Lala Brasserie

The manager was really horrible — we found a bug in our food and he didn’t even apologise. My friend put it on to a leaf for the waiter to show the kitchen because the bug was still alive and the manager can back with the leaf saying there was no bug even though we’d seen and heard the staff talking about it! The manager came over to talk to us and was defensive from the get go… Would of been happy with an apology, but way to lose customers!!!

Was attending the Dynamo Show as Apollo and came across this place to eat. Initially upon looking at it from across the road from the outside looked like a wine bar but once I got closer I saw it was a restaurant. It serves Mediterranean food such as kebabs and fish. I had halibut which came with potatoes and a salad. It tasted very nice indeed even the salad and I don’t usually like salad but I think it was the nice dressing that was over it that made me eat it. The fish was nice but was a bit dry and I could tell was not fresh more like a fish that had been frozen and defrosted then cooked but still it was nice. Restaurant area very spacious and reasonable sized wooden tables. Staff pleasant enough. I would visit this place again if I was in the area and going to a show at the Apollo.
Tip: Accepts Timeout card (save 10%)

I think you can judge a restaurant on how well they do the simple things.
Good service, lovely fresh homemade bread. The mezes were tasty and very filling.

Disaster lies here! I went here for my work Christmas do and it was so bad I wish I’d stayed in the office to work. Lala has no idea how to do western food, but they still put a Christmas turkey on their Christmas menu, which was a huge failure. All of us who were craving a nice festive meal fell for it and ended up quite hungry because the turkey was dry and completely inedible. I had the soujuk meatball for an appetiser and that was actually quite nice so I think perhaps they just need to do what they are actually good at. The baklava dessert was bad though, so maybe not.
A bigger problem with this place was the awful service. This may be the worst service I have had in years. Even though we all put in our orders before we came, and they should have had ample time to plan, nobody got their orders at the same time, much less the correct one. We had some dishes that nobody asked for, and were missing quite a few orders. I asked the waiter if my colleagues, one of whom is vegetarian, could have their bourek order as it was missing. He did not care at all, so I asked the person who seemed to be in charge. I thought that would help but after awhile he announced that all orders were done, even though there were clearly quite a few people missing what they’d asked for. After my poor colleagues watched everyone else eat unhappily for fifteen minutes, they came out with just one bourek and an uncomfortable silence ensued where both of them wanted it but there wasn’t enough. When they were really starving, finally another one came out of the kitchen. The meals were also very late, with our turkey coming out by the time everyone else was halfway through their lunches.
I am also very angry with the waitress and the chef. When my order was placed, we checked to make sure there was no pork in the meal. When my order arrived, the chef sent it with a pig in a blanket on the side. I called the waitress over to ask her if there was any other pork in the meal and she assured me that there was no other and I could just remove the small pig in a blanket from the side. Afterwards though I noticed tiny bits of something which my colleague told me were bacon bits. I don’t see why the chef and the waitress both have to lie to me, when if they could have just told me I would have ordered something else in the first place, or changed my meal for another. This behaviour is unacceptable and the lowest I have seen in a restaurant. I would not come back here and if anyone else would like to treated with respect, I would advise you not to come here either.

Here’s a tip, west Londoners: when you arrive from Heathrow on a Sunday evening, nothing is open in West London. BUT, to get home, you must change trains at Hammersmith, and here’s the best way to spend the evening.
Highlights:
–open late = immediately our saviour, always
–delicious food. Adds to previous saviour-​status, but would be delicious even at a normal-​for-​London dining hour
–full bar
–friendly service
So go ahead, get your Turkish on… I would wager that you will be very pleased.

After stumbling out of the Hammersmith Apollo at 9pm on a Sunday night we were at a loss for places to go for a bite to eat. A quick search on my trusty Unilocal app kept giving me devastating results…
«Kitchen closes as 9pm… Food served until 8.30»
Our tummies rumbling louder than the band we’d just seen, the situation was getting dire. Eyes firmly locked on iPhone we almost literally stumbled into Lala. Having passed the brasserie every day on my way to work, and more importantly with its very open kitchen, I was more than tempted to give it a go.
We were greeted with smiling faces and menus filled with an interesting mix of treats. I had tempura calamari (delicious!) followed by roasted Aubergine tagliatelle (a little too garlicky for me, but still clear-​plate-​able) and a gooey pistachio baklava to finish (tricky to eat with a spoon, but I gave it a good go!)
The service was quick, almost a little TOO, quick but sweet and attentive. The food was very nice and the atmosphere buzzing late on a Sunday evening.
I’d love to go back to see their live jazz nights, or sample their breakfasts. Ideal for speedy food before or after seeing a show at the Apollo or Lyric.