Review

SoCal is devoted to Mediterranean comfort foods, from the bright and sharp flavours of Southern Europe to the more darkly spiced Arabic-style in the East. With high ceiling and generous table spacing SoCal is open and casual with comfy chairs and couches and a good view of your fellow diners. An excellent venue for larger groups and events. The menu features somewhat daring offerings of cuisines with very different texture and flavour profiles, despite their birthplaces being clustered around the same sea. Highly recommended is Arabic mezze platter of dips and fresh pita, featuring the smoothest, fluffiest hummus anywhere, delicious and oft overlooked muhammara, garlicky baba ghanoush and assorted olives. Flavours and textures are perfect. Buffalo mozzarella & roasted tomato is chewy and tastes, as its ancient makers intended, pairs well with lamb pappardelle ragu, as wide ribbon pasta distributes the sauce’s rich piquancy throughout one’s mouth. Four-cheese pizza and beef kibbeh are perhaps not an obvious pairing. Both are very good, although flavours slightly clash as cinnamon and cheese are not common tongue fellows. Finish with classic tiramisu. Rich and delicious. Not all will agree that Italian and Levant cuisines mesh seamlessly, so best to lean in one direction, unless combining disparate flavours is a personal preference. There is a wide range of cocktails and a varied wine list.