It’s not often I can’t finish a meal. Plates of steak, gigantic salads, and rich desserts are usually no match for my appetite. But last night I met a meal that soundly defeated me. It was at Locale restaurant by London’s Waterloo station, and it was nothing less than a feast.
Locale Restaurant in London
I was invited to Locale Southbank with several other London bloggers to sample an eight-course tasting menu on a complimentary basis.
After enjoying an elderflower spritzer and some snacks at the restaurant’s bar, we moved to the modern dining room and settled in for an evening of Italian cuisine.
First up was bruschetta. There were three different kinds, one with ripe Pachino cherry tomatoes, another with spicy spreadable sausage called ‘nduja, and a third with broad bean puree and anchovies. They were all delicious.
Moving on, we tasted homemade salumi with fresh focaccia. The salumi tasted great, if a bit fatty for my taste, and the bread melted in our mouths.
The only thing stopping me from having thirds was the fact that there were still six more courses to enjoy at Locale restaurant in London.
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The salumi was followed by large fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and lemon. My first bite was a bit doughy, but once I hit the ricotta, it was heavenly. The lemon gave the dish just the right amount of zest to make it a great one.
Purple asparagus topped with a poached egg and Hollandaise sauce was the next thing to appear on the table at Locale restaurant.
The skinny green stalks were tender and flavorful, and the combination of the egg and sauce was the perfect accompaniment.
I started to feel full after the first four courses at Locale Southbank, but when the risotto with wild hops came to the table, I couldn’t stop myself from eating every last grain of rice.
The risotto was cooked just long enough, and the hops gave it a unique flavor. It was perhaps my favorite course of the evening, and a creative take on a traditional Italian dish.
I would return to Locale restaurant in London just to have it again.
The risotto left me feeling full, but the guitar string egg pasta with black summer truffles and broad beans was good enough that I finished all of it.
I’m not a huge fan of broad beans, but they went well with the pasta, and I’m never one to turn down truffles. Locale’s chef later told us the dish works even better with white truffles when they’re in season. I’m sure I would agree.
The next course at Locale restaurant was sirloin steak tagliata with rocket and herbs served with roasted baby vegetables. This was the dish that did me in. After the pasta course, my stomach hoisted the white flag.
It was all I could do to finish the steak and take a bite of each of the veggies. All of them were tender and juicy, and I wanted to keep eating. I just didn’t have it in me.
The final course at Locale restaurant was going to be a sea bass fillet, but given how full we were, we decided we’d stop with the palate cleanser of lemon sorbet, vodka, and Prosecco.
It was the perfect way to finish off the meal, and it made me feel a lot better about not having the stamina to eat all of the meat course.
I’ll just have to return to the South Bank another day to try the fish, and hope my stomach has room for all the other good food at Locale restaurant in London when I do.
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