menu is without a doubt, the ‘cinnamon & sugar’ (£3). Although I have to say the cinnamon part of this extraordinary concoction of baking soda and dough wasn’t too overpowering, which may be slightly disappointing if you’re a cinnamon enthusiast whose snack cupboards smell of ‘Gingy’. Oh, and the wonderfully friendly staff (which I know can be hard to believe exist in London) give out a free-taster and 2 for £5 vouchers throughout the day, so grab yours!

One of the great perks of being a student and living in London are that Ben’s Cookies are not lost amongst the overwhelming horde of its widely available rival… Millie’s. I ensure you, once you’ve tried Ben’s your days of overpriced ‘cookie-shopping’, for what tastes and looks like a soggy Maryland at Millie’s will be all but forgotten, especially if you prefer a thicker and more moist cookie, which I’ve longed for ever since Maggie Gyllenhaal’s profound description of her mother’s baking in ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ (bit of a mouthful. Sorry, I’m a film geek too). The cookie itself is super gooey, and the ‘triple chocolate’ is simply OUTSTANDING. I’ll repeat myself for extra emphasis… It’s simply OUTSTANDING. However, if you obsess over anything peanut butter related like myself, and want their ashes concealed within an empty ‘Jif’ jar, then the Peanut butter and milk chocolate one is a no-brainer. With each and every bite of this cookie you are guaranteed to have a food-gasm. That’s right, I said food-gasm. #nomnomnom

Perhaps many of you have already tried the infamous SNOG, whom I have to admit have kind of overplayed on the relation of its product name to kissing. “less talk, more snogging”, and “I like snogging better than ice-cream”. Hmmm, would’ve been better off employing the jokers behind last year’s Christmas crackers. More to the point, this store is far less busy compared to the one in Covent Garden, for which I recommend bringing along your dads camping gear, and also the seating area is extremely funky, so take it into consideration when your belly starts to rumble at Westfield. The Mochi topping is a must (starts from £2.85, depends on your toppings)!

Had enough of the sweet food? The fourth quality bite at Westfield I am going to introduce to you are the baguettes, Hand-made at Tapas Revolution. If you don’t like Tapas, don’t walk off too quick, there are always hidden extravaganzas on every menu. For instance, who knew there were carrot sticks at McDonalds? (It’s a joke, Piss off Spurlock!) It’s the lean dough inspired by the legendary ‘French stick’, as mum used to call it, with Spanish orientated ingredients. Yummy.

Lastly, if you’re the healthy kinda folk, who probably would enjoy the carrots down at Maccy D’s, Tossed is probably the place for you. This walk-along bar has a variety of salad and smoothies, and the Berry Punch (£3.95) is very Berry! Oh, and you shouldn’t miss out on the Chicken Goujon salad (£4.95), you’ll forget you’re even dieting. Yes, it’s the kind of food that you feel good and guilt-free after, not the sort that will send you planning ahead for next week’s diet plan which starts Monday, as always. One thing I would say is that be aware of the prices of different toppings and combinations – however don’t blame me if you get too greedy.

So, if you’re ever wandering around the Westfield, feeling hungry, yet faint because of the bombardment of choices and the high prices, don’t go and spend your student budget on the mundane Grande Latte and Blueberry muffin from Starbucks. It’s boring! Now you’ve heard about these foods, I would like to see how you can walk past these little places, and resist the temptation.