The Collingwood, Wirral

[MaLO]

Aiden Byrnes new venture opened just before Christmas.

I have been a few times now. A couple of lunches, a casual unplanned dinner after a few drinks and another dinner, this time planned. Aiden has been present each time.

http://www.thecollingwood.co.uk/

There are a few menu options. We have sampled the burger, scampi, pumpkin risotto with queenies and the fish and chips from the lounge menu. All were very good. The burger is really nice, maybe better than nice – good fries too. Crispy, skinny and spruced up with fresh rosemary, garlic and salt. A treat. The big, beef dripping chips that come with the fried fish are also good, as was the fish.

On the finer dining side of things we have had white chocolate risotto with scallops and truffles. It does sound a bit odd, but tasted good. We followed that with a shared, excellent, wing rib of Dexter beef with potato galette, béarnaise, bourguignonne dressing and beef shin with fried marrow in little pots.

We also have had more scallops. Scallops seem to feature regularly here and have been good each time. A foie ravioli starter was also decent. This was followed by mains of cod with chorizo and chick peas and a lamb dish in two parts. A risotto topped shepherd’s pie and lamb fillet with other bits and bobs, plated separately, each tasty, but in my view two separate dishes (no complaints over quantity though). The only item that has not been good was a dessert. There is also a tasting option now.

It is early days yet and when we visited they were not at capacity. The food is good though and with a bit of time to develop the kitchen team, it will remain at this level and hopefully improve.

Service is good, friendly and relaxed. The dining room and bar area are comfortable enough in a quite modern-pub way. The dining area more so.

Pricewise it ranges from slightly expensive pub to £70ish for the tasting. This is expensive, as much as Fraiche or Simon Radley at the Grosvenor – more or less. Not to say Aiden's cooking is not excellent, although different to Fraiche or Simon Radley, the casual environment does not suggest such cost.

Booze costs are fair enough, not cheap but manageable and the quality is decent. I don’t know how much demand there will be for the more expensive menu options but I suppose something similar to the Church Green model will apply. Time will tell.

It is one of the better places to eat locally and stands up well to many local and regional options. The pub side of business seems to still cater to people having a pint and table service is offered too. The addition of some proper beer would be a bonus though. All in all I like it. Well worth a look for anyone nearby or in the area.