the lokal, neil road, 2.0.

thanks to a botched attempt at using a chope voucher previously (it was apparently only valid during lunch, and i hadn't realised), we were left with an unused voucher that had to be used only during dinner within three months. we thus headed over on a saturday night for dinner (after calling to ascertain that the voucher could be used).

for a saturday night in the CBD, the place was actually quite full. the smaller tables inside were all taken, so we were seated at a big round table near the door.

i deliberated over the menu for a bit before settling on the braised beef cheek ($28). was tempted by the day's special, a seafood stew ($28), but they were only left with one portion and J wanted it, so i just went with the beef.

our food took quite a while to come- probably at least twenty to thirty minutes. we were both quite taken aback, because we were hungry and it was already pretty late (we have a penchant for late dinners, thanks to the gym). besides which, i thought the stew would've been pre-prepared.



seems that i've been having braised beef cheek quite regularly. not on purpose, though! it's just the thing that jumps out at me from the menu. the lokal's version was not too bad, but i found the portion of beef to be on the miserly side- for $28 (before taxes and service), can't i just have a bit more? in comparison, i would definitely prefer abc's rendition.



tried a bit of J's stew, and preferred that. it came with snapper, squid, scallops, slipper lobster and fregola. particularly liked the fregola- its texture was akin to barley, and provided a bite to the stew.

i found the dinner items to be on the overpriced side, though the food was competent. probably won't be back for dinner.


the lokal
136 neil road
http://www.thelokalsingapore.com