24hrs in West London (Shepherds Bush) with teen - what to do

[thedoofus]

DD, aged 15, and friend going to a gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. We'll be in London from apx midday to midday. I'm an ex-North Londoner, so don't really know the area at all. We live in a small town in the west country now, so keen to make the most of our big city visit!
I'm interested in:
a. fun stuff for teens (and mums!) to do locally on Saturday afternoon/Sunday morning
b. somewhere nice to have an early dinner before the gig (ideally something a bit interesting that we wouldn't find locally). Girls fairly adventurous eaters, DD and I don't eat meat
c. nice pub/bar nearby for DD's friends' mum and I to hang out while the girls are at the gig
d. a delicious breakfast.

Thanks for any tips

You are right next door to the massive Westfield Shopping Centre.
Although that's either heaven or hell depending on your opinion 😂

You'll be very close to Westfield, which is huge and has a lot of places to eat-food, cake, coffee, everything really! Lots of good shops to mooch around too.

Wagamama has a good vegan menu and there's one in Westfield

Westfield shopping centre.

Repetitive but Westfield will cover you for most things with the least effort!

Sounds like Westfield it is! Looks like lots of nice eating options. Do we drink there in the evening too, or do we need to venture out for that?!

It has champagne bars and pubs. The venues giving onto the outdoor parts (like the living wall) create a sense of being elsewhere (although, obviously, you are not - 😂). Some of the environs can be a bit lively but the Westfield site is completely safe. You can even park there and stay in a hotel on site!

Esarn Kheaw is an amazing Thai restaurant on the Uxbridge road if you don't any boring chain food you can get anywhere

Oh christ don’t do westfield. It’s one of the seven circles of hell. It’s just a shopping centre.
jump on the tube and do somewhere more interesting and you can only do in london, brand museum, V&A, design museum, sky gardens, cartoon museum, if I could do it I’d head into soho, China town, brick lane, Camden, Covent Garden (if your an ex Londoner it’s not what it was).
the Bao london shops are good for teens for dinner, so book though. I’ll have a think on other places to eat.

If you don't want boring food that should say!

Sketch often gets mentioned on here for london with teens. Looks a bit pricey and I’ve not been. But looks insta worthy

I would get the bus to Ladbroke Grove or Notting hill then mooch around Portobello Road market, from there you can walk down Church Street and into Kensington high street . There are fab little shops, loads of places to eat and tea at The Albert Hall is a but different.

Thanks for these thoughts - amazing Thai sounds right up our street @Clymene !

Welcome any other ideas about places to eat etc too. DD's expressed some interest in going to one of the big museums (probably Science, which is her thing). Sky garden looks fun. We had a very happy afternoon in Brick Lane/spitalfields a couple of years ago.

We don't really have big shopping centres where we live, so while Westfield wouldn't be my first choice necessarily, DD will definitely be keen to do a bit of shopping and lots of the chains are a novelty for her/us rather than seeming generic.

The Churchill Arms pub in Church Street Kensington does amazing Thai food, also gluten and vegan menus, its a local institution. Its also easy to get to the museums but you may need to book as Saturdays get busy.

Fab ideas - thank you!

You can browse through Westfield and the walk through Holland Park. You can then either take a left to Notting Hill browsing through Portobello Road Market via Ladbroke Grove or walk further up to Notting Hill Gate station area where you can walk down to High St Ken turning right or you can walk straight up to Hyde Park. You can of course take a bus or tube for all of this but I did this quite frequently during my Mat leave walks with a baby. If you decide to visit Hyde park, you can walk to Oxford st in about 40 mins from Notting Hill just going straight or just take a bus. There's plenty to do. If you decide to go to High st Ken, you might as well visit South Ken as well which you can walk or take a bus or tube. Look at the museums, visit cafes by Knightsbridge and he'll even go to Harrods if you are interested.