Blue Riband
By Jaqi Clayton-Church
The excellence and originality of this popular venue’s
daytime fare has never been in doubt – but now that the Blue
Legume’s door is open late, have those qualities been translated
successfully to the dinner table? One Friday evening, the family
set off to investigate.
Bread, butter and mixed olives are brought whilst you absorb the
mellow ambience and survey the eclectic Mediterranean menu comprising
dishes from several cultures. Resolutely vegetarian husband began
with Fritto Misto, a mound of aubergine and courgette rings deep-fried
in crispy batter. These were described as ‘faultless’,
and his main course of roasted vegetable Moussaka was praised for
its particularly fine béchamel topping. You must forgive
the brevity of comment on the ‘herbivorous’ offerings,
delightful as those dishes may be, but there’s a pressing
need to move on to the subject of pure and simple Magic.
If you’ve seen the film Chocolat, you’ll not have forgotten
the scene where guests fall into a spellbound state on tasting the
food Vianne and Joséphine have prepared for Armande’s
birthday. It is no exaggeration, I promise you, to say that this
is precisely what happened to my daughter and me at the Blue Legume.
Her starter of Gambas al Ajillo – pan-fried Spanish tiger
prawns with garlic – came with a glorious white wine sauce,
which was pronounced ‘utterly amazing’. For a teenager
who has dined well in the world and knows her grub inside out, this
was exceptional approval. There followed a further seafood sensation:
grilled whole squid stuffed with prawns, again in a white wine and
garlic sauce but this time enlivened by little flecks of red chilli,
which brought another string of superlatives from its delighted
consumer. My starter – Zuppe di Pesce – had been cooked
to order, and comprised an assortment of clams, squid, prawns, mussels,
octopus and red mullet in a coral-coloured fish stock, laced with
Pernod and orange zest. No ordinary Fish Soup, this: it was the
absolute essence of gastronomic pleasure. I can say no more. And,
happily, that level of pleasure was sustained with my next course
of Kleftiko – slow-cooked lamb shank with a ratatouille-like
sauce, which simply melted in the mouth. It’s abundantly clear
that chef/owner Murat knows what he’s doing, and he’s
doing it with passion. Passion makes a difference, as we all know.
Classic paella is also on the menu, and there’s talk of a
vegetarian paella coming soon. Other tempting main dishes include
sea bass spiced with ginger, dried lime and cinnamon; a middle eastern
mixed vegetable stew called khudra bil furn; and chargrilled free-range
chicken breast with a tangy, dense goat’s cheese and chive
sauce. Working through the menu will take a while, if only because
I want to live on this fish soup for ever and ever.
We were too replete – and too wrapped up in some sort of
ecstatic reverie – to cope even with sharing one of the half
dozen, highly appealing desserts, which include mulled wine pudding
and lemon brulée. Nor even with the rather scrumptious-sounding
ice creams, such as raspberry and clotted cream. There’s a
decent drinks list, too (house wine and house champagne are modestly
priced at £9.45 and £25 respectively); and several main
course salads – smoked trout or pan-fried halloumi for example
– plus a handful of side dishes, including basmati rice with
chickpeas and dill. With 75cl of house red, a couple of Budvars
and a large bottle of fizzy water, the bill worked out at around
£20 a head. A reasonable sum indeed for an outstandingly delicious
dinner.
The Blue Legume, 101 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16. Tel
020 7923 1303. Open daily 9.30am-6.30pm and from 6.30pm for dinner.
Special rate Paella on Monday and Tuesday evenings.
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