Blue Legume

Noticeably 'stokey' in its vibe, the blue legume is a warm inviting little cafe on Church Street. We braved the winter slap and wondered over there on Saturday morning (9/2/2013) for some late brunch and were pleased to be able to get a table without any fuss. We sat in the atrium which is light filled but unfortunately the layout means that tables are moved so close together that it requires the adjoining tables to get up to allow guests to move in and out. This might not normally be a bother but since you have to order and pay for food at the counter, once you go through the bother of sitting down a few minutes later you have to ask your neighbours to get up again so you can order food. It relies on the good nature of the patrons(!), I thought to myself, but my companion's moans made me realise that given the English sense of awkwardness this may be hard to accomplish. The food has a distinctively Mediterranean rather than English vibe, keeping in with the Turkish feel of the neighbourhood. I ordered the Eggs Florentine and my boyfriend had the Mediterranean breakfast. The Eggs Florentine came with hollandaise sauce which was perfect but the poached eggs were slightly too hard inside and didn't have the runny goodness that you want on your plate. The Mediterranean breakfast was actually a platter of olives, haloumi, Turkish sausages, a poached egg, bread and jam. I know what they were trying to achieve here - a typical breakfast spread that you might find in any Mediterranean home for breakfast. However, what was missing from this spread was a good dose of excess! This sort of breakfast works well at home when there is a bowel of olives, a plate of sausages, lots of fresh bread, feta, different jams and cooked eggs. Mostly because visually a table of food is so inviting. But a platter presented in this manner looks like it could have been pushed on you by an air hostess. The coffee was too hot, so hot that it was difficult to swallow but it was fine and to my surprise it wasn't burnt. The fresh juices were great, really lovely. Overall a pleasant experience and despite the average food I'm still tempted to give it another go but this time for lunch.

Surprised about all the negative reviews below. Have been coming into the blue cafe for years and always had decent food (the breakfast in a bap with chips is great) and the staff are alright. Maybe they treat the locals better! Overall, a decent local place to eat with good food at decent prices.

Ordered a salad from the Stoke Newington cafe. Lettuce was brown which was hugely disappointing. I bought the salad at noon so either it was yesterday's which no-one had bothered to check, or they had old lettuce and used it regardless of the colour. It was the lack of care that was the most upsetting. Happy to take my money but not careful enough to provide a halfway decent product.

I've been to this place 3 times since it has opened, but as of this morning never again. The place has been done up very nicely but its all just surface, as the food is about the same standard as the weatherspoons pub just down the road – ie nothing fresh, all microwaved, with cheap ingredients and no salad/fresh greens. Honestly was expecting something much much nicer and was extremely disappointed. On top of this, the staff are incredibly rude – the first time i went in they continued to chat amongst themselves behind the till, completely ignoring me, even tho i was one of the only people in there at a really quiet time. Eventually when I finally managed to get one of them to come over and take my order, it was quite awkward as the waitress could barely understand anything i asked for. When the food finally arrived it was immensely disappointing – extremely low quality, and clearly microwaved. The salad that was supposed to come with the dish could in no way qualify as a salad – 2 small browning lettuce leaves on the side of the plate – more as a token garnish than anything you would ever want to eat. Just awful. Whats more the prices are double that of places of similar quality. My second visit was much the same experience and I swore I wouldn't go again but this morning I was really hungry and fancied a quick breakfast, so I thought why not give the place another chance – it was quite busy when I arrived, and sat down at a table near to the door – a waitress passing by said “is it just you?” with a disdainful look on her face – I smiled and replied yes just me, and she said “you are alone” and then walked off!!! quite strange. A family of four came in and I offered my table to them as there were no other large tables available – I moved over to a table by the window, read the menu and decided what to order. I waited…and waited… a couple sat in the table next to me and were served almost immediately by the same waitress who made the comment to me earlier, which wasnt great, as I had already been sitting there for 10 minutes. After another 5 minutes of sitting there like a lemon, with no sign that anyone had noticed me or felt in any way like taking my order, I just got up and walked out, again un-noticed. Now I'll never ever set foot in there again, and will make sure to tell everybody I know in the area to avoid the place like the plague. Absolutely awful service, bland and depressing food, and one more thing to mention – the staff seem to be allowed to play their own music at a really loud volume – the acoustics of the place are really harsh as there is no soft furnishing, so you are pretty much assaulted by eastern european pop music throughout the whole experience. Dreadful – there are sooo many better choices in Crouch End, this place is just a complete rip off, and cynical into the bargain, as it is dressed up to look like something far more special. Never Again!!!

Called in for some supper early Sat evening. We hadn’t made a reservation but the place was only half full and we were told we could only sit in the middle of the restaurant as the other tables were reserved. Throughout the course of our meal another couple came in (also hadn't reserved) and were told they could sit where ever they liked. We ordered a glass of champagne each and one of them was fizzy and the other completely flat. When i brought this to the waitress’s attention we were told by her that both were from the same bottle - which was obviously not the case, but when we insisted they brought out another glass. We ordered mussels thinking this would be a hearty meal for a cold evening - how wrong we were, and sorry, but there ought to be a law about this - maybe there is??: with the average size of each mussel being about 1.5cm long we were terrifically disappointed. And cooking mussels this size ought to be illegal frankly - needless to say we were glad it came with chips. The table was far too small for all the bits and pieces, which made all the large empty tables around us all the more galling. Looked promising from the outside, and nice interior but there are infinitely better places to go along this road, where you will also get fizzy champagne without having to make a fuss, and eating mussels won't feel like shelling peas. Really poor dining experience.

bloody brill food served by human beings......all you impatient, spoilt, brats might like to try macdonalds or burger king !

The food here is good, but I have to agree with some of the posters below, the service leaves a lot to be desired. The first time I went here, about two months ago one lunchtime, I was with three other people. We waited absolutely AGES for menus, having to eventually ask for them. The place wasn't rammed by any means and the staff were all standing around the counter talking so it's not as if they were particularly busy. Food arrived at different times meaning that one person started their meal as the rest of us were nearly finishing (and we had been eating slowly in the hope that her food would arrive soon). The second time I was only with one other person again at lunchtime, when we asked for a menu we were told rather rudely to look at the boards on the wall. You may think this is fair enough considering you order at the counter, but we wanted to take menus to our table outside rather than making a hasty decision there and then. The couple next to us also waited absolutely ages for any service, so we told them that they would probably need to go and ask for menus etc, and seemingly they didn't know you also had to order at the counter, so again we told them. I think this place would be really great if they improved the service. A smile and a helpful demeanour go a long way, and I agree with the person below who said if you don't enjoy interacting with people then why work in an environment where it's a main feature of the job.

Have been to the Blue Legume on at least a dozen occasions - lunch and dinner - and have never had problems like those described below. Great place, lovely food and friendly staff.

The Blue Lagume in Stoke Newington was our favourite place for breakfast, we and several other couples would frequent due to the amazing fruit platter. Now we have a Blue Lagume closer but for some reason they do not do the fruit platter!! It was by far the best seller at their other location so I can't understand why. Very dissappointed, this is 2nd rate in comparison to the Stoke Newington branch in terms of choice and friendliness.

The staff in the Blue Legume are extremely bad mannered and rude. I love the brunches and have brought friends and visitors on a few occasions but having been treated so rudely time and time again I'm not going back. I'm always polite and smiling when I speak to staff there and am met with a sour face, irritation and disrespect...this is just when ordering my food. I don't understand how somewhere like this can have so many awards with such little regard for customer service. And why open/work in a cafe in the first place when you so obviously find interacting with the public such a displeasure. I've never reviewed before but the latest incident where the table was cleared before we'd finished our coffees annoyed me so much I had to vent (waitress took my saucer while I had my cup to my mouth). It's really pathetic in this day and age and if they don't do something about it they're going to lose out in the long run.