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anyone had a good meal in liverpool lately?


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Try this thread:

Most recent Liverpool thread

It's fairly up to date I feel, so most of the comments still stand.

Just to echo:

I found the Carriageworks splendid last time I went (braised ox-cheek stands out) though the dessert was a weak link. Their 'bar food' in the more relaxed dining area looked good too.

Fraiche is fantastic, if a little out on a limb. Technical, complex food, with more wiggly bits than you can shake a stick at but beautifully cooked and constructed.

If you want more down to earth then the ever-reliable Piccolino (I am a regular in the Manchester branch) offers excellent modern Italian dining in a buzzy, atmospheric space, St Petersburg is a quirky though well-liked Russian Place and the adequate Sapporo Teppanyaki offers uhmm... adequate teppanyaki.

Ziba at the Raquet Club is ok and nicely located though a little pricey for what it as, and the same applies to the SAS Radisson restaurant (not been there, but that's what I've heard).

If you want cheap and cheerful then Everyman is fine for Cornerhouse-style student/culture vulture dining, and the Number 7 cafe offers decent well-priced nosh too. Both are just off Hope St.

Final tip, David Woolfe (ex of the 5 star Lowry in Manchester) now has his own place on Allerton Road out in the 'burbs. Place is called Spoon, and it's meant to be pretty good.

Cheers

Thom

It's all true... I admit to being the MD of Holden Media, organisers of the Northern Restaurant and Bar exhibition, the Northern Hospitality Awards and other Northern based events too numerous to mention.

I don't post here as frequently as I once did, but to hear me regularly rambling on about bollocks - much of it food and restaurant-related - in a bite-size fashion then add me on twitter as "thomhetheringto".

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cheers thom, i'd read the thread you mentioned but was hoping for a bit more info, didn't see anything that interested me that much! however, now you mention piccolino, i'm interested, went to the one in manchester with the same bunch of work people, on your recommendation and every body loved it so, i'll give them a ring.

thanks a lot

jon

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  • 3 months later...

I'll be stuck in the Adelphi Hotel for 6 nights in April, though as I certainly don't plan to eat there I'm looking at eating 6 lunches and 6 dinners out , without breaking the bank . (As my employer are paying for the inedible food at the Adelphi I won't be able to claim the cost of meals out).

I'll certainly be going to Carriageworks at least once but would really appreciate suggestions for cheaper places (i don't want to eat at the Everyman every day).

Anyone know anything about Quynny's Quisine in Bold St ? Its recomended in the Easyjet In Flight mag- though that may be no recommendation. Its apparently unlicensed so you can take your own wine , which is an attractive proposition.

Suggestions for decent bars , food shops, markets, wine merchants etc would also be much appreciated, as would suggestions for somewhere to get a decent cup of coffee close to the Adelphi - i'm fed up of running back and forth to the Costa Coffee in Lime St station which is the closest drinkable coffee to the Adelphi that I've yet found.

Gethin

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Mattas International Food Market on Bold Street was a regular stop off when I lived on Merseyside - a fairly eclectic mix of foods from pretty much everywhere.

You must, MUST, go to the Baltic Fleet pub in Wapping, just a midly inebriated stagger frm the Albert Dock. It's a brewpub of great character with an owner relatively new to the scene and a head brewer who has a phenomenal way with dry-hopping. I can't remember the name of the beer, but it's the dry-hopped version of their normal 'Wapping' session ale and it's the best IPA I've ever had in my life.

The Ship and Mitre, near the entrance to the Wallasey Tunnel, has 15-20 hand pumps going at any one time. A proper old pub, full of character, and grizzled locals.

A good place for lunch - on Renshaw Street (the road running parallel to Bold Street and ending at the bombed-out church) there's an Indian restaurant called Masterchef. Ignore the curries and the plastic desserts, go in and order a starter portion of the lamb chop tikka. Five charred and savoury chops for 4.50 and have the salty lassi to drink. On my first visit there they were still serving seven(!) chops as a starter portion before they realised no-one had any room left for anything else.

The Philharmonic is a decentish pub, but I only mention it for the gents' loos and the fact that they have listed status. Trust me, you have to see them. The Phil is just opposite the Philharmonic Hall (funny, that) and as such is within spitting distance of the Carriage Works.

Go to the Baltic Fleet. Seriously.

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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Go to the Baltic Fleet.  Seriously.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll certainly check them out. Have you eaten at the Baltic Fleet ? The Easyjet mag also recommends Floor One @ the Baltic Fleet.

Gethin

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Gethin, they've closed the upstairs restaurant at the Baltic Fleet. The previous owners got a little above their station in opening an ambitious restaurant in an undesirable location in what remains a city at best apathetic about decent food.

Having said that, they do a brilliant full breakfast in the pub on a Saturday and Sunday.

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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in what remains a city at best apathetic about decent food. 

Having eat at Ceasars palace restaurant http://www.caesarspalace.co.uk/ which claims to be Liverpools most popular restaurant, and looked like it whilst I was there, I'm afraid that I would have to agree, (Its like KFC meets CSI Miami)although Hope Street and Carriage Works are both working hard to rectify the situation.

Good Chinese available though!

Edited to add that they must have been looking at Warehouse Brasserie, Southport's website because they too have an odd promo video- perhaps it's catching up there- maybe I'll be bringing one back with me after my visit home!!

Edited by erica graham (log)

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I've never eaten at Caesars, though every single time I've walked past it's never been less than half full (even at 3:30pm on a Monday). At a conservative estimate, it must seat well over 150 people. The menu reads like the bastard offspring of Bella Roma and Little Chef.

The trouble with Liverpool is that the locals will quite happily blow upwards of 50 quid getting absolutely shitfaced of a Friday night, but won't spend half that on a decent meal. There's almost no culture of dining out. Come 2008 and the City of Culture there are going to be some very bemused tourists.

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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I hear shitfaced is happyfaced in much of the country, but you just have to look at other threads in this forum - or at the shortlist for Thom's Northern Hospitality Awards - to see that what you suggest isn't the case.

I do like a pie, though

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i was very disappointed by a meal at london carriage works last week. i had high hopes when i got there, as the service was excellent from the start and i liked the room a lot. Found the food very disappointing - and overpriced at £35 for two courses, £45 for three. i only had two courses, confit of rabbit to start, then hake. the starter was basically a far-too-large pot of rillettes; the second course was a big ugly mess on a plate - a lovely piece of hake with salt cod frittata, slices of truffle, fish sauce, confit fennel, shallot, and seaweed. i was simply overwhelmed by the portions and all the flavours.

the michelin trappings were all in place - lots of flavoured breads, echirre butter, amuse bouches, pre desserts etc - but the rest of it isn't, as i see it, at a michelin one star level.

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The North is thriving well, culinarily speaking, and has a goodly amount of good chefs doing good things (Messrs Pern, Flinn, Heathcote, Haworth, Laybourne, Rogan and Wilkinson, to name a few), but the incongruity of Liverpool's situation is striking :

City of Liverpool population (2002) : 441,477 - the fifth largest city in the UK.

In that area, there are four one-rosette restaurants :

Ziba

Simply Heathcotes (also holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand)

The Radisson SAS Liverpool

60 Hope Street

...and that's it. This in the city that in less than two years' time is going to become the European Capital of Culture.

You have to go over the Mersey (Ferreee, cross da Merseee) to Oxton to get food anywhere near the standard you'd expect in a large and important city.

I'd say the culinary scene is at least 10 years behind Manchester, Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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Altrincham's (just about) Manchester :)

I know what you mean though Gary, it does seem that in the North the trend is for the culinary gems to be somewhat off the beaten path and not in the cities.

Edited by culinary bear (log)

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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There are some quality places in the North no question that was not my point.

It is the attitude and the eating habits of the customers that hold the region back.

Fantastic restaurant offering a well balanced perfectly cooked experiance, half full.

Pub serving massive portions of rubbish and they are actually paying just the same although they don't realise it full to the rafters.

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That is a wholly facile generalisation about the North. I am not arguing that the problem you refer to doesn’t in some way exist here, but it is positively naïve to think that this is a problem prevalent solely north of the Watford Gap.

Having lived in North London for eight years until last year, it appalled me that the residents of Southgate and its environs swarmed to places like the Hungry Horse and Harvester pub chains; which they trusted to be the epitome of reasonably priced dining.Worse still were the self -proclaimed intelligentsia who descended in droves upon Café Rouge every weekend in search of a “good meal“. What did Jonathan Meades refer to them as- “MacDonalds for the middle classes” ? I would rather eat my own testicles- thank you.

If anything, the problem is national and one of inherent laziness being inculcated into the masses who simply can’t be bothered to search out a well-cooked meal in decent surroundings; and who instead opt in favour of a chain pub. Quite depressing really.

Edited by Bapi (log)
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Of course the problem exists nationwide but it is a lot more obvious in the north.

The notion of you get what you pay for certainly has not reached the masses and the attitude of the customer is light years ahead in other parts of the country.

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I was in Liverpool yesterday.

Was dragged kicking and screaming to Lark Lane, near Aigburth. It's a piece of the city that I think must have forgotten that it's in Liverpool.

We went to Keith's Bar (clunky wooden tables, no pretensions whatsoever) and had a really good pork and chorizo stew with rice, and a tomato and lemon risotto, both at a fiver each. The kicker was the bottle of '97 Chateau Musar which only cost 14 quid!

Note to add: I see in Jay Rayner's review of the Vineyard at Stockcross that they're charging £115 quid for a '97 Musar. Insanity.

Thence on to the farmers' market down the road, to buy a trio of black puddings and a really good pork pie for later consumption.

Edited by culinary bear (log)

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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Of course the problem exists nationwide but it is  a lot more obvious in the north.

The notion of you get what you pay for certainly has not reached the masses and the attitude of the customer is light years ahead in other parts of the country.

You have simply reaffirmed the same misguided prejudice without attempting to vitiate a single issue, nor have you proffered any evidence to substantiate your claim. Perhaps you would like to instead of offering us spurious conjecture.

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Mr Bapi, I talk from REAL experiance but my partner would kill me so I cannot elaborate.

We must agree to disagree at the moment

I can certainly vouch for the fact that Bapi knows what he's talking about.

Punjuna, It's a little unseemly to present an opinion, to present it again, and yet again, without any hint of evidence, reasoned argument or analysis.

If you "cannot elaborate" as to the reasoning behind your opinon, then you'll find that people are far less interested in hearing it.

Allan Brown

"If you're a chef on a salary, there's usually a very good reason. Never, ever, work out your hourly rate."

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