Legend Deli Review

June 30, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Legend Deli Review

I know I normally start my weekly restaurant review with a little story, or maybe an interesting foodie fact from the week just passed, but to be honest, this week has been pretty un-eventful. The most exciting thing that happened was my speed awareness course. Yep, you may recall I was caught speeding on the M25! So I, and a few other ‘criminals’ were held hostage in a hotel meeting room for 4 hours, whilst being presented with facts and figures as to why we shouldn’t speed, and had to pay £100 for the pleasure. What’s worse, this was held from 6pm to 10pm with no food, not even a sniff of a cheese and pickle sandwich or a savoury egg, jeez it was a struggle. But hey, I have now done the time, I’m fully rehabilitated, ready to face the roads again. Anyway, that story has sod all to do with food, so I shall move on fast!

The end of this thoroughly un-interesting week was upon us, so as with most Friday nights, Lou and I headed out for a well earnt beer. Ok we actually ended up having one or two too many, but hey it was Friday! As a result we woke up Saturday morning feeling slightly fuzzy round the edges, so some serious hangover food was well in order. Added to which, I was suffering what I call ‘Hangover Hunger’ we’ve all been there haven’t we? No matter how much you eat, that raging hunger is never satisfied. So, where could we go for a serious chow down in an effort to cure this almost impossible hunger. I am sure if a doctor could ever prescribe a cure it would be this; lunch at Legend Deli! We were also due for a catch up with Lou’s sister and her husband, now these guys are as fanatical about food as I am, so I new they would appreciate my choice of venue!

Those of you who don’t know, Legend deli is located virtually right next door to Henry Burgers in Southend on Market Place, a little bit tucked away, but only seconds from the high street, and well worth the diversion off the main drag! What’s even better, their drinks policy, you can take your own booze! So we threw a couple of cans (craft beer of course!) in Lou’s handbag and headed down.

Upon arrival we received a very warm welcome, and shown to our cosy table for four. I say cosy as the restaurant is pretty small, but this just adds to the charm. The lunch menu mainly consists of serious American deli style sandwiches and gourmet burgers, but also interesting sounding Asian inspired main dishes. Added to this, a wonderful sounding brunch menu too! What the hell do I eat then? It all sounds so blooming great! After much deliberation I went for the Brick Lane twist; Turkish bread packed full of their home cooked salt beef with mustard and pickles, it tasted superb, as good as any salt beef I have eaten on Brick Lane (believe me guys, give Beigel Bake a go next time your on Brick Lane, its a great late night snack!) Lou decided on the ‘Walter White’, a butter milk fried chicken burger with a homemade hash brown, chilli mayo and cheese, I managed to pinch a bite of the chicken; imagine a KFC burger on speed! It was amazing, and cooked to a tee, not dry at all. Come to think of it, I don’t really know why I compared it to a KFC burger; it couldn’t be farther from it, thankfully! Lorraine (Lou’s sister that is!) ordered a brunch burger; a breakfast burger with bacon, egg and a hash brown, this burger was humungous! I thought she would have to dislocate her jaw to tackle this beast! So what did Lorraine’s husband Karim eat, he went for the ‘Chickwich with Oink’! Turkish bread with pulled bbq chicken, back bacon, garlic mayo and cheese. As with all the other sandwiches and burgers, this was packed full of wonderful filling. I tried to pinch a taste, but Karim growled at me when I got close! He does get very protective over his food, so I thought it safer just to step away! But, if it tasted as good as it looked, I am sure it was superb. All the food is served with a side salad, I’m not talking just a few leaves tossed together as an after thought, no no, this salad was made up of quinoa, herbs, tomato, onion together with pomegranate seeds (nice touch), it was delicious. I nearly forgot to mention the triple cooked rosemary salt chips on the side; these were like small roast potatoes, nice!



Well, after all that I can safely say the hangover was a thing of the past, I was cured! Puddings at Legend deli are as substantial and full on as the main courses, which is wonderful, but it was lunchtime and it would have been too much. But next time I will get involved! The bill arrived, £40 including a tip, that’s £10 a head! Now that is super value for some bloody amazing and unique ‘Dude Food’!

Legend Deli is a small independent business run by Chef Jay and his team, who are all fanatical foodies, producing some epic foodie creations, my kinda people! The menu changes regularly offering some really unique and imaginative dishes, not to be found anywhere else locally. We visited for lunch, but they also open during the evenings at weekends, with a different menu, again regularly changing, well worth a visit me thinks.

Something I haven’t mentioned yet, we all know Jamie Oliver had recently been filming at the end of the Pier. Guess who he wanted to feed all the crew, yep, Legend Deli, so come on fellow foodies, don’t just take my word for it, if its good enough for our very own Southend ambassador, Jamie, the food’s just gotta be good. I am sure its only a matter of time before these guys move on to bigger and better things, and they certainly deserve to. But to be honest, I would rather they stay as they are, its got a real underground almost gritty feel which I think is pretty cool, very ‘Shoreditchy’. But saying that, I am sure wherever Chef takes this business he will keep true to its origins.