The Blue Legume - Islington

Last night I went to the Blue Legume with Fran and Linz. After the success of their Stoke Newington restaurant, they have opened a new branch in Islington and I was keen to try it out. The restaurant itself is beautifully done up, with exposed brick walls, chunky wooden tables and candles galore. It has a lovely cosy feel, the entrance is papered with flyer's for local goings on and the staff are friendly. During the day they serve the usual breakfast fodder and also some delicious looking cakes.

Cute individual casserole dish

The menu ranges from risotto to burgers to mezze so there's something for everyone. I ordered a chicken, apple and cider casserole which unfortunately turned out to be quite bland. The cider sauce was too thin, it could really have done with some wholegrain mustard and a dollop of creme fraiche to liven it up. They also decided to add huge lumps of swede, which tasted too earthy for the dish. The casserole and mash were served separately, with no plate to dish them onto so I end up dipping my mash in the casserole which wasn't the easiest way to eat it. Whilst presentation wise it looked nice enough, it was impractical to eat and the casserole itself wasn't flavoursome enough.

Chicken, apple and cider casserole

Casserole & mash

Linz ordered stuffed aubergine with goat's cheese, it was overcooked so the cheese had turned into a hard block and it was too oily. Fran's garlic prawns weren't much better, they were also very oily and weren't 'garlicy' enough. She also complained about the portion size (after being told by the manager the portions were huge); six prawns and some bread does not a meal make! There were plenty of dishes on the menu which sounded appetising, so maybe we simply made bad choices, but we weren't impressed with what we ate.

PRAWNS!

Stuffed aubergine with goat's cheese

Overall the food was not as good as I'd hoped, which is a shame as the setting is so lovely. On the plus side the service was fine, the menu is reasonably priced and the dessert counter looks excellent, but unfortunately that doesn't make up for the quality of the food. Finally, they served my food on a doily, someone needs to tell them it's not the 80's anymore.

Prawns with garlic toast