Can Lokal, the new restaurant from the Fred Bakery team, break the Market Place curse?

Every part of town has one, a restaurant site that nobody seems to be able to make work until someone comes along with something singular enough to break the curse. But it can be done. In our own neck of the woods, Islington, the fabulous Tofu Vegan successfully turned a restaurant blackspot into a thriving business.

In the West End, one such restaurant doom spot would definitely be 8-9 Market Place. Since we've been doing Hot Dinners, we've seen a slew of restaurants come and go. The most recent, Carmel, didn't even make it to the one-year anniversary.

So there's a lot riding on the new incumbent, Lokal, to make a go of it. The good news is that the team behind it have recently scored a massive hit with another Oxford Circus opening, Fred Bakery. Lokal is going to be just across Great Portland Street from that successful venture.

Head chefs Salih Serden and Akacan Agir say they're going to be serving up a modern Turkish menu, touring the country's regions. There'll be mezze, salads and small plates like lamb Tandır on offer. The space is big enough to have room for a separate cocktail bar and even that sounds like it's going above and beyond with drinks like the Mesopotamia, using tequila infused with padrón peppers and Galata, which mixes raki, Tokaji and lychee liqueur.

They've also got a nice terrace and are opening in time for summer, all of which augurs well.