Locale - new Restaurant and Cocktail Bar

[Mrs Y]

Have you read the review in this weeks Southwark news? Sound good.

[Christopher]

Why read reviews in Southwark News? Have you ever read a bad one...? Restaurants "pay" for editorial by advertising therefore never get a bad review : see also Living South, SLP, SE22, Dulwich Life (RIP), City Life (RIP?) etc.

The wine list feels like it was chosen in an office by someone who listens too much to salesmen and not his taste buds... there are fabulous Italian Whites coming through at the moment that are making waves in the wine world... The Alto Adige region being a good example of an area producing exceptional wines... any represented here? No. Just a wishy washy crowd pleasing mix of new & old world "crowd pleasers". (Navajas Rioja? Why?). Yawn... it really might be ED's Le Piaf after all...

[Marmora Man]

A mixed bag. Mrs MM and I visited last night. Decor and buzz felt good on entering.

Home baked foccacia was dry and overcooked - the accompanying olive oil & balsamic was a smear of oil and a dribble of balsamic - exhausted before one piece of bread eaten.

Starters - Mozzarella & tomato salad - mozzarella good and moist, tomatoes cold, flavourless and cut thru the equator - thus having green core in every slice. Calamari was excellent - tender squid with light and crispy batter.

Mains - Seafood Linguine - tomato sauce had a nice chilli bite to it but seafood was disappointing - 4 mussels (two of which were stubbornly closed and not eaten), four clams, one discernible prawn and some squid rings. At nearly ?15 it was not good value for money. Board bean risotto was very bland, the stock in which it was cooked may just have been water for all the depth of flavour it imparted.

Wine - first choice not available. A drinkable Sauvignon was OK but overpriced at nearly ?20.

Service - patchy. Had to wait ages to order then starters and bread and wine and water all arrived almost simultaneously - creating something of a traffic jam on the small table.

Verdict - what was done well was pleasing but overall not a place I'd make a regular haunt. Back to Si Mangia I think - more rustic, more friendly, better value for money.

[nylonmeals]

For me I think that I have been most surprised by the poor and flustered (albeit it friendly) service. This is not their first restaurant so why does it seem to be so hard to get orders right or serve them up in a timely fashion. Weekends in restaurants round here are always busy, but that seems to have taken them totally by surprise.

[JesusCappuccino]

.................

[4hw]

nutty Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The thing is - I'd call the Palmerston and

> Franklins a "bit pricey" also. But in general I

> think their food/service/setting is worth it.

>

> I think there are a few posters on here who just

> haven't adjusted to the new "gentrified" ED

> restaurant prices....

>

> No more pricey than equivalents in Clapham or in

> town (and not having to go into town for a good

> meal is a plus in my book!)

I'm not objecting to the concept of a restaurant (in East Dulwich or elsewhere) costing as much as Locale - I'd happily spend that much (albeit quite infrequently) on food if it was worth it. I just think that Locale falls far short of the quality you would expect for that money.

[lozzyloz]

4hw if you haven't already, try Si Mangia. Good value buzzy Italian.

[nutty]

4hw Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm not objecting to the concept of a restaurant

> (in East Dulwich or elsewhere) costing as much as

> Locale - I'd happily spend that much (albeit quite

> infrequently) on food if it was worth it. I just

> think that Locale falls far short of the quality

> you would expect for that money.

That's where we'll have to agree to differ - I thought the food was up to the price.

[Sandperson]

lozzyloz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> 4hw if you haven't already, try Si Mangia. Good

> value buzzy Italian.

I have to agree!

[MrBen]

Went last night.

As above decor is good and they have made a big space feel good by dividing it up. Had the sausage pasta - very over salted. A bland rocket salad with bitter lemon juice on it and the dry, crisped up foccacia was alright but not great.

Service was a bit patchy. Lots of standing around watching each other serve /huddling round the till yet missing tables that needed attention. The best waitress was the 19 year old English brunnette in second year at uni and on her first night. She was nice

It's just a bit too expensive and a bit average - ?57 for just two mains and a bottle of average red.

By contrast Si Mangia food is way better and much better value.

You also get a great plate of pasta in Mon Petite Choux for about ?7....

[Marco]

Hi Christopher

thanks for the feedback on the winelist. I agree there are some wonderful white wines coming out of Itlay at the moment amongst however a big sea of mediocracy. We have featured over the last 18 months many niche and indigenous variety whites including some fabulous and award winning wines from elena walsch in alto adige. Despite best efforts and staff training sales are very very small. We decided then to reduce the list and feature a wine of the month. Currently in ED this is a superb Verdiccio from La Marche region. In addition every other month, provided there is interest, we are flying over a winemaker from a different region of Italy. Next month award winning winemaker Conti Zecca will be joining us from Puglia. If you are interested in Italian wines please come along - details are on the website www.localerestaurants.com

cheers

mark

[shoshntosh]

tried locale for lunch on saturday. service was friendly, food was fine. (my caesar salad had waaaaaayyy too much dressing on it, but would have otherwise been rather tasty.) beer was very good!!

but quite frankly, i'd rather eat at home than go there again. a restaurant has to really amaze me, impress me, do something special, for me to be willing to return to it again and again. we are stuck in the mire of mediocrity.

let's pool our money and open something superb!

[ruffers]

We went there last night, no great original comments to add..

Food - decent. Had calamari starters and a cold meat (wooden) plate thing, both good. Mains were lamb for me which was pretty good, pasta with sausage ragu for Mrs ruffers which also went down well, followed by a couple of decent puds not forgetting a bottle of wine. So, good, decent, pretty good etc. In other words not special but perfectly fine for a neighbourhood Italian. If it was priced like a local Italian then all would be good, it's just that it came in maybe a tenner or so over what we were expecting.

Service was mixed or shall we say charmingly ramshackle? Lovely enthusiastic waitress brought our wine and water while someone else was also attempting to bring our wine and water. The someone else told us we really shouldn't have our bottle of Syrah chilled which gives rise to a couple of issues -

1) I like it a bit chilled,

2) The menu suggested trying it chilled

Once I'd pointed 2) out he backed down, somewhat reluctantly.

Will probably go again but not in a rush and will keep it simple.

[Taylor_Trash]

Hi all,

Just working out where to have dinner tomorrow night. Would people recomend Locale over Si Mangia?

TT

[Asset]

apparently not

[Mark]

We visited Locale last weekend and here are my thoughts, sorry they're not professional or flowery but I'm not a reviewer by trade as will become obvious.

The online booking system is great, simply enter your details and you get sent an email and text with the restaurant's details, handy if you need to call them to say you're running late :-$.

The ambience was good, it was buzzing and busy that night and the decor is an improvement from the Green (especially the window).

We shared a meat platter starter, nothing special, two types of meat, a bit of fennel and a piece of Italian bread.

I had the rump of lamb with roasted vegetables which was tasty meat and lots of vegetables however that was it. To be honest it was the sort of thing that I would cook at home, roast some veg (stick a couple of tomatoes in there as well), grill some meat and that's it.

My better half had the very flavoursome baked Sea Bass which came in a bag with a few edible mussels and clams.

Desserts were good quality and fairly priced, probably the highlight of the meal:

"Fondante al Cioccolato: Warm chocolate fondant filled with crushed hazelnuts, warm chocolate sauce, served with mascarpone cream" and "Affogato: Cinnamon ice ream, frangelico liqueur and a shot of espresso". Both recommended.

I like the fact that a service charge is not automatically added, the service was pleasant and attentive and only one mistake (we had to wait a while then ask for the liqueur and coffee for the Affogato when we realised it wasn't coming).

Conclusion - It came across as a restaurant that sells Italian food rather than an Italian restaurant, as has been mentioned before this comes across in the wine list. I'm not an Italian restaurant expert but having been to Italy for the first time last month I was hoping for some of that Italian-ness to come across. It didn't. Generally I can only say it was ok, sorry I can't expand more on that but it was just ok. Would I go back? Yes but not straight away, I would have something different for a main and hope that they had sprinkled some Italian magic dust in the kitchen to give the food a bit of a lift.

[david_carnell]

It came across as a restaurant that sells Italian food rather than an Italian restaurant

For a non-professional you did good; I think that summation is spot-on.

[clive3300]

The real Italian thing seems very hard to master. I have been to Italy countless times and am invariably blown away by how they can invariably make a meal with 3 ingredients and Euro10 table wine taste phenomenal. Its something to do with the soil and how it affects taste, but also a deep and geniune interest in quality from a long term professional hospitality industry.

I mean a margerita-type pizza (base, cheese, tomato, heat) in the UK (and most other countries) is usually tasteless chewy muck. But its actually invariably delicious in Italy. And I am talking about generally eating at local workman's trattoria's - the equivalent of the UK's greasy spoons.

[BJL]

Try Franco Manca in Brixton Market for an excellent, cheap pizza.

[Cassius]

I couldn't agree more Clive3300 - although I think there is something about the freshness of the ingredients that helps. I ate in a small local hotel - they make their own fresh pasta, their own bread, olive oil and their own wine - all made from local produce sourced within a couple of miles from the town. A restaurant in London simply cannot compete in that way.

[jumpinjackflash]

Taylor_Trash Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi all,

>

> Just working out where to have dinner tomorrow

> night. Would people recomend Locale over Si

> Mangia?

>

> TT

apparently Si Mangia have a new menu now! Well, I haven't been there for some months now but my Aunt and Uncle think it's great and I love the place too. I only went for a quick lunch at Locale so can't really compare it to Si Mangia.

[SimonM]

It's admittedly a while since I went, but "Still Luigi's" at the bottom of Gypsy Hill used to do the best local Italian food...

[*Bob*]

I don't see the point in eating in Italian restaurants unless the restaurant itself has some kind of special ambience that makes it worthwhile.

Italian food is so easy to cook well at home, when you go to a restaurant you need to come away with more than just a full belly to feel like it's been worthwhile.

[heath]

I ate at the Locale on the pre-opening day, the day the fire alarm went off in the kitchen and my 1/yo danced to it like it was music (note to self: must not derile young people music as car alarms any more because of family connection).

Food: good.

Service: excellent.

Price: great, considering it was 1/2 price for the pilot day.

Portions: mediocre, sorry.

The very best and most authentic italian resteraunt I have been to in london was the La Figa resteraunt in e14 (a few years ago, no idea how good now), in the Mosaic building (a block of flats despite the name). BIG portions, BASIC (but delicious) food, great service, very itialian. Locale management; Go there. Eat. Watch. Learn.

ED had been crying out for an Italian resteraunt for a while and while Locale seems ok so far I really wanted better. ED have one REALLY good reasteraunt of a few different styles but for now has one italian. Not one great italian. As almost every single one of my teachers told me growing up; "can do better"

[char1ie]

Had dinner there the other day and thought it was pretty average. Decor has a touch of B&Q and the food was OK. Bit overpriced. The bruschetta bread was soggy and cold. Pizza dull. Chicken OK but surprisingly expensive. Waitresses and manager friendly. Wouldn't go back.

Charlie