Yara C.
Yelp
I visited Lokal yesterday, an early Saturday afternoon to catch up over brunch with my cousin. Lokal is wonderfully situated right on the river edge overlooking the Hudson, and on a bright day like yesterday the City skyline view was wonderful.
The views are great, and there is plenty of outdoor seating so finding a spot wasn't terribly hard and the area wasn't congested.
The food and drinks are pricey, but that's expected considering that piece of real estate. But of course with high prices come high expectations for food, drink, and service.
The cocktails range from $18-25 but a small portion of typical brunch drinks are slightly less expensive. I shared a mimosa flight with my cousin, which includes four flavors - mango, passion fruit, watermelon, and classic orange. This was very good and I recommend it. At just $28 it's a good way to get toasty. I followed up with a $15 Aperol Spritz which had a generous pour, a good value for drinks.
Onto the food, I definitely recommend the ricotta lemon pancakes. Absolutely delectable texture with a lovely light lemony flavor, topped with fresh berries. I'd come back just to order pancakes. The Shakshuka is also good. Classically done.
The dessert option was only a crime brûlée and we tried it. I don't recommend it. It was a bit cheesy and lukewarm, im sure you have had better, and it cost $14, so skip it.
Onto the service, it was consistently friendly but also consistently slow. 10 minutes to order. 15 for drinks. Another 5 to put in the food order. The food came out within 25 minutes, and I ordered my second drink when it did, but by the time I got it I was already finished eating.
Another 20 minutes between ordering the dessert and getting it. The servers were hard to flag down.
In total - food is decent, drinks are great, service was slow.