Harry Morgan has been providing fine deli-style cuisine since 1948. Started by the eponymous butcher, it has branches in St John’s Wood, Fitzrovia and Harrods and now at Fenwick’s in Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

The Venue
Good delis are hard to find these days, but for sixty years London has enjoyed the authentic excellence of Harry Morgan, famed for its chicken soup and its salt beef sandwiches. The latest branch at Fenwick’s store at Brent Cross is an absolute boon to the shoppers of North West London. Brent Cross was the first of the big shopping malls in the UK. It opened in 1976 and is still a highly successful outlet for all kinds of merchandise. It mostly has the usual fast food places for shoppers but it also has something that few such centres have, and that’s a first-class Harry Morgan deli. Decor is simple, with a stark red wall covered with black and white photos as the main focal point.

The Atmosphere
However, Harry Morgan’s is almost too successful for its own good. Limited to just 44 seats and buffet-style self service, it tends to be very busy most of the time. You may have to queue for a while around lunchtime but it is certainly worth the wait. If you can imagine a horde of hungry Hendon housewives taking a break from their retail therapy, you have an idea of what the queue is like, even early in the week. The food can’t come out fast enough for them.

The Food
They are, of course, queuing for a deli sandwich filled with the likes of lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese, on a bagel perhaps or with a little chopped liver, or some falafel, hummus and salad in warm pita bread, or a chicken schnitzel cooked in matzo meal. Otherwise there are appetisers and side dishes of gefilte fish balls, potato latkes, egg and onion or various salads such as Israeli, Greek, potato or cous cous.

Since Harry Morgan is noted for its chicken soup – what Jewish deli isn’t? – then that’s the starter taken care of. Choose it with noodles, kreplach (beef dumplings), kniedlach (matzo ball dumplings) or all of the above plus chicken, lokshen (noodles) and carrot (known here as The Works, £4.95). It’s terrific, with a really intense flavour, so that, when combined with strips of freshly cooked chicken and all the other ingredients, it becomes almost a meal in itself. And it’s not called Jewish penicillin for nothing as it’s a cure-all for whatever ails you.

Having lined the stomach with Harry’s homemade soup, the next must-have dish is, of course, the salt beef. This is brisket of beef steeped in salt and pickling spices for at least three weeks. Then it’s boiled and simmered for about four hours until it is soft and yielding to the touch of the fork. There should be no such thing as tough salt beef because it melts in the mouth and there’s very little fat and no taste of salt either. At Harry Morgan there is an assistant continually carving salt beef – it’s the most popular dish on the menu. When you order a salt beef sandwich, you really get a salt beef sandwich (another meal in itself). Slices of rye bread are packed with the freshly carved meat, garnished with a dressed salad and crisps to create excellence on a plate. If you prefer, you can have a plate of salt beef or tongue or a mixed plate of both, with pickles, olives and warm pita bread. Harry’s Rueben (£6.50) is a nice and tasty variation. It is a toasted rye bread sandwich with about six layers of the soft, tender and flavoursome salt beef, with sauerkraut and melted Swiss cheese plus salad and crisps: enough to fill your boots for the rest of the day.

Main course salads include the Tel Aviv, with falafel, hummus, pickles and olives, and the Mezze Platter of hummus, tabbouleh, taramasalata, tzatsiki, olives and grilled haloumi cheese. There’s also chicken salad, salad Nicoise, smoked salmon salad and a mixed deli salad of your own choice. Breakfast is served until 11.30am, offering porridge, cereals, boiled eggs and buttered toasted soldiers and Harry’s big breakfast of eggs, grilled Vienna sausages, worsht (beef salami), mushrooms, baked beans and toast. There’s also a children’s menu serving mini portions of soup, chicken schnitzel nuggets, Viennas and mini bagels. The dessert menu is limited but includes waffles, flapjacks, cakes and ice creams.

The Drink
Harry Morgan at Fenwick’s is not licensed but it has a good range of soft drinks, mineral waters, juices, milkshakes, plus the usual range of teas and coffees. Teas on offer are breakfast, fresh mint, lemon and green tea. The Earl Grey (£1.85 a pot) goes down well with a chocolate Belgian waffle for dessert.

The Last Word
Harry Morgan is the last word in London delis, so if you are shopping in Brent Cross and fancy a real meal instead of the usual hamburger and chips, then zip up go the third floor of Fenwick’s and enjoy a good and nourishing deli snack. It will set you up for the rest of the day and it might even make the shopping experience enjoyable.

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