Old Hat Southend Review!

February 2, 2016 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Old Hat Southend Review

To say I am a fan of all things quirky and less ordinary would be an understatement; I just love anywhere a little unconventional. I spend quite a lot of time around London, Shoreditch to be precise. Hands down, this has got to be the most charismatic part of the capital. It’s just a melting pot of all things whacky, creative and eccentric, not forgetting its probably one of the most uber cool places on the planet. They've got it all, from 24-hour bagel joints (serving up some damn tasty salt beef I hasten to add), which have probably been in existence since the days of the Krays. All the way to ‘Hipster’ craft beer bars serving up some of the best beer in town. Not to mention the artisan coffee shops, perfect if it's too early for a beer or two! But, this week I’m not writing about Shoreditch, oh no, lets get closer to home. We are seeing a rise in pretty cool bars and coffee shops in and around little old Leigh. If it's just coffee and cake, or maybe something a little stronger and a bite to eat, we’ve got it all. So, I've decided to get around as many of these places as possible in 2016! With all this thought of little quirky joints, I just needed to get down to a place I've heard some good things about, and its quirky with a capital Q! Where? Old Hat in Southend.

These guys are located in what I describe as Southends mini Shoreditch. On Alexandra Street, right opposite the Market Place, and very close to two of my favourites; Legend Deli and Henry Burgers. I've wandered past Old Hat loads of times, but never popped in. Well, Lou and I thought no time like the present to start my 2016 quest to hunt down eccentric little independent places. As we approached Old Hat, straight away I liked the look about the place. Outside was a kinda music stand displaying the menu to tempt you in! Inside is mix and match furniture, the walls are adorned with unusual artwork and posters advertising forthcoming bands and dj's. Yep, this place was quirky all right! All the way down to the guy sitting in the corner, who may have been on the other side of a few drinks, looking after the soundtrack! This chap really new how to work the crowd, he was playing everything from Doris Day to Hip Hop! I thought is rendition of bohemian rhapsody was particularly entertaining. He just added to the eccentric vibe about the place!

So we grabbed a beer, found a table, right next to the rather delightful un-official resident dj, and perused the menu. Yeah it looked good, a selection of starters and light bites. Now I do like a good selection of light bites, what's better than just ordering a few small plates and a beer? Jerk chicken skewers, Asian fish cakes, peri peri prawns and more, perfect beer food I thought! But Lou and I were hungry, so to start we ordered the garlic and rosemary infused whole baked Camembert. This arrived at the table, on a wooden board, flanked by large wedges of fresh bread. Now they said this was enough for two as a starter. I have to disagree here; it’s enough for an entire lunch! But hey, lets not complain, just dive in. This was oozy, garlicky, herby cheesy goodness. No knife and fork required here guys, just scoop it up on the bread and stuff it in your cake hole, I loved it. Imagine a kind of ultimate fondue, and your almost there! Proper comfort food. I felt a little guilty here though; I didn’t want to fill up, as I needed to try a main course, so we had to leave some of the bread. But I tell you next time, if I’m just after a light lunch, this wonderful cheese would be bang on. Sorry, I’ve forgot to mention the specials board. This was a tough one, as the specials sounded good, obviously the cheese won the day to start, but we could’ve chosen leek and potato soup, calamari or whitebait, and I do love a bit of whitebait!

So for mains, Lou went for the homemade chicken and mushroom pie off the specials board. How the hell she was going to fit that in after the starter, I had no idea! It was a tough one for me. Curried Goat was on the specials, almost a winner, but the main menu also had some great sounding grub. Slow cooked Spanish pork with chorizo, and I just luurrve chorizo, put chorizo with anything and it’s a winner! Shepherds Pie, smoked haddock fish cakes, Bratwurst hotdog with sauerkraut, bloody hell Old Hat, your not making it easy for me, I could’ve chosen any of those. But I thought, lets see how these guys do a burger, so, the Jerk Chicken burger with red pepper salsa, chips and coleslaw for me. Well, I’m glad I went for this. Ok, maybe not the most visually appealing burger I’ve ever had, but the taste was there. The bun was packed with juicy chicken, jerked to a tee! Spicy too! Both the coleslaw and chips were clearly homemade, spot on!

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, why the hell don’t more restaurants cut and fry their own chips? I don’t understand it, surely it’s cheaper and more importantly, they just taste so much better. It’s common sense in my view. I’ve been to some places who pitch themselves to the high end of the market, and they just serve up crap frozen chips. I’m sure some of my restaurateur friends could tell me why?? Anyway, back to the coleslaw, it was simply creamy and delicious. Lou’s chicken and mushroom pie had a rich and creamy filling, topped with a flaky pastry lid and served with the same wonderful chips. I think she’d got a bit carried away on the starter; she hardly touched the pastry, but managed to make short work of the filling! So, in the interests of my review, I thought it only fair I chomp in to the flaky pastry lid. It wasn’t too bad at all, nice and flaky, as you’d expect I guess! Puddings? Oh come on, you should know me by now, I’m always too full; I do try when I can though! The puddings here are good old classics; such as winter berry Eaton mess (good to see you keeping it seasonal chef!) syrup sponge pudding and hot chocolate pudding, all sound pretty good eh? All in, a good lunch in a great little venue, and at £27 good value too. The service? Very good, just two young ladies serving at the bar and delivering food, busy, but always with a smile, good on ya!

Well, if your looking for a quirky, little off beat hidden gem with character, you could do far worse than give Old Hat a go. Oh, did I not mention these guys also serve up some great sounding sandwiches, flat breads and salads. They also do brekkie, served with a complimentary Bloody Mary shot, perfect if you had a few too many the night before. Must get me down there for some of that!

To read @foodieRich's previous review's please click the following link https://www.leigh-on-sea.com/tag/listing/blog/restaurant-review