More often than not we are a group of four friends that visit various restaurants, concerts,shows and events etc and it regularly falls to me to organise such events. Be it the original recommendation or suggestion of a Concert/show/Restaurant through to the purchasing of the tickets. The most complicated issue is usually syncing our dairies to determine a date we can all make it as we all have other life commitments, whether they be work, family or others to take account of. A recent example of this was one of us trying to organise a one week holiday recently and complaining that there was not one clear 7 day period in her diary over the next 3 months that she could find where there was no event already booked. Therefore the only way to proceed with a holiday would involve her having to miss out on one of our forthcoming reserved nights out. This was not necessarily a criticism- almost the opposite- in that I have managed to fill our diaries with a plethora of interesting events over the coming months.
Being the designated Entertainment officer comes with responsibilities and unsurprisingly requires being relatively well organised. Last night was one of those times wherein my organisation went awry and the panic button had to be hit. In short I had told everybody we were attending a show at the Globe Theatre on the Southbank at 19.30 and had booked a restaurant close by to coincide with the end of the show. At 18.50 I was leaving home to attend this event when I realised I had not printed off the tickets. Found the e-tickets on my phone, sent them to print, and as I stood there viewing them spewing out of the printer I realised that in fact they were for a performance a week later, and realised the show I thought we were to see a week later WAS, IN FACT, TONIGHT ! (Emma Rices quite brilliant, emotional and evocative Brief Encounter) It was of course in a completely different location, at The Empire Cinema, Haymarket. Panic ensued with urgent texts being sent out followed by phone calls to divert everyone en route to the correct location. Cutting a long story short , miraculously we all managed to arrive within a minute or so before the show started, all a little stressed out, and one of us having had to make a dash in killer heels from the nearest underground, whilst another was diverting an Uber and also clambering out of the car when it became stuck in traffic to sprint the last few hundred meters. My friends were extremely thankful for my small screw up…..
What this has to do with Duck and Waffle Local ? Well it explains how we found ourselves in the Haymarket at 9.15, after the show, without a restaurant booking and feeling extremely hungry for a steak or similar as quickly as possible. Piling into the restaurant (which was a few doors down from the Cinema) we were told a table would be available within 5 minutes and we should grab a drink at the bar and we would be called over imminently. We all needed a drink, so there were no arguements there.
What caught our attention immediately were the speedy cocktails and wines which they had available on tap! These included one of my favs, or close to it, namely Duck and Stormy ( see what they did there?) upon arrival it was not quite what I had hoped for, and involved a light instead of dark rum with added coconut, but being somewhat parched I made quick work of this and were then guided to a table by our waitress – the lovely and so helpful Lucy.
The menu is apparently a casual take on some of their iconic dishes from the main restaurant located in Heron Tower in the City. The conception of this relatively new location was to do away with the 2 month waiting list at HQ and have a fast and quality restaurant experience based on their love affair with the Duck.
It certainly has many Duck orientated offerings,including, on the starters, dry fried Duck tongues with Sichuan spices £5 and a duck jam doughnut for £7. Unfortunately we skipped all starters on this visit and went straight to mains as a quick and large intake of Carbs were a priority for us all.
I felt I had to partake in their iconic Duck and Waffle dish which involves Confit duck leg, fried duck egg and a mustard and maple syrup, of course on top of a waffle. 
Independantly each part of this dish were more than acceptable, albeit not the best duck confit I have experienced, but this combination is a little sweet and sickly and a waffle as a main does not work for me. I think it’s a very American idea and maybe our transatlantic friends like this combination ( I am sure Trump has one or two every night in bed whilst watching his 100 TVs) but it was not something I will be ordering again !
Other mains ordered included the Duck Burger which also involved duck leg – crispy this time – crushed noodles,miso mayonnaise and spiced slaw. These seem to have gone down well ( albeit with a question mark over the inclusion of noodles) with lots of rosemary dusted duck fat chips, which I was also stealing in preference to my main course as the chips were indeed very good.
A scotch rib eye with grilled chicory, marmite hollandaise, shallot crumble and watercress completed our mains. This was ordered rare and was voted as quite excellent and exactly prepared to order. The mayonnaise lived up to Marmites usual standard of being loved or hated – in this case hated. Tasted very yeasty and ruined what could have been an enjoyable mayonnaise, and not something you would want to pollute your RibEye with.
This came with a side order of grilled tenderstem broccoli with chilli garlic and lemon Creme fraiche which very well seasoned and had a good crunch to it. 
We washed all this down with a couple of bottles of Peirano Estate 2014 Six Clones Merlot from California. This was recommended by Lucy and was 100% merlot grape, a bright ruby red with hints of cherry, vanilla and spice and was enjoyed by all. Retailing here at £55 – one of the most expensive wines on a very short list.
Desserts – we were unsure what to order – only three choices, so we were told they would prepare a sharing dessert for us. This basically involved two plates of Waffles – one with Vanilla fudge and salted caramel , the other with banana,peanut butter, strawberry and Chantilly Cream. 2 Elvis inspired heart attacks on a plate and not too different to what you might experience from a waffle stand on Oxford Street. Ok if you like that sort of thing ! Admittedly we managed to more or less polish off all between the 4 of us, but by then we were well and truly waffled out !
The bill for 4 came to £250 but as mentioned above it involved 2 quite expensive bottles of wine and a few cocktails – all in all it was not bad value. I would not rush back to experience their signature dish, but the Steak was highly rated and the service was quick, helpful, lively and friendly. Lucy even came to say goodbye as she was going off shift. Not a bad experience,as a walk in,when you have totally screwed up arrangements for the evening, and me, personally, trying to recover a situation I had totally d**ked up !
Rating –
Food – Hot Pan 3/5
Service – Blazingly Hot Pan 5/5 ( thank you Lucy)
Duck and Waffle Local, 52 Haymarket, St. James Market, SW1Y 4RP.