Since
Westfield Stratford City opened, it's became one of my favourite places to shop. It's only 25 mins drive from my house which has been both a blessing for my wardrobe and a curse for my wages. It has all my favourite shops and I love the fact it has both high end and high street offerings. We all need a little lust in the Mulberry windows at times! I spent even more time there when I was working in London as it was on my way home. Lethal. My boyfriend would often me there after work as it was halfway for both of us and we'd stuff our faces before heading off home. Namely at Wahaca. It's worth just going for a meal at the centre even without doing any shopping! If you fancy something quick to eat I really recommend opting for the 'posh' food court near Nandos. You can absolutely everything there but with proper cultery and plates. We love going to
Rhythm Kitchen for some jerk chicken. It's so good!
When they got in touch with me and asked if i'd like a voucher to sample the delights of the shopping centre and let you know my thoughts. Of course I thought all my Christmas' had come at once and said yes please! I had to pick my voucher up from the concierge desk. They were really helpful into sorting it out for me and explained it thoroughly. It's a great place to go if you'd never been before as they're always more than willing to answer questions and you can pick up a little map. It comes in very handy!
We didn't want to break tradition and opted for a lunch at
Wahaca. Again. I had the amazing fish tacos. Again. The staff were very friendly and attentive. We never felt hurried which is always a plus. I hate the new rule recently where you have to have finished eating in two hours. We opted to go for an early lunch at 12 as from past experiences at the weekend it can get extremely busy. Make sure you have an early or late luch to beat the rush!
Then it was turn to shop! I made a beeline for
Topshop straight away and got distracted by the midi skirts again. I didn't need to ask for any help but I spotted plenty of staff around so felt help would be at hand if I needed it. There's nothing worse than desperately needing a size and having no one to ask. I picked up a couple of midi skirts and peplum top to try on and decided to plump for the pretty black gingham skirt. It was such a great length and lovely lightweight material to take me through to the summer months. The tills were full of staff and although the queue was really long at first glance it went down fairly quickly. Thumbs up from me!
Next was
Zara. I really miss popping into Zara on my lunchbreak when I worked in London. Sadly Colchester isn't blessed with one! As usual EVERYTHING caught my eye but I managed to narrow it down to a beautiful palm print dress and a floral set. Much to my dismay, the co-ord looked awful on me! But the dress? Well that couldn't not come home with me! Once again it was very busy but I felt staff were well equipped with dealing with it. The fitting room staff member had a very good system to keep the queue running smoothly and as a ex-shop assistant i'm always impressed!
I browsed around various other shops such as
River Island,
Boots and
Miss Selfridge. Nothing else really took my fancy until I wandered into Dorothy Perkins and spotted some great nude sandals. Despite the shoe department being manic, I didn't have to wait too long for the shop assistant to bring my size and she kept an eye on me to check I was getting on ok. I don't like it when they suddenly leave you!
After all that working we decided we needed a little treat and opted for
Pinkberry. I understand it was very busy but the sitting area was a bit neglected. The tables were dirty and there were pots scattered around. I think maybe they should have had more staff on. But the pinkberry itself was fab and was the perfect reward to a tiring day.
Have you been to Westfield Stratford City before?
