A casual and unpretentious Italian eatery near the South Bank with a bit of class.

The Venue
This Locale is located near the South Bank, on a piazza right across from the County Hall. The restaurant is large and L-shaped: when you walk in the cocktail lounge is to the left and the restaurant is straight on, with various parts sectioned off to make it seem a bit more intimate. The look is casual and it’s not an especially posh place, but there are some slightly more upscale touches here and there: enlarged, black and white and sepia-toned photos on the wall; glass dividers etched with flowers; an enormous framed mirror above a table. The toilets are towards the back of the restaurant, with stalls marked m and f in a curly script on the doors and sinks inside the stalls.

The Atmosphere
Even though it’s right by the London Eye and just a short walk away from various other touristy attractions, the clientele seems to mainly be local office workers, groups of friends and Londoners sitting down to a meal before heading out. You’d fit in whether you’re wearing jeans or a suit. This is a large venue, and it gets crowded on a weeknight, but because there are so many people coming and going you shouldn’t have to wait long for a table. Service is swift and friendly, and if you’re in a rush they’ll quite easily be able to cope. The ceilings are high and it shouldn’t get too noisy even if the tables next to you get a bit shouty.

The Food
There are several different menus at Locale depending on when you go. The brunch menu is served on weekends from 11am – 1pm, whilst the early bird menu (£7 per main) is served from Monday – Thursday before 7pm – and there’s a kids’ menu as well. The a la carte menu’s starters and desserts are about £5 - £6, and the mains are divided up into types. Depending on whether you order pizza, salad, pasta, meat or fish, you could pay anywhere from about £8 to about £18, so there’s a good range for most budgets.

From the starters (antipasti if you want to go with the Italian swing of things) the classic calamari fritti is cooked perfectly, firm on the inside and light and crispy on the outside, without too much oil. It’s served with a creamy tartare sauce on the side. If you’re a fried calamari novice and expecting just the cute and tidy rings, you might be a bit apprehensive to see there’s fried baby squid on the plate as well, complete with arms (aka the little wiggly tentacle bits). The bruschetta, another classic Italian starter, is a little bit of a letdown. Although the diced tomato topping is juicy and the bread it’s served a generous slice, the bread isn’t crisp enough and it all gets a bit mushy.

The pizzas are pretty large and should be enough to share if you’re not that hungry. The Florentina pizza comes with spinach, ricotta cheese and an egg on top of the usual tomato sauce and mozzarella combo. The crisp dough with the other ingredients is a good combination of textures, whilst the tomato sauce is really tasty – not too sweet and with a little kick. The seafood linguine is another large dish, with pretty much every type of seafood available on the plate: mussels, clams, calamari (the baby squid type again, not the rings), and prawns. The pasta is al dente, the seafood cooked well and the tomato sauce nice and garlicky, but the dish is a bit heavy on the squid and molluscs and short on prawns.

Desserts are traditionally Italian as well, with choices like Tiramisu and panna cotta on the menu. Both the chocolate fondant and Affogato come recommended by the staff, and for good reason. Affogato apparently means drowned and you’re supposed to do just that – drown the cinnamon ice cream with shots of espresso and Frangelico (an Italian hazelnut liqueur). The cinnamon ice cream is so good though, rich with just a little bit of spice, that it seems almost a shame to cover it up! The chocolate fondant is really nice as well, with an almost crisp outside and a really thick sauce inside that’s almost custard-like in consistency. This comes with a scoop of marscapone cream on top, which is so thick as well that it almost looks like vanilla ice cream. Very indulgent and satisfying.

The Drink
Locale carries a pretty extensive wine list (divided into Italian wines and wines from the rest of the world) and a bottle of house wine is only £14.95. There’s also more than 20 cocktails, from classics like Mojitos and Cosmopolitans to slightly more unusual concoctions such as a Vavavoom (Cointreau with lemon, sugar syrup and Prosecco) and a Peach Gin Fizz (a sweet and, well, fizzy blend of peach puree, Tanqueray gin, peach liqueur and soda). Beers are also available: Peroni Nasto Azzuro, Moretti, Peroni Gran Reserva and, interestingly, a German Erdinger.

The Last Word
The food is very decent on the hole and pretty reasonably priced for the area. Although perhaps not the best place for an intimate romantic evening, Locale’s County Hall location is a friendly, solid choice for an after-work dinner or a meal with friends.

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