Locale County Hall

We had a fantastic meal. They seated us well before the initial time they quoted me. The kid pizza was enormous. I had the decadent dish with pancetta, cream and eggs. My husband both loved the fresh pasta in our dishes. My daughters calzone was great too. The cheesecake, gelato and tiramisu were great. Lots of leftovers too.

Good authentic Italian that pleased the entire family. The lasagne was creamy and delicious, and other pasta dishes delighted. The filetto of beef was less successful but might have seemed tough because there was no steak knife provided and so had to make do with the butter knife.
Absolutely must get the pizza bread with mozzarella as a starter. It’s fabulous! Pass on the focaccia as its a bit dry even with olive oil drizzle.
Service is with a smile but could have been more attentive. Prices were fair especially near tourist area.

It is a good location if you are looking for something quick, decent, and have to contend with a teenager (like what teenager doesn’t eat Italian food?) It’s close to the Eye and other attractions and busy enough. Waitstaff is hard working. There are so many places in London to eat, don’t know if I would make a special trip to go back but at least you know it’s a good back-​up. I’m torn between 3 or 4 stars — it was okay leaning towards 4 stars though.

I am from out of town and went to this place last night. Food is decent, nothing remarkable at all. The service is just so bad. I don’t know why you would hire a waitress that can’t remember 2 things at once.
#StayAway
Worst marketing program: Bonus Happy Hour

The Gnocchi was gorgeous! do not get me wrong. It tasted really fresh and also the ingriedients seemed pure! But what kind of italian restaurant doesn’r seve cheesecake for dessert? crazy or what! Also the service wasn’t quick enough, for a busy saturday night there didn’t seem to be anywhere near enough staff!

It’s funny to read the other reviews because hubs and I loved our lunch at Locale. We were overtired, having walked way too far on no breakfast or snack and it was nearly two p.m. by the time we agreed on Locale. Cute little place, really friendly staff who seated us right away.
We loved our waiter, who bantered with us the entire time. I had the lasagna and hubs the wild boar ragu. Both dishes were amazing. I would come back here in a heartbeat.

For being a slightly over priced franchised restaurant, Locale is not bad. I have enjoyed all of their beef dishes. The establishment has also been consistent over the years.

This restaurant stroke Bar was pretty run of Mill sort of a restaurant that you can find out the heart of London’s capital, and the restaurant décor was okay nothing to fancy that you could say that stood out or that I’d remembered but there was slight poshess to it only just slight though, I did find the barman was polite enough in showing me the ranges of beers that they had in stock. Mind you drinks in there were definately a tad pointing to the steep side on the olé pocket.
This place in general I had stumbled across and on the whole it did get quite packed but not overly and the food again looked kinda poshly presented but I did not try any on this ocassion. Atmosphere wise the bar seemed friendly enough.
I wouldn’t say I was overly blown away by this place but then again it wasn’t terrible. just wouldn’t go out my way to go there but fine if your in that neck of the city looking for a quick one drink and move on I guess.

Its New Years Eve and my partner and i had been to two other places to have a drink, we then found Locale near to the London Eye (we came to watch the fireworks at midnight) this place although busy had a place to sit down and have a drink while we were waiting. The doorman come bouncers did’nt look friendly the prices were pretty expensive on the drinks which quickly emptied you wallet, but the staff were friendly and helpful. Very basic décor and this place was also a resturant which was funny because although this place was very busy and people wanting to have a table, half the tables were empty but they were being told there was a waiting time.
Would not recommend this place unless you have money to throw away or desperate.

Ok, so I try to write balanced feedback as if it were a performance review, but Locale makes it hard. Two nights ago they broke every customer service rule there is, and the food isn’t close to good enough to make their bad attitudes ok.
First impression at the door. hostess looked up at me but did not greet or acknowledge me. She walked away. then came back, as I’m about to walk out she asks how can she help. I ask for a table and am told it will be 30 minutes even though there are 5 – 6 empty tables and only one group waiting in the bar. BTW. its 9ish on a tuesday not exactly the busiest time. I have a seat at the mostly empty bar and both bartenders take turns looking at me but not serving me. Finally the first bartender asks if I’m ok and i look at the empty bar space in front of me and say «no, I’d like a beer. Moretti please». He walks into the kitchen and does not return. 5 minutes later the other bartender asks if I need something and I said yes. I’d like the beer I ordered five minutes ago.
I sipped the beer and watched the chef yell at another hostess in full view of customers. Now. I’m torn at this point because the service IS pretty bad but you don’t scream at employees in front of customers.EVER. I consider walking out again but have a half beer so I wait. Finally I get a table. Server barely speaks English and bumps into me every time she comes and goes from the table. The caprese has almost no basil, the pasta is not fresh, the tomato sauce is watery, some of the shellfish has not opened (ie…dead). The food isn’t terrible but is not good either. Not a single smile from anyone the entire time.
Do yourself a favor. skip Locale. There are plenty of rude waiters at other restaurants in London who at least serve good food.

Locale was a last-​minute choice for us, as it was close to the Marriott County Hall and in the middle of a downpour anywhere close was preferable!
The first thing that struck us as we walked in was the wonderful aroma of freshly-​grilled beef. The kitchen is a long, thin slice of the restaurant, and is open to view from the dining area.
The restaurant itself is quite stylish, with beautiful looking, waif-​thin waiting staff of both genders. Service itself was reasonably quick and efficient.
However, the food itself was a mix in terms of quality.
As starters, Gerry chose the Calamari, and I went for the Salude Miste — a mix of Italian cold meats served on Sardinian flatbread with tomato salsa and shaved fennel. The calamari was pretty generic, tasting like it was pre-​purchased (and not a patch on that at Ha-​Noi Café in Abingdon) and as for the Salude Miste — sadly, that was a triumph of style over substance, with the meats lacking flavour and the bread dry and dull.
However, the meal was rescued by the main courses. My pizza Frutti Di Mare had a wonderful crisp base, and a fantastic tomato and basil sauce with the fresh basil shining through. The seafood was fresh-​tasting and lively, while the capers were thankfully not over-​used! Gerry’s dish — short, thick pasta with an italian sausage ragu was tasty and a far cry from a usual bolognese sauce.
We had other things to do, so we skipped dessert — and this was probably a good thing, as the two courses with a couple of glasses of wine was a total of £58 including the (already added) 12.5% service charge.
Overall, this was a reasonable meal, with nothing that really provoked complaint — but if you are going to spend £30/​head on two courses, even in London, you can do much better.