Restaurant: Leong’s Legends, London

Pigs trotters and duck tongues — a glance at the menu at Leong’s Legends told me not to expect standard Chinatown fare. Cantonese I’m on board with — I’ve got my favourite dim sum joint just round the corner from where I live — but Taiwanese is new to me.

Although aware that not every dish on the menu is Taiwanese, not being well versed in Chinese/Taiwanese cuisine I had no idea which was which. Add to this that I was sharing a meal with someone not really up for trotters and tongues, and you’re left with a dining experience bereft of certified authenticity and daring (certified or otherwise).

However, I’m sure I can still make some useful observations.

First impressions were good. The dark wood interior and low-hanging wicker lamps over every table made it cosy, much like Cha Cha Moon but without the annoyance of long canteen-style tables. It was 12.30 on a Saturday and there was plenty of space, so we pushed (and pushed) the (overly) heavy solid wood door and headed inside.

To my surprise I didn’t find the service rude (unlike fellow London food bloggers Tamarind and Thyme and World Foodie Guide). A little abrupt, maybe, but then that’s pretty much my experience with cheap eats in central London. We got a decent seat, the service was speedy and at the end of the meal we were left to chat, our plates only cleared when we asked for the bill.

We went for sparkling water so as not to detract from the flavours and placed our orders for five dishes to share (with some difficulty, given that the options on the tick-box order sheet didn’t always match up with the laminated menu) —

• Legend’s Siu Loung Bao (eight dumplings)
• Bamboo rice
• Taro and preserved vegetable vermicelli with pork
• Aubergine with mashed garlic
• Taiwanese fried egg with vegetables

Bamboo rice was first up, served in a little half-pint bamboo pot. Sticky and brown and peppered with small pieces of pork, shrimp and clam, the rice was sweet and moreish. The aubergine followed as batons in an oily chilli and garlic sauce. The portion was generous and well-prepared, the aubergine soft and melting without being soggy.

Then the dumplings came. I’d read in Time Out about how special these mouthfuls could be. Knowing better than to stick them straight in our mouths we let them cool a little, till the amount of visible steam lifting from them was next to nothing. Our patience paid off — the soup-filled dumplings exploded on our tongues with heat that was only just bearable. (I believe that this brinkmanship is a big part of why its enjoyable to eat dumplings.)

With so much taste and texture, it was a shame that as the dumplings cooled further they began sticking together and tearing, soup going to waste in the bottom of the steamer.

The taro and pork vermicelli came in a broth and turned out to be a light option, both in terms of flavour and calories. Just a pinch of pork accompanied the noodles and vegetables creating a balanced dish with the delicate flavours of the taro and the mushrooms allowed to shine.

Finally the only dish we could be certain was a Taiwanese recipe turned out to be the kind of omelette I’d make at home for a quick dinner. Nothing wrong with it — light and moist in the middle — just that it’s always a let down when you pay to dine out and end up eating exactly the kind of food you’re used to at home.

Five dishes were more than enough for the two of us. Even with the sneaky £2.50 service charge we paid £27 for the two of us, which considering the amount of food, the quality of the food and the variety offered is more than decent.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Leong’s Legends (roughly translated as Robin Hood’s Merry Men, if you read the story on the front of the menu and like drawing clumsy cross-cultural comparisons) and would happily return myself, but I’d make sure it was someone who was willing to share a plate of ducks tongues.*

Where?
4 Macclesfield Street, London, W1

Tube:
Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square

* Not that I have any complaints whatsoever about my co-eater for this first foray. She was and always is a faultless dining partner. And has excellent hair.