Legal Beans BBQ

Open Wednesday to Monday, 11:30 am – 9:00 pm. Closed on Tuesdays.

ZIMMERN: Mimi Escudero runs Legal Beans BBQ. It’s the first of its kind on the East Coast — a whole-hog rotisserie pit house devoted to the lechon barbecue style from the Philippine island of Cebu. You know the old adage — A way to a man’s heart or a woman’s heart is through food. That’s exactly right. So, as for me, everything I make here, I try to make it exactly how I would have it in the Philippines, in Cebu specifically. This is a Cebu lechon. This is the number-one lechon. Thank you.

ZIMMERN: Filipino lechon reflects centuries of Spanish influence on the islands, best represented in the vinegar rub Mimi uses inside the pig. Cebu style means whole-hog barbecue stuffed with scallions, herbs, cilantro, and lots and lots of lemongrass, spit-roasted for hours until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.

SANTOS: Her lechon is actually very authentic. Many other places that make it near us, it’s actually done in an oven. Yeah. As you can see, over the coals. Rotating. That is authentic Cebu. This is three hours of rotisserie. Hear that? Hear that? [ Tapping ] That’s the key. If you don’t have crispy skin, your customers are gonna walk away. This is it. This is a tradition. You have to have the first taste of heaven. Crispy skin and fat and all. Wow. That’s phenomenal. Amazing. Gorgeous. It’s like porcelain. Yes. That… That’s the way it should be. It’s amazing. Just breathtaking. That’s real Filipino lechon.

ZIMMERN: Mimi serves her plates with a little bit of everything — ears, ribs, loin, and feet, hand carved, teamed with papaya salad and a few other surprises. Don’t wait on me. You can be as indelicate as you want. Do you have your own foot over there? All right, good. Look at that. Can peel it back like a sock. Oh. Good? You can taste that vinegar and lemongrass. She cooks it in a way that it all melds perfectly together. Scary good. So is Mimi’s take on dinuguan, another Filipino staple. Hers is made with pig ears, pork butt, offal, and hog fat, chopped and cooked down with an adobo of garlic, onions, and vinegar — a very Spanish touch. Finished with pig’s blood, chocolate meat style. That’s really exceptional. It’s excellent. You wouldn’t think they go together, and then once you put them together… It’s heavenly. It treasures that relationship of the whole animal because everything that came out of the pig between life and the time it went on the charcoal is represented here. Nothing does it like food. Yeah. Makes you remember being a child, and then once you have that food, all the good memories come back. Yep. Absolutely true. One thing New Jersey’s diverse communities have in common is reverence for tradition. Sometimes, tradition needs a boost. This thing kicks like a mule. Wowza! From oyster food that’s probably best left to the shellfish. It’s really tasty. [ Laughs ] [ Laughter ]