60 Hope Street, LIverpool

[Harters]

Let me get the one serious niggle out of the way right at the beginning. We didn’t like the room one bit. Stripped down with bare floodboards and painted walls, every sound just reverberated around. It made having a conversation across the table at normal voice levels impossible. Other than that, it was a really good evening. The menu features around six choices at each course, supplemented by another four on the “daily specials” menu. Service is bang on – they know who has ordered what dish and are on hand to top up your glass if you seem to have lost the strength to do it for yourself. This is a place that knows exactly what it’s doing – and it’s doing it well.

Bread was offered almost before we’d sat down and continued to be offered until the main courses were finished. Always a good sign in our book.

A starter of scallops with celeriac puree brought three lovely scallops, perfectly seared on the outside, only just cooked through on the inside. The celeriac puree complemented the sweetness and the saffron vinaigrette was, presumably, intended to provide a sharp contrast but didn’t really hit the mark. Some shreds of deep fried celeriac gave a good textural change.

This was followed by a fillet of Cumbrian beef, together with a mini-casserole of braised shin with herb dumplings and a single Carlingford oyster. Two good beef dishes on one plate, the braise being the clear winner on taste.

The other starter also featured Cumbrian produce - in this case game. A bit indeterminate in flavour, it found its way into two cannelloni which were surrounded by a fab tomato sauce. I continued the game theme into the main with an absolutely delicious venison loin. It was wrapped in Serrano ham and sat on a bed of choucroute. So far, this worked wonderfully. A haggis fritter was a bit pointless as it was balnd and could have been almost a crisp “anything”. The juniper flavoured jus needed to be in greater quantity and have more punch.

We had side orders of new potatoes and mixed veg.

And so to desserts, which were not the total stars of the show. One described as “rhubarb jelly, panna cotta, rhubarb granita” was not the expected three mini-presentations on a plate but was a tumbler filled with layers of the first two, topped with the third. It was a very solid affair – not claggy, but too solid.Flavours were damned powerful though.

I couldn’t resist the description of mine – “Deep fried jam sandwich with Carnation Milk ice cream”. Oh yes, I thought, I having some of that. And it was good. Brioche stuffed with jam and thinly sliced strawberry and, yes, deep fried. The ice cream wonderfully rich. A few raspberries. I could have done with a side order of Gavascon, but this was worth it.

Coffee was fine. The bill came to £117, including for a drink before, half bottle of cab. Sauv and water. Most enjoyable three courser we’ve had in months.