The new Turkish restuarant, Lokal, brings a buzz to London.
What’s in a name? In the case of new Turkish restaurant Lokal, from the team behind Fred Bakery and Faros, those five letters mean plenty. “Lokal” translates both as a convivial meeting place (as in your “local”) and as “belonging to a location”. Both meanings suit the place to a tee.
Even on a Tuesday night, the sizeable venue near Oxford Circus was almost full of animated groups of happy diners, both inside and outside. It feels like a place to relax and linger. The service is warm, knowledgeable and friendly. The upbeat Turkish music adds to the vibe. Apart from some cool glass chandeliers, the décor is resolutely unfancy, recalling humble Turkish eateries of the late 20th century – even down to the black-and-white photos on the walls.
The menu is imbued with a sense of locality. This is not generic Turkish fare but food deeply rooted in place. The drinks list sets the tone from the start. It carries a good selection of Turkish wines, and each of the seven signature cocktails is inspired by, and takes ingredients from, one of the seven key regions of Türkiye.
Each looks complex, with multiple ingredients, but turns out to be incredibly well balanced and delightfully presented. The Urartu (Maker’s Mark whisky infused with banana and dried fig, Moscatel sherry, blackberry cordial and white chocolate) came in a martini glass with a perfect globe of ice in the centre, like the pupil of an eye. The Galata (Yeni rakı, Tokaji sweet wine, lychee liqueur, elderflower and grape) was perched on an elegant spoon filled with white spheres. These turned out to be explosive flavour bursts of lychee, which made for a sensational combination.
The food was less fancy, but no less good. There are no haute cuisine pretensions here, just great Turkish dishes done better than pretty much anywhere else in London. We ordered everything to share. For starters, the Lokal Bread was fun: a balloon bread that rises in the oven like a puffer fish, served with Tulum cheese, which is aged by stuffing fresh curds into goat- or sheepskin casings and burying them for months. We added an order of Atom, a yoghurt dish with roasted peppers, labneh and, thrillingly, a green streak of deliciously piquant wild garlic.
From the mezze menu, we were glad we chose the Lokal Aubergine. It’s not a vegetable I’m particularly fond of, which makes it a great test. This was melt-in-the-mouth delicious: smoked and accompanied by parsley and roasted kapya peppers.
In a similar vein, my companion initially resisted the Maître D’s suggestion of İçli Köfte on the grounds that these are usually boring meatballs. Instead, the mixture of bulgur wheat, lamb and beef came stuffed inside a delicious, smooth and elegant casing, making it more akin to eating a dumpling. Conversely, a dish I had high hopes for – Grilled Prawns with chilli garlic, butter and padrón peppers – arrived wonderfully presented in an oval terracotta dish and tasted fresh and juicy, but the butter somewhat overpowered the other flavours.
We added one main course from the mangal, the wood-charcoal-cooked section of the menu: a beautifully tender Beef Şaşlık marinated for hours in buttermilk. Alongside it came a lovely Çoban Salad with tomato, cucumber, onion, pepper, parsley, sumac and Ezine cheese from the Çanakkale region. To finish, we chose another traditional dish: Kadayif, shredded filo pastry with walnut and a sweet ooze of honey. It was extraordinarily fresh, light and flaky compared with others we’ve tried.
I’m not sure we ordered with any outlandish good fortune – you get the feeling that everything on the relatively tight menu is good. This is a true taste of Türkiye, and one we’d be happy to return and experience again.
Nor was this quite the end. As we left, we were treated to a traditional Turkish farewell in the form of an aromatic cologne spritzed onto our hands. It was lovely to carry this spa-like scent with us for the rest of the evening as a lasting reminder of great hospitality.
Where: 7-8 Market Place London W1W 8AG
When: Daily 12pm to 11pm
Contact: https://lokalrestaurant.co.uk