When I first started SilverSpoon it was my intention to write about high-end luxury dining such as The Ledbury, or really cool hotspots like Chotto Matte. I also wanted to tell my readers about cool concepts such as Bubbledogs and Inamo, pop-ups like On the Roof at Q and quirky happenings such as the Edible Garden Afternoon tea.
But, sometimes you want to go somewhere that’s just really fab food and excellent hospitality without all the bells and whistles that comes with luxury lifestyle…
Locale is one such place, the kind of place where a fun night and good food will always be the order of the day! If you live in Fulham or Blackheath, Locale is your perfect neighbourhood Italian to head to any night of the week. There’s also a restaurant located near the attractions of the South Bank if you’re down that way.
Mr S and I were invited down to the Fulham restaurant to check it out last Wednesday night.
I mentioned Mr S recent shopping spree and new clothing haul, and he was insistent I got a picture of his new Armani jacket.
Well, two can play at the game…I had a new top from Maje to show off.
Showing off our OOTD gave me a chance to photograph the outside of Locale and it’s outdoor dining terrace surrounded by bushes full of twinkling lights.
The inside was rather romantic too, an interconnecting series of rooms with low lighting, exposed brickwork and wooden floors.
The feeling of an authentic Italian trattoria.
We sat down and I got another picture of my husband’s jacket…
And he took one of my top…
Ok, enough of the sartorial interlude. A glass of prosecco was the perfect beverage to start our night at a romantic Italian restaurant.
Mr S and I love to share… and he likes to try a bit of everything so the waiter suggested opting for their highly popular platter:
Containing cured meats, bruschetta, vegetables, olives, mozzarella and focaccia. A charcuterie platter really is the ideal way to try everything isn’t it? Mr S and I piled our pieces of focaccia high with creamy cheese and delicious salty parma ham. A welcome addition would have been a saucer of olive oil, we didn’t request any but I would if to return.
The flat breads also caught our eye and we ordered one topped half with tomato and basil and half Italian sausage.
The flat bread was gorgeous, the crisp base was lighter than a regular pizza and the addition of tangy parmesan gave a little extra cheesy goodness! But I’ve said it before…you can’t really go wrong with melted cheese on bread…
Cocktail hour!
I ordered a 5 Star Martini containing vanilla vodka, passion fruit and lime juice, served with a shot of prosecco.
We all know the real name for this is a porn-star martini! I love the addition of prosecco to take away some of the sweetness of the passionfruit. It’s a cocktail that will always make us smile as we served them at our engagement party.
Mr S chose a refreshing watermelon martini to accompany our bready / cheesy / meaty starters.
I’ve mentioned before that Mr Silver likes to mock what I look like while I wait for food and he took this sneaky pic of me catching up with twitter between courses:
So I decided to get back at him and show him what he looks like while he’s eating…
He’s going to hate me…but trust me this humiliation is mild compared to how he looks when eating a KFC banquet.And what meal had put such a smile on Mr S’s face?
One of his absolute favourites: a plate of perfectly cooked lamb chops, and as you can see above, there was absolutely nothing left on the plate when he was done.
I had a simple salmon and salad but it was totally brilliant. I’m practically pescatarian so well cooked fish is really important to me and I can’t stand an overcooked fillet. But the salmon was cooked medium rare just the way I like it and it flaked softly from under a crispy skin.
Zucchini fritti were a fab accompaniment. My only complaint being, some of the courgette slices were cut a little too big and weren’t quite crisp enough.
Throughout the meal, our waiter was incredibly attentive and friendly, always on hand with recommendations and quick to refresh our water glasses.
For dessert a peach crumble took my eye.
‘Oh yes’, said the waiter, ‘We have that on the menu for all you English people….’
Feeling like philistines ordering an British dish in an Italian restaurant…we did it anyway!
The crumble was a great choice, it was actually very light. Peaches with a sweet crumble topping and dollop of ice-cream was the antidote for our carb heavy starters.
Rather more indulgent was the tiramisu… but I’d heard great things about the dessert and I had to try it even if I could only manage a morsel of this magnificent slab!
And Mr S chased our puddings with one of his favourites:
An espresso martini!
Thank you Locale, for a totally fabulous date night. The restaurant has a fantastically friendly neighbourhood vibe and a menu of simple food cooked to perfection.
It just goes to show that sometimes you can’t go wrong with a local favourite.
Our marvellous Italian feast was complimentary purposes of the review
Locale
222 Munster Road
London
SW6 6AY
020 7381 8099
