Taste 09 restaurant guide

Taste

09

The ECHO guide to the best restaurants in and around the city

Welcome Welcome Welcome Welcome Welcome Welcome Welcome Welcome THERE once was a time when about the closest you could get to fine dining in Liverpool was an ECHO-wrapped bag of chips at the Pier Head.

Yes, we had some good pubs and a smattering of interesting restaurants but the food critics weren’t exactly falling over themselves to eat here.

How things have changed. Over the last decade the city has undergone a food revolution. The restaurant scene – once barren – is now bustling with

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establishments offering cuisine from the four corners of the gastronomic globe.

In the city centre, old favourites like Yuet Ben and the Everyman Bistro have been joined by new players like the London Carriage Works, 60 Hope Street, Puschka and Simply Heathcotes.

Liverpool One brought us restaurants en masse with food from every continent and something for all budgets and once we’ve shopped til we drop we can eat in style.

But good food does not stop at the city limits. From the centre of Church Street to the Cheshire and Lancashire borders there are great dishes to be devoured.

We have coffee shops and tea rooms, delis and diners, Spanish restaurants and sushi bars, Greek tavernas and gastro pubs.

We even have one of the highest restaurants in the country in the shape of Panoramic, 34 floors

above street level.

And thanks to Wirral restaurateur Marc Wilkinson, Merseyside finally has its very first Michelin star (see opposite).

Never has eating out been more exciting. Here over the next 30 pages we bring to you the restaurants, cafes and bistros that our taste-testing team here at the ECHO know and love.

What else is there to say other than eat, drink, and be merry!

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LIVERPOOL ECHO EDITOR: Alastair Machray TASTE 09 EDITORS: Jane Haase and Emma Johnson DESIGNERS: Gary Bainbridge and Jan Nethercote PHOTOGRAPHY: Trinity Mirror photographers ● If you would like to advertise your restaurant in the ECHO call 0151 330 5045 for details.

Pagss 4-10

Contemporary cuisine

Page 11

Fish specialists

Page 12

Mediterranean & Middle-Eastern

Page 13 French

Page 14 Spanish

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Pages 15-17 Italian

Pages 18 and 19 Indian

Pages 20 and 21 Chinese

Pages 22 and 23 Japanese & Pan-Asian

Pages 24 and 25

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Thai

Pages 26 and 27 The Americas

Page 28-30

Cafes, bistros & bars

Page 31

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Michelin Star Michelin Star Michelin Star Michelin Star Michelin Star Fraiche, 11 Rose Mount, Oxton, Wirral, CH43 5SG, 0151 652 2914 (www.restaurantfraiche.com) CHEF Marc Wilkinson has won Merseyside its first Michelin star. Not bad for a lad from Huyton who grew up on a diet of fish fingers and baked beans.

He was 15 when he got a job in a hotel kitchen to help buy himself a mountain bike and the rest is history.

He recalls: “I didn’t have a clue. I’d never seen half the ingredients, let alone eaten them. I had no idea what scampi was and fillet steak was a mystery.

“One day the chef offered me a meal in the restaurant to try what I’d been making. That was the beginning for me. I knew then that I wanted to be a chef.”

For the next 20 years he worked his way up in the restaurant world with stints at the Michelin-starred Winteringham Fields, then Midsummer House in Cambridge before working in Canada.

Last year Marc’s restaurant Fraiche in Oxton, which he opened in 2004, won a coveted Michelin star for its modern French cuisine with a twist.

The Michelin guide says it is a “smart, intimate restaurant enhanced by modern artwork and coloured glassware” and praises the chef’s “innovative flavour combinations and eye-catching presentation”.

Fraiche has already been named as one of the UK’s top 100 in Restaurant magazine’s awards.

It offers modern French cuisine with a selection of three set menus starting from £38 for an Elements menu, Signature menu £48 and the Bespoke menu, which changes according to the seasons, at £60.

Taste recommends: The delicious hand-dived scallop with avocado and pickled cauliflower.

Open: Wed-Sat 7pm with last orders for food 9pm; Sun 6pm-8pm and lunch Fri and Sat by arrangement 12pm-1.30pm

Marc Wilkinson, chef of Michelin-starred Fraiche in Oxton. Left: Marc’s roast cod fillet with sea urchin salad

SPECIAL OFFERS Monday - set price menu, 2 courses & a bottle of house wine free. £13.99pp

Awarded Best Newcomer 2008-2009

by Cheshire/Lancashire Life Mayur, 130 Duke Street, Liverpool L1 5AG

Tel: 0151 709 9955 www.mayurrestaurant.co.uk

Tuesday - 3 freebies. One any drink & one side order & one desert free.

SPECIAL OFFER ...on takeaways between 5pm and 7pm.

Two bottles of Cobra beer on orders over £15 and 4 bottles of Cobra beer on orders over £30

SPECIAL OFFERS Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - drinks half price between 5pm and 7pm.

Sunday - selected starters free with main course.

Authentic Indian Cuisine - Contemporary Interiors Special Lunch Menu - Conference Facilities Private Parties - Outdoor Catering For All Occasions

Free home delivery available on orders above £15

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Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary The Restaurant Bar & Grill, Halifax House, Brunswick Street, Liverpool, L2 0UU, 0151 236 6703, (therestaurant barandgrill.co.uk) HOUSED in a former bank in the heart of the busy commercial district, on Brunswick Street, The Restaurant Bar & Grill is impressive as soon as you walk through the doors.

A spacious venue with a striking cocktail bar in its centre and dining booths and tables either side, it is popular with the post-work crowd.

It has a mid-priced menu with starters from £4.85, mains upwards of £10 and an extensive choice of pasta,

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fish and meat dishes.

Great food and excellent service, this is a favourite with ECHO taste testers.

Taste recommends: The delicious Thai green curry Open: Mon to Sat, 11.30am-11pm. Sun, 11.30am-10.30pm

The Side Door, 29a Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ, 0151 707 7888 (www.thesidedoor.co.uk) AT the heart of Liverpool’s theatreland, The Side Door has become an ideal stop for a pre or post-show meal.

Decorated in cream and deep red tones with polished wooden floors, this is a classy bistro which prides itself on fresh, seasonal dishes.

As well as set theatre menus it has an a la carte menu, which changes weekly, and daily specials with plenty of fresh fish on offer.

Owners Sean Miller and Sheila Benson make use of local producers wherever possible.

Our ECHO taste tester loved the Moroccan spiced cod cakes with pickled chillies from the a la carte menu and pan-fried squid with teriyaki noodles Sean is also well known for his homemade English puddings.

Open: Mon-Sat 12pm-2.30pm & 5.30pm-10.30pm.

Puschka: 16 Rodney Street, Liverpool, L1 2TE, 0151 707 9772 (www.puschka.co.uk) PUSCHKA, now in its ninth year, lies in Rodney Street, sandwiched between rows of some of the area's finest houses.

It has built up quite a reputation over the years for serving great food in a friendly, welcoming environment.

Puschka prides itself on offering the best of modern British cuisine, albeit served alongside some colourful

Mediterranean offerings.

Much of the food is not only British, but sourced as locally as possible, making the most of what the seasons have to offer.

A sample menu includes fillet of beef with Roquefort cheese-stuffed field mushroom and pink peppercorn cream or artichoke, cep and walnut tartlet with parsley and chive-butter shallots.

Open: Tues-Sun 5.30pm-10pm. Closed Mondays.

Living Room, 15 Victoria St; Liverpool, L2 5QS 0870 442 2535 (www.thelivingroom.co.uk) SINCE it opened its doors in 2001 this trendy bar and restaurant has been a hit with Liverpool’s in crowd.

Expect to rub shoulders with footballers, WAGS and actresses as you order a drink at the stylish bar.

Dark and sexy, the restaurant is ideal for a romantic meal for two or a girls’ night out.

The menu boasts a host of classic favourites

from chicken caesar salad to 100% cheese beef (£8.95) to Steak, ale and mushroom pie (£10.95).

Opened by entrepreneurs Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts in 2001 other Living Rooms followed in Manchester, Chester and London.

Taste recommends: Caesar salad and the club sandwich Celebrity diners: Mums-to-be Coleen Rooney and Jennifer Ellison; singer Liz McClarnon Open: Mon-Sun, 11.30am-12pm (open late till 1pm Wed, Thur, til 2pm Fri, Sat)

The London Carriage Works, 40 Hope Street, L1 9DA, 0151 705 2222 (thelondoncarriageworks .co.uk) SITUATED in the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter, in just a few years the London Carriage Works has established itself as one of the city’s finest restaurants.

Chef patron Paul Askew has won numerous awards including Best Chef at the 25th anniversary Hi-Life Dining Awards.

His insistence on the use of high quality, seasonal and locally sourced products wherever possible has become central to the identity of The London Carriage Works.

In 2007, his support for the region’s local produce was

rewarded by his appointment as Merseyside Patron for the North West Fine Foods, leading to his commitment to Home Grown, a book

celebrating the region’s growers, suppliers and chefs.

In 2006 Paul was invited to become a member of the Academy of the Culinary Arts

60 Hope Street, Liverpool city centre, 0151 707 6060 (www.60hopestreet.com) THIS year Number 60 celebrated a decade in business and since its inception has been a front runner in the Liverpool restaurant scene.

The building, which is steeped in over 200 years of history, is in the city’s creative quarter and is divided into three areas; the downstairs bistro, the restaurant and the intimate private dining room.

Opened by chef Gary Manning and his brother Colin they have built on the success of award winning Number 60 to open a second venue, the Quarter which offers pasta and pizza and then Pan Asian restaurant HoSt, just opposite, in November last year.

Mr Manning has a simple, uncomplicated approach to his restaurants. “I have opened places I want to go and eat in myself,” he says.

It was at school that Gary began his life in the kitchen because he chose to take Home Economics at Campion High School, an all-boys school.

Gary Manning of 60 Hope Street

alongside lifelong heroes Raymond Blanc, Anton Edelman and the Roux brothers.

The beautifully designed modern restaurant has a brasserie and an area for fine dining.

Celebrity diners: Ringo Starr, Noel Gallagher had a birthday party here and Kanye West popped in during the MTV awards.

Open: Breakfast: Mon to Fri 7am-10am; Sat & Sun 8am-11am, Lunch: Mon to Sun 12pm-3pm, Afternoon Tea: Mon to Sun 3pm-5pm. Dinner: Mon to Wed (prix fixe menu only) 5pm-10pm. Thur to Sat (prix fixe menu) 5pm-6.30pm.

Thur to Sat (a la carte) 5pm-10pm. Sunday Menu: 12pm-9pm

He went to catering college at what is now Liverpool Community College, and qualified in the late 1980s during the recession.

“I left Liverpool at 18 to go and get a job. I went to Jersey for eight years and I was made head chef there,” he says.

“One of the restaurants was right on the beach and cooking with fresh ingredients gave me a good foundation to work on.

“After there, I went to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia for a year in 1994-95, and picked up lots of ideas from the cafe culture there.

England has a classic brigade system in the kitchen but Australia is different. They took risks.

“Hopefully that’s what we have replicated at The Quarter and definitely at HoSt.” His long journey home took Manning via London to Conran's Le Pont De La Tour restaurant in the shadow of Tower Bridge before he went back to Jersey to work for a Michelin-starred chef. But his path was destined to bring him home to Liverpool.

He says: “I’d always thought about opening a restaurant and so in 1998 I came home in order for that to happen.”

Celebrity diners: Jude Law and Robert Downey Jnr popped in for dinner while filming Sherlock Holmes in the city Open: Mon – Fri 12pm-2.30pm; Mon – Sat 5pm-10.30pm

Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contr

Simply Heathcotes in Beetham Plaza Simply Heathcotes Liverpool, Beetham Plaza, 25 The Strand, Liverpool, L2 0XL, 0151 236 3536 (www.heathcotes.co.uk) PAUL Heathcote was the first celebrity chef to blaze a trail improving the culinary offerings of Liverpool.

Already an established name with his then Michelin-starred Heathcote's at Longridge near Preston, he opened Simply Heathcotes in Beetham Plaza in 2001.

Located in an imposing glass and granite structure overlooking The Strand, the restaurant gave Liverpudlians a taste of Michelin standard food.

Bright, airy and modern, the restaurant has a private dining room which seats 30 guests.

Simply Heathcotes’ menu consists of naturally reared chicken from Goosnargh, hand selected cuts of matured English lamb and beef from

pedigree stock and artisan cheeses as well as seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Paul, a protege of Raymond Blanc, now has an extensive restaurant portfolio around the country, including the modern Italian eaterie the Olive Press in Castle Street, Liverpool.

Surprisingly there is no family history of the restaurant trade: "The nearest we came was my grandfather who owned a fish and chip shop for nine months, but he hated it.

"My interest started because my mother and father owned a health studio. My mother used to work two nights a week and my dad would come home for those nights and cook.

"He was a lousy cook. He didn't have a clue. My sister was the same – so I ended up taking over, out of necessity.”

In 2004 Simply Heathcotes was awarded the Bib Gourmand, a Michelin Guide

rating, awarded to restaurants who offer carefully prepared yet moderately priced food. The restaurant has retained the Bib Gourmand award to this day.

In October 2005, as part of the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival, Simply Heathcotes was awarded the title of 'Best Restaurant'. An award voted for by the people of Liverpool.

Open: Mon – Sat lunch 12pm-2.:30pm; Mon-Fri dinner 6pm-10pm; Sat dinner 6pm-11pm; Sun open all day! 12pm-9pm

Paul Heathcote

Malmaison, William Jessop Way, Princes Dock, Liverpool, L3 1QZ, 0151 229 5000 (www.malmaisonliverpool.com) HOTEL restaurants tend to disappoint in atmosphere as well as the food but the Malmaison brasserie bucks the trend.

It’s a chic, welcoming dining room with natural light flooding in from the huge windows. Tables are not crammed together, yet there's an air of intimacy.

The menu takes in upmarket, stylishly done

favourites – pizzas, pastas, fish and chips – and the more adventurous – black pudding spring rolls, chicken liver parfait and toasted brioche with grape chutney.

Taste recommends:The Eton mess which is heavenly Open: Mon – Thurs breakfast 7am-10am; Mon – Fri lunch 12pm-2pm; Saturday lunch closed; Sunday lunch 12.30pm-3pm; Mon –Thurs dinner 6.30pm -10pm (last sitting); Fri and Sat dinner 6.30pm-10.30pm (last sitting); Sunday dinner 6.30pm-9.30pm (last sitting)

The Monro, 92-94 Duke Street - Liverpool city centre - L1 5A, 0871 811 4783 (www.themonro.com) NAMED after a Georgian trading ship, The Monro is classed as one of Liverpool’s first gastropubs, providing top-quality food in traditional pub surroundings.

Serving British and Mediterranean cuisine you can enjoy a two course lunch for £ 8.95 and two course evening meal for £11.95.

Choice of starters include favourites like chicken and leek terrine with Irish white pudding; sauteed lamb’s liver with bubble and squeak,

silverskin onions and red wine jus and mains of Monro’s homemade shepherd’s pie with cauliflower cheese and posh fish and chips with mushy peas, chunky chips and a homemade tartare sauce.

Open: Mon to Sat, lunch 12pm-2.45pm; dinner 5pm-9.30pm. Sun, 12pm-7.30pm

Upstairs at the Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool city centre, 0151 702 5324 (www.thebluecoat.org.uk) AN OLD favourite, Bluecoat Chambers has been reborn as The Bluecoat after a £12m revamp and with it comes a new restaurant.

After only being open a couple of months, Upstairs at the Bluecoat needed further restoration after a fire earlier this year but is now back to its best. Situated on the first floor of this historic building, it sits 80 diners with an adjacent bar.

Its menu prides itself on locally sourced ingredients with dishes like poached salmon with Cheshire new

potatoes and pickled cucumber salad £7.95; Lancashire hot pot with pickled cabbage £7.95 and grilled fish of the day from Fleetwood.

Open: Sun and Mon 11.30am-6pm; Tues until Sat lunch: 11.30pm-3pm; afternoon tea: 3pm-5.30pm; dinner: 6pm-11pm (last orders at 10pm)

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Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary

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Michael’s, 47 Liverpool Road, Birkdale Village.

PR8 4AG. 01704 550886 (www.michaelsbirkdale. co.uk) A COSY candlelit restaurant in the heart of Birkdale Village, Michael's is the work of chef patron Michael Wichmann.

The Good Food Guide, this year called it a “fabulous little neighbourhood restaurant” while it was praised for its outstanding food and friendly service in the prestigious Harden's Restaurant Guide.

The restaurant is earthy, rustic and welcoming while the menu is a mix of

international cuisines. The a la carte menu changes regularly reflecting the seasons and produce availability. Typical starters – priced from £4.30-£7.50 – include Loch fyne smoked salmon, potato pancake and warm English asparagus with hollandaise and poached free range egg. Mains include wild sea bass fillet marinated with watercress pesto and Goosnargh duck three ways – priced from £10.50 to £21 for an 8oz Aberdeen Angus fillet steak.

Open: from 6pm, Wed – Sat.

HAVING worked in kitchens the world over in his 25-year career Michael Wichmann could cook cuisine from any continent.

Born in Germany’s Black Forest, Michael’s interest in food was piqued by his mother, who also worked in the industry.

He decided at a young age that cooking was for him, and served his first apprenticeship in his home town before taking his first of many jobs abroad, working in Switzerland for a year before returning to Germany to work in the Michelin-starred La Truffe Frankfurt. Lured to Britain by a job in Yorkshire, he was soon making a name for himself as a chef and secured a contract at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel.

But his itchy feet meant he could not stay put for long and when the opportunity to work on the beautiful Indonesian island of Bali came his way, Michael was on the plane.

Within three years Michael was back jet-setting returning to the UK to

become executive chef at the famous Royal Horse Guards Hotel in London. But his appetite for the exotic was still not satisfied and he soon took off for a stint at the exclusive Sheraton Hotel, in Dubai.

Using all his experience gleaned from serving celebrities, politicians, dignitaries and food lovers around the world, Michael opened his eponymously named restaurant in Southport in 2005 and with the restaurant thriving, it looks like his globe-trotting is over.

107 Dining Room, 107 Telegraph Road, Heswall, Wirral CH60 0AF. Tel: 0151 342 3420 (www.107diningroom. co.uk) “FOOD, simple, honest and beautifully prepared” is the ethos at 107 Dining Room and there is nothing flashy about this excellent, little eaterie.

From the outside it looks more like someone’s house than a restaurant and you will be made to feel right at

home by the staff.

Dishes are truly international with everything from Peking duck salad to Lebanese lamb flat bread and fish fans can enjoy swordfish and pan fried sea bass on the menu.

Prices start from £3.95 to £6.75 for starters and from £10.25 to £18.95 for main courses.

Open from noon – 3pm for lunch daily, from 5.30pm – 10pm for dinner and all day Sun from 12pm – 9pm.

Stunning views from the Panoramic on the 34th floor of the West Tower Panoramic, 34th Floor West Tower, Brook Street , Liverpool city centre , L3 9PJ. 0151 236 5534 (www.panoramicliverpool. com) EVEN if you are not hungry it is worth booking a table at Panoramic just for the view.

Situated on the 34th floor of the West Tower it is one of the highest restaurants in the country and the panoramic windows offer views right

Warehouse Brasserie, 30 West Street , Southport , PR8 1QN. Tel: 01794 544662 (www.warehouse brasserie.co.uk) ONE of the north west’s best-loved restaurants, The Warehouse Brasserie opened in 1996 and quickly caught the attention of the critics.

It has won numerous AA rosettes and was one of the first restaurants in the region to receive a prestigious Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide and in 2002 the Brasserie’s head chef Darren Smith was named the North West Young Chef of the Year.

Housed in a converted warehouse, the restaurant is

across Liverpool, over the Mersey and beyond.

Breathtaking by day, it is even more dazzling at night when the city lights up and it is the perfect place to sip a classic cocktail.

In the skilled hands of chef director and Liverpudlian Chris Marshall, the food is eclectic and contemporary modern European fine dining and this the restaurant enjoyed a double celebration marking its

contemporary in style with wooden floors, soft lighting, Dali prints on the walls and mirrored panels.

The evening menu is split into small dishes – which double as starters – featuring the likes of Bleikers oak smoked salmon with lemon, and freshly baked soda bread and creamy wild mushroom and watercress tart with garlic and herb mascarpone, priced from £3.95 to £6.95.

Larger dishes include chicken Katsu curry with Thai sticky rice and Oriental vegetables or Moroccan shank of lamb with coriander mash, apricots and almonds, priced from £9.95 to £22.95 for fillet steak.

first birthday and an entry in the Michelin Guide. It received three “fork and knives” in the guide, in a rating from one to five, based on the comfort and quality of the restaurant.

Main courses include beef fillet with pearl barley, monkfish, sea bass and 24-hour cooked suckling pig.

It is not cheap with starters from £7.95 to £11 for scallops and mains come in at around £25-£30 with locally caught sea

Menus are changed on the first of every month and the Brasserie is a keen supporter of local producers so you will find asparagus grown in Formby, tomatoes and potatoes farmed in Banks and Scarisbrick as well as the

bass at £28.50 and beef fillet £31.

The restaurant only seats 40 people and up to 30 more in the bar so booking is essential, particularly at weekends.

ECHO taste testers have experienced slow service at times but for the view alone Panoramic is a great location for a special occasion.

Open: For lunch from 12pm – 2pm and 6pm – 9.30pm for dinner.

famous Southport shrimps on the menu.

Celebrity diner: Gordon Ramsay has eaten at the Warehouse.

Open Mon – Sat from 12 – 2pm for lunch and 5.30 – 10.30pm for dinner.

Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contr The restaurant recently welcomed a talented new chef in the shape of 27-year-old Michael Riemenschneider.

The towering Swiss-born cook (he is 6ft 6) draws on his Swiss / German upbringing in his menus and his signature Langoustine dish, involves an exquisite pearl barley risotto, poached for a staggering 84 hours in a sublime veal reduction, served with his critically acclaimed foamed jus crustace.

If you are looking for something a little less formal and less expensive there is also the Hillbark Grill which offers a selection of steaks, chicken and fish dishes plus hand-crafted burgers, all cooked on the bespoke grill.

Bookings are essential at the Yellow Room.

Open: The Yellow Room: Closed Mon and Tue, Wed-Sun: lunch 12-2pm, afternoon tea 3-5pm, dinner 7pm-9pm(last food order). Hillbark Grill: Mon-Sun: lunch 12-2pm, dinner 7pm-10pm (last food order). Please note The Yellow room will be closed from October 20-Nov 4 for refurbishment.

Fairways Restaurant, Houghwood Golf Club, Billinge Hill, Crank Road, St Helens, WA11 8RL. 01744 894754 THE Fairways restaurant at Houghwood Golf Club has a reputation for fine food and the views aren’t bad either. As you dine at the spacious first floor venue you can enjoy panoramic vistas over Lancashire and the Welsh hills as you tuck into your supper.

Starters include warm Barbary duck breast and bacon and brie bruschetta and are priced from £3.95-£6.95. Mains include roasted escalope of pork fillet and wild mushroom and herb stroganoff and range from £9.95-£15.95.

A great place for a special occasion meal whether or not you score a hole in one!

Open: Wed, Thurs, Fri from 6.30pm-9pm

and until 9.30pm on Saturday. The Sunday menu – three courses from £12.95, is served all day from 12pm.

Blundell Street Restaurant and Bar, Blundell Street, Liverpool. L1 0AJ. 0151 709 5779. (www.supperclub liverpool.com) MUSIC, dancing and dining is on

the supper club

Liverpool’s Premier Cabaret-Restaurant Wednesday 11th November

THE CHRISTIANS

3 COURSE MEAL £40 per person BAR TICKET £15 per person

“What’s On”

Friday 16th October – STEVE CHARLES Friday 23rd October – PAUL McCOY Friday 30th October – SIMPLY SOUL Friday 6th November – STEVEN FLETCHER Blundell Street, Liverpool L1 OAJ (Opp Echo Arena)

Reservations 0151 709 5779

Website: www.superclubliverpool.com

dinner with entertainment and pre-theatre and pre-concert offerings.

Expect it to be very busy at weekends with parties.

Open From 5pm – 1am Thurs and from 5pm – 2am Fri/Sat.

£20 OFF VOUCHER • Valid only Fridays (excluding

✁

Blundell Street

offer at Blundell Street. Taking its inspiration from the Rat Pack lounge bars it is a huge restaurant offering international dishes plus fabulous cabaret acts.

There are a variety of dining options including two course

✁

Panoramic chef Neil Dempsey

The Yellow Room and the Hillbark Grill,Hillbark Hotel, Royden Park, Frankby, Wirral, CH48 1NP. 0151 625 2400. (www.hillbarkhotel.co.uk) SOPHISTICATED does not begin to cover the Yellow Room at the beautiful Hillbark Hotel in Wirral, a converted Tudor mansion.

A fabulous gourmet dining destination it is an extravagant affair, all gilt armchairs, crisp white tablecloths, Swarovski crystal napkin rings and twinkling chandeliers and the restaurant will soon be complimented by a private dining cellar for real exclusivity.

You are going to want to check your bank balance before booking a table, dinner for two will top the £100 mark and glasses of wine can cost as much as £10, but the reward is one of the most exquisite dining experiences the north west has to offer.

Our reviewers recommend the tasting menus and in particular seared tuna nicoise complete with a quail’s egg and violet potato – all served on a slate and the lamb cooked in truffle butter with gnocchi.

December)

• Main sitting only • Valid when 2 people dine 7

Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary The Moon & Pea, Lark Lane, L17, 0151 727 6282 (www.themoonand pea.co.uk) COFFEE shop by day and bistro by night, The Moon & Pea is a new addition to the Lark Lane dining scene.

The restaurant is the sort of relaxed and unpretentious place that fits in well in this Bohemian enclave.

It’s decorated in a quirky, retro style with lots of vibrant pink colours and piles of huge Enid Blyton-style cup cakes arranged neatly on stands.

There are some real blasts from the past with knickerbocker glories, lemon drizzles and saspirilla ice cream sundaes on offer.

The owners don’t have a licence to sell alcohol so you can take along your own

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wine or champagne (beer is not allowed) and pay a corkage fee.

Food is delicious and reasonably priced with chicken breast with parma ham served with lemon spinach and parmentier potatoes finished with a white wine jus for £9.95 and pork stroganoff served on a bed of rice with a leafy rocket salad (£8.95).

There are burgers, fish and steaks alongside a decent vegetarian selection and the ubiquitous Sunday roast.

Open: Mon to Sat: Brunch menu: 11am to 5pm; evening menu 6pm - 11pm; Sun, brunch menu is available from 11am until 4pm. From 4pm Sunday roast and evening menu available.

Ei8ht, 8 Allerton Road, Liverpool, L18 1LN, 0151 735 1060 (www.ei8htrestaurant. com) OPENED in August last year Ei8ht is certainly holding its own against the more established eateries in the area.

Downstairs is a chic, stylish bar area and upstairs a spacious, airy restaurant. Staff are friendly and there’s a cosy, neighbourhood feel to the place.

Ei8ht has a bar menu, Sunday lunch menu and a restaurant menu which includes dishes like roasted Goosnargh duck served with fondant potato and spring

onions with an Oriental plum (£15.95) and the more adventurous sounding braised Oriental pigs cheeks served with pok choi fondant potato with honey barbeque sauce and Chantenay carrots (£15.95).

Monday to Thursday it has a special offer of two courses for £14.95 with starter choice including warm salad of confit of duck with a raspberry vinagerette or grilled skewered tiger prawn with mains including slow roast shank of lamb with gratan potato and rosemary garlic jus or an 8oz rump steak and chips.

Open: Closed Mon, Tues – Sat, 5.30pm – 9.30pm, Sun lunch.

Pod Bar and Restaurant, 137-139 Allerton Rd, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, L18 2DD, 0151 724 2255 A STALWART of Allerton’s burgeoning restaurant scene Pod has managed to stay the distance thanks to knowing what its customers want.

And in this instance it’s delicious tapas served in a welcoming environment.

With simple wooden tables and unfussy decor, the interior is designed to feel homely rather than flash and the relaxed feel is only enhanced by the staff who are welcoming, chatty and helpful.

The menu is largely tapas-style dishes from all over the world. There are Greek meatballs, garlic mushrooms, monkfish in Serrano ham and chorizo and pear, to name but a few.

But if your palate is more used to traditional English fare, there are plenty of options.

You need to order between three and four small dishes priced around £4 to £5 each.

Taste recommends: The delicious haddock fishcakes Celebrity diners: Alex Curran Open: Mon-Sun noon-11pm

Executive chef, Stewart St John at The Stables The Stables, 1 - 3 St. Mary's Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 2NJ, 0844 209 4005 or 0151 427 6026 (www.thestables garston.com) A FORMER 19th century coaching inn has been sympathetically restored to house new gastro-pub The Stables in Garston.

It is already growing a reputation under the helm of executive chef Stewart St John, who has spent 20 years catering to the diners of Merseyside at restaurants including the Sir Thomas Hotel, Newz and Ziba.

Food is first class but unpretentious with prices starting from £9.95 for a two course meal.

There is a wide range to choose from with starters such as potted duck with glazed figs and granary toast; or grilled native prawns with crisp summer vegetable salad, lemon and garlic and a ‘Home comforts’ menu with treats like steak and kidney pudding

with creamed mash and garden peas; or lemon, garlic and thyme roast Goosnargh chicken with bubble and squeak.

And for dessert lovers, a mouth watering selection includes baked rice pudding with clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve; custard tart with nutmeg syrup; or chocolate pot with brandy snap and Chantilly cream.

The Stables comfortably sits 120 in five seating areas and houses a large bar where live music is played each Sunday.

Open: Mon & Tues 4pm - 11pm, Weds & Thurs 11am – 11pm, Fri 10.30am -–11pm Sat 10.30am -– midnight, Sun 10.30am – 10pm

WITH such a respected footballing heritage, you could be forgiven for thinking Stewart St John might have gone into the beautiful game himself.

But on the contrary.

“I played football,” laughs Stewart, nephew of 60s Liverpool legend Ian St John, who grew up in the then Cantril Farm. “But maybe I just wasn’t good enough.”

Instead, the 39-year-old (pictured above) has swapped his football kit for a chef’s hat and apron, and the soccer pitch for the kitchen.

He is now executive chef of The Stables gastro-pub in Gartson, building on more than 20 years’ experience at

some of Merseyside’s most popular restaurants, among them Ziba, Number 7, Newz Bar and the Sir Thomas Hotel.

Ironically, while making it big in the city, Stewart first became a chef to get away from it.

The former Liverpool Institute pupil says: “My main motivation for being a chef was to get away and travel – but ironically it’s taken me about five miles from where I live.”

Stewart, from West Derby, trained at Colquitt Street Catering College, which has created many award-winning chefs.

He says: “The restaurant

scene in Liverpool now is transformed from 20 years ago; the city is booming and so are the restaurants. I came to The Stables because I have always wanted to cook fresh food in a pub setting – it is a dream come true.

“I love the concept of unpretentious dining with restaurant food and high quality presentation, at reasonable prices. I believe passionately that good food should be available for everyone, whether they are families or business people.”

Everything served in The Stables is made from scratch. Stewart shops in markets at dawn each morning, sourcing locally

grown fruit and vegetables, meat and fish.

He bakes white and wholegrain bread every morning and produces his own pickles and chutney.

“I have long established relationships with suppliers and I know where to source the best produce within a 50-mile radius,” says Stewart who prides himself on using local ingredients.

“We are serving chicken farmed by Reg Johnson in Goosnargh; beef reared in the Ribble Valley from master butcher John Penny; and beer brewed in Rainford

by George Wright brewers.

“I work long hours, but it’s a chef’s life and I love it.”

Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Co Julian’s, 20 Birkenhead Road, Hoylake, Wirral, CH47 3BW, 0151 632 6241 A LOVELY neighbourhood restaurant, Julian’s has built up quite a reputation since it opened in 2004.

Owned and run by Julian and Jackie Davies, it is a bistro-style,

intimate fine dining restaurant.

It also has a reputation for professional, attentive service having reached the finals of the Wirral Tourism Awards for the last two years.

Julian (pictured) has been a chef for 37 years and started his distinguished career at the age of 12, when he worked at the Bake House in Ruthin as a schoolboy.

At 18 he joined the Chester Grosvenor Hotel, where he stayed for 14 years.

He ran his own exclusive outside catering company in Chester for 10 years, before joining Paparazzi, Chester (now Pastarazzi) as a Sous Chef. Julian’s last position was at the Wheatsheaf Inn, Raby (The Cow Shed), where he spent

seven happy years as Head Chef, and picked up his award, Chef of the Year – Wirral Tourism Awards.

Julian’s has an extensive A La Carte and Table d’hote menu, including an early

diners special from Tuesday to Thursday and an excellent wine list.

Open: Tues, Wed, Thurs – 6pm with last orders 9pm; Fri/Sat – 6pm last orders 9.30pm; Closed Sun and Mon

Julian’s in Hoylake, Wirral (above) and (left) owner Julian Davies

The Gallery Bar and Grill, 133 Allerton Road, Liverpool L18 2DD, 0151 724 2477 (www.the gallerybarandgrill.co.uk) LIVERPOOL’S Allerton Road has developed a popular restaurant scene over the last few years and The Gallery has certainly made an impression.

Inside it has an elegant 1930s feel with smart, dark wooden tables and floors, porthole windows on the doors, and art deco-style lettering for the signage.

Downstairs is a large bar area which usually attracts the more mature discerning south Liverpool crowd.

The main restaurant is upstairs, housed in a

spacious room with a skylight and impressive centrepiece chandelier.

Food-wise, there are no real surprises – just good food cooked well.

Expect to pay around between £2.95 to £5.95 for starters and around £14 to £17 for mains although like many restaurants in these credit crunch times there are special offers available throughout the week.

The owners have expanded the brand opening another Gallery Bar and Grill in Halsall Road, Formby.

Open: Tues to Sat, lunch 12pm-4pm; dinner 5pm-10pm; Sun: 12pm-7pm

The Coterie, 217 Birchfield Road Widnes Cheshire WA8 9AH, 0151 424 3729 (www.thecoterie.co.uk) ONCE a traditional pub, The Coterie is now the pride and joy of husband and wife team David and Christine Tearle.

Situated on busy Birchfield Road it is a homely but rather large rustic-feeling restaurant with a grand orangery and room for more than 100 diners.

The food is incredible and the a la carte menu is extensive.

Among the starters you

will find salt and pepper tiger prawns and grilled garlic Portobello field mushroom with garlic and mozzarella and prices range from £6.50 to £9.95.

Main courses include roast cannon of English lamb and chicken “schnitzel” and there is a good selection for vegetarians. Prices from £10.95 to £18.95 for the fish medley.

Definitely worth a trip out to the suburbs for.

Open: from 12-2pm and from 6pm-11pm Tues-Sat and from 12pm-3.30pm and 6pm-9pm on Sunday.

RESTAURANT tist Special Guest AOrct ober 4th Wednesday 1

The fabulous

ylor Catherine Ta Dawsolivne music tails on for further de

o.uk. www.jalons.c

Every Monday a Night of Sinatra with David Knopov.

Every Thursday John O’Connell (former Ground Pig) Every Friday + Saturday Paul Brookes playing all your requests.

First Tuesday of every month - Gary Potter

Sunday-Wednesday

£12.95 all evening any starter + main course

SMITHDOWN ROAD, L15 5AE • 0151 734 0329 9

Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contemporary Cuisine Contempor V-Cafe & Sushi Bar, The Vincent Hotel, 98 Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1JR, 01704 883 800 (www.thevincenthotel. com) SINCE it opened its doors in June 2008 The Vincent has become the place to be seen in Southport.

Situated on fashionable Lord Street, it boasts a luxurious contemporary decor.

The V Cafe & Sushi Bar Bar sells delicious Japanese dishes (see page 23 and Japanese & Pan Asian cuisine) and offers a range of gourmet sandwiches, omelettes and salads as well as more substantial fish and meat dishes.

There’s even a Slim Gourmet menu for the weiweightconscious fashion crowd.

After

6pm, the V-Cafe & Sushi Bar turns into an evening venue, with candles, dimmed lights, great music, a cool atmosphere, and an internationally-inspired menu.

You can even dine al fresco in the outdoor seating area overlooking buzzing Lord Street.

Celebrity diners: Southport’s Vincent Hotel has become a regular haunt for the rich and famous, including stars from Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Premiership footballers like Stephen Gerrard and his wife Alex Curran, left.

Open Daily 12pm2pm and 6pm9pm (10pm Fri/Sat)

Blakes at Hard Day’s Night Hotel, North John Street, Liverpool, 0151 243 2121 (www.harddaysnight hotel.com) LIVERPOOL’S Beatle themed restaurant has just been named the best restaurant in Liverpool city centre

by The Good Food Guide.

Fresh from that success, it has launched its new Ticket to Dine menu ready for autumn.

It has been specially created by executive head chef Andrew Scott, with a focus on seasonal, organic and locally sourced produce.

It’s full of great flavours, and fresh roasted vegetables.

Their butternut squash is divine in a blue cheese and spinach risotto. Round it off with a hot ginger pudding

with toffee sauce to have a meal that’s full of flavour and will warm you to your toes.

This menu is available from 12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 7.30pm. Best of all, it offers two courses for £11.75 and three for £15.25.

For culture vultures, the interior décor and the name of the restaurant – situated in the heart of Liverpool’s Beatles Quarter - are inspired by pop artist Sir Peter Blake who designed The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s album cover. Hung around the restaurant gallery and emblazoned on the menu covers are portraits of The Beatles.

Goes to show, all you need is grub...

Open: Mon to Sun 12pm – 3pm; 6pm – 10.30pm.

Amber wine bar & bistro, 193-195 Rose Lane, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, 0151 724 5169 (www.amberwinebar.com) IT MAY be tucked away in the Liverpool suburbs but Amber has all the class of an upmarket city centre venue.

Situated on Rose Lane this wine bar and bistro has become quite a magnet for the well-heeled of this affluent neighbourhood.

And it is easy to see why.

Amber is simply but sexily furnished in dark woods, with lots of chandeliers, damask wallpaper and clever use of large mirrors to enhance what is essentially a smallish two-tier dining area.

But there’s an immediate

warmth about the place which isn’t generated by decor, but by fellow diners and staff.

In the daytime the ladies who lunch crowd are right at home with Amber’s coffee and pastries, gourmet sandwiches and bistro food.

Then in the evening take your pick from the wide range of dishes that are on offer from sea bass, lamb shank to a seafood bento box with prices for mains from £8.95.

Taste recommends: For those who like a lazy weekend the Amber Sunday brunch menu.

Open: 7 days a week from 11am through to 11pm (10am to 10.30pm Sun)

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Jalons Bridewell, Campbell Square, Liverpool, L1 5LB. Tel: 0151 709 4195 Jalons Restaurant, 477 Smithdown Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, Merseyside, L15 5AE. 0151 734 3984 (www.jalons.co.uk) JALONS is a long established name in south Liverpool and last year the brand spread to the city centre after taking over what was formerly Colin’s Bridewell on Campbell Square.

Dinner at either venue is not just about the food but the whole package featuring live entertainment most nights.

Jalons Bridewell in Campbell Square, off Duke Street, is a converted Victorian prison which has been transformed into a chic bar and restaurant.

The seating in the seven original prison cells on the ground floor has been luxuriously reupholstered in velvet. However, distinctive features such as the heavy, oak cell doors, spy-holes and iron rings used to chain prisoners have all been

retained.

On the upper level, the restaurant has been completely redesigned to include a champagne lounge.

The outside has also been sandblasted to reveal its original Victorian features.

The two-storey Bridewell dates from about 1850 and was used as a police station and jail until 1932 when it was bought by Liverpool Central Clothing Committee, a charity distributing clothing and footwear to the needy and unemployed.

There is also a plaque to commemorate the fact that Charles Dickens signed up as a special constable at the Bridewell jail so he could research his novels about abject poverty in 1860.

A selection of starters available includes cod and pancetta fish cakes or Jalons’ special homemade brandy infused chicken liver pate.

Mains include fillet of beef and

Parma ham wrapped roast fillet of pork.

Jalons has a range of special offers two courses for £12.95 before 7pm every day and after 7pm Sun to Wed. Celebrity diners: Jennifer Ellison, Phil Olivier, Amanda Harrington Open: Mon – Sun 5pm12pm (last orders for food 9.45pm)

Jalons Bridewell on Campbell Square HE has more than 20 years experience in the kitchen, but Jalons Bridewell’s head chef Rob Ryan says he will never stop experimenting with food.

The 40-year-old from Scotland Road joined the Jalons ‘family’, having worked for a host of critically-acclaimed restaurants across England and Wales and, most recently, Liverpool’s Alma De Cuba.

Rob started his training at Liverpool’s Colquitt Street catering college, before continuing his education at Lancaster and Morecombe catering college. He completed his training in Cardiff with the HCTC

(Hospitality and Catering Training Company).

He has since worked across England and Wales in kitchens of venues as diverse as The Graithwaith Manor, Grange-Over-Sands, and Liverpool Football Club, as head chef at the one rosette rated The Blue Anchor Inn, Aintree and, most recently, as head chef at Liverpool’s Alma de Cuba.

Rob says: “Cooking is a lot about being creative. It’s true it helps to be knowledgeable and relatively well-skilled technically but, above everything else, you need to be creative. The owners of Jalons Bridewell have given me carte blanche to do what

I want to do, which is the best thing ever for a chef.

“When creating a menu I think about the texture and colour of every dish as well as the flavours of the food. For me, dining has to be about all the senses and not just taste, that way it becomes truly enjoyable for the diner and, of course, the chef as well!”

Heaf Chef Rob Ryan

Fish Specialists Fish Specialists Fish Specialists Fish Specialists Fish Spec

Italian Club Fish, 128 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4JA , 0151 707 2110 OPENED earlier this year by the Crolla family, who also own deli-restaurant The Italian Club, further along Bold Street.

This time, proprietor Rosaria Crolla is combining her Italian heritage with her Scottish roots with a menu that twins high quality UK fish and chips with Italian-style shellfish, oysters and pasta dishes.

Like its sister venue it offers a cosy and relaxed environment with lovely beech-wood flooring, wooden furniture and walls decked with Italian scenes.

“I've found, personally, that it's quite hard to get good fish and chips in Liverpool, and there’s no fish restaurants,” she says.

“I wanted to take that ethos of the Italian Club and Italian cuisine to create something of a marriage between British fish and chips and Italian specialities.

“It's very difficult to find a niche in the restaurant market because everything's been done.

“But this is fun fish, young food and not pretentious at all.”

Rosario, whose family originates from the village of Picinisco, 90 miles south of Rome, moved to Liverpool from Glasgow to help her cousin set up the Il Forno restaurant, on Duke Street, before opening her own cafe with her partner and head chef Maurizio Pellegrini.

The original Italian Club opened two years ago, inspired by Ms Crolla’s late father – who turned his hand from fine dining to fish and chips – and her mother, sister and other relatives can now be found pitching in at both venues.

“We're a very close family and I couldn't have done it without them,” Rosario says.

“For me, the Italian Club philosophy is in my father’s memory.

“He believed in keeping it simple, using the best ingredients, keeping it fresh and he believed in the family, and this is a combination of all those things.”

Open: Tues -Sun, noon-9.30pm

Loch Fyne, Ring O’ Bells, Village Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 7HE, 0151 929 6750 (www.lochfyne.com) PART of a massive nationwide chain of 49 restaurants, this doesn’t mean you get a chain experience.

Loch Fyne in the popular Ring O’ Bells pub is the place to come for fresh seafood well presented in unfussy surroundings.

The dining area is bright and welcoming with polished wooden floors and tables with calming sea themed paintings adorning the walls.

Although specialising in fish there is still a decent selection for meat eaters.

Loch Fyne kippers, a fine bouillabaisse, braden roast, kiln-roasted salmon fillet, and oysters on ice are all on the menu, as well as Glen Fyne 21 day aged rib-eye steak and Scottish smoked venison.

Expect to pay between £5 to £7 for starters and £10 upwards for mains or share a hot and cold shellfish platter with crab, for £35 or with lobster, for £45.

This month a £10 two course set menu is available from noon to 7pm daily and a new à la carte menu has just been introduced which includes a new pasta, noodles and risotto section.

Open: Sun-Thurs 9am-10pm; Fri-Sat 9am-10.30pm

Rosaria Crolla outsideThe Italian Club Fish, Bold Street

RATED TOP

10 ITALIAN RESTAURANT IN THE UK

TASTE OF ITALY

- ANTONIO CARLUCCIO

THE INDEPENDENT ITALIAN RESTAURANT

CHRISTMAS BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN!

0151 709 4002

132 Duke Street, Liverpool L1 5AG

www.ilforno.co.uk 11

Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Medit Zorbas, 1 Leece Street, Liverpool, L1 2TR. 0151 709 0190 (www.zorbasrestaurant. co.uk) OWNER Michael Haralambos opened Zorbas more than 30 years ago and has turned it into one of the city’s best-known Greek restaurants.

Michael and his family still run the restaurant and pride themselves on giving diners a big fat Greek welcome.

As the name suggests the establishment, which can accommodate 100 diners,

Greek Taverna, 4 Liverpool Road, Maghull, Liverpool, L31 2PN. 0151 5318640 45 South Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 5PE. 0151 2933229 (www.greektaverna.info) THESE two restaurants come highly recommended for atmosphere and quality food.

Dishes are traditional home-cooked Greek fare and you will find all the favourites like kleftiko – lamb roasted on the bone in wine sauce

takes its theme from the famous 1964 film Zorba the Greek, starring Anthony Quinn while Greek vines hang down from the ceilings.

The food is as traditional as it comes (although they do serve some English dishes too), you will find the likes of stuffed vine leaves among the dozen or so vegetarian starters and Tsoutsoukakia (meatballs) for the meat lovers out there.

Open: Mon-Sat 5pm-11.30pm, Sun 2.30pm-10.30pm

(£14.95), moussaka (£10.95) and stifado – tender beef cooked slowly in tomato and red wine sauce (£12.95) among the main courses.

There is also a good selection of kebabs and vegetarians are well catered for too.

Starters are priced between £2.80 and £6.50 and main courses from £9.95 to £14.95.

Open: Mon – Thur 5pm-11pm, Fri and Sat 5pm-11pm, Sun 12pm-9pm

Sakara Bar & Restaurant, 372 Aigburth Road, Liverpool, L17 6AE. 0151 427 2200 THIS Egyptian-themed bar and restaurant, just two minutes from Aigburth station, is a real suburban hotspot.

Opened just over three years ago, the welcome from the staff at the family run eaterie is as warm as the fabulous Asian, African and Middle Eastern-inspired

dishes they serve up.

The restaurant is a homage to ancient Egypt with antiquities from the days of the Pharoahs scattered throughout.

On the food front portions are plentiful and our tasters advise ordering a selection of small plates or mezze dishes to get a true flavour of the cuisine.

Open: Mon -Sat 5pm-11pm, Sun 11am-3pm (for breakfast) then 5pm-11pm (last food order at 10pm).

The Olive Grove, 104-106 Telegraph Road, Heswall, Wirral. 0151-342 9100 (www.olive-grove.co.uk) THIS busy little restaurant is the baby of Andy Vaghenas and Panos Tiligadis and, housed inside a listed sandstone cottage, it somehow manages to be both light and airy yet charmingly cosy.

The owners say their aim is to offer “traditional homemade Greek food, not

as it is cooked in the tourist resorts, but as it has been cooked for centuries in the towns and villages of Greece”.

Our reviewers describe it being as near an authentic Greek eating out experience as you're likely to get this side of Athens.

The menu is extensive and you should definitely try the meze.

Open: Every day 4pm – till late.

Iona, 211 Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 3DY. 0151 922 3370 HOUSED in an old bank, Iona is a recent addition to Liverpool’s dining scene and brings a little Mediterranean heat to Bootle.

Inside, it is all polished wooden floors, smart leather chairs and

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banquettes and mirrors and can cater for up 80 diners.

As well as risotto and pasta dishes you will also find fresh fish like pan-fried seabass and pork tenderloin on the menu as well as a good offering for children.

Open: Noon til 10.30pm Tues-Fri, 5pm-10pm Sat and noon til 8.30pm Sun.

Bacchus Taverna, 14 Waterloo Road, Liverpool, L3 7BB. 0151 255 1661 (www.bacchustaverna.co.uk) BACCHUS may be off the beaten track tucked between Liverpool’s converted warehouses but sitting under vines, looking at the seascapes and listening to the sound of bazoukis in the background, you will feel like you have been transported away to Athens.

The menu is a love song to Greek national dishes and they are done very well.

Taste recommends: Gairdes stin sxara (£6) to start, these are king prawns sauteed in butter, garlic, parsley and red pepper, flambed with white wine and as plentiful as they are delicious.

Follow them with kleftiko psito, a house speciality of Welsh shoulder of lamb, slow-cooked for three hours with herbs and served with rice, roast potatoes and green beans (£13.50). Or, if you want to be more traditional, the moussaka (£13.50) is a hearty ceramic dishful of mince, potatoes, courgettes, aubergines and cheese is moreish and epic.

If you can find room, don’t leave without trying the Baclava cake.

Open: Tues – Sat 4.30pm – midnight, Sun 2pm – 10pm

Bacchus Taverna in Waterloo Road

Chef Christakis Geouyiou of Christakis Greek Taverna prepares lamb on the bone

Alamir Bistro, 93 Eastbank Street, Southport, PR8 1DG. 01704 544615. (www.alamirbistro. com) NESTLED among the carpet shops and tyre fitters on Southport’s Eastbank Street you will find this unassuming Lebanese restaurant and be glad you did.

Opened in 1992, the cosy eaterie (it only holds 26 diners) is all mirrors, warm, peachy terracotta walls and bright postcards featuring the Lebanon’s historic splendours.

For those unfamiliar

Christakis Greek Taverna, 7 York Street, Liverpool L1 5BN. 0151 708 7377 (www.christakis greek taverna.com) EXPECT great food and fun at Christakis, ideal for celebrations and gettogethers it specialises in traditional Greek food and offers entertainment too.

Starters range from £2 – £4 and

main courses from £8 – £12 and there are also plenty of fish dishes and vegetarian options.

At weekends they offer Greek dancing, plate smashing and belly dancing with a DJ until 2am and various party banquet options. Not a night for wallflowers!

Open: 2pm –12pm Mon – Thurs and Sun, 4pm – 2am Fri and Sat

Andalucia, 108 Bridge Street, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 2RU. 01925 577 112 THE name may conjure up images of Southern Spain but the food at this cosy little place originates in the Middle East, as it is another Lebanese restaurant.

Thanks to some clever furnishing – Moorish lanterns, dark wood and silk cushions – you walk up a set of stairs in one of Warrington’s busiest streets and

with Lebanese cuisine it shares many dishs with its Mediterranean neighbours.

Specialities include mazza, the Lebanese version of Greek mezze and there are a number of varieties worth trying.

Taste recommends the moussaka and the Lebanese pizza if its available, although newcomers to Lebanese food should opt for one of the plentiful set menu options priced from £15.50 per person.

Open: Wed – Sat, 6pm – 10.30pm, Sun, 6pm – 9.30pm.

into an exotic Middle Eastern haven.

Taste recommends: Fatayer b'sabanekh – baked Lebanese pastry filled with spinach, onion, lemon, olive oil and pine kernels or the grilled haloumi to start and the mixed grill as a main this includes charcoal grilled minced lamb on skewers and marinated chicken and comes with salad and hummus.

Open: Tues – Fri 5pm –midnight, Sat/Sun 2pm – midnight

French Cuisine French Cuisine French Cuisine French Cuisine French Cuisin Bistro Pierre, 14 Button Street, Cavern Quarter, Liverpool, L2 6PS 0151 227 2577 (www.bistropierre.com) CANDLELIT and intimate, this Button Street bolthole is perfect for lovers. Like many a French bistro the walls are adorned with Toulouse-Lautrec artwork and the tables are covered with red gingham cloths plus there’s the wax-laden bottles.

So far so unoriginal you may say but what’s wrong with that?

On the food front the menu is filled with typically Gallic cuisine and a good dose of fish options. The a la carte menu changes monthly to take advantage of seasonal produce.

If you are watching the pennies check out their great value 'Lunch Rapide' menu, three courses for £7.95 (12-4.30pm), or the early bird menu which offers a three course dinner for just £10.95 (4.30-7pm Monday – Thursday

Bistro Verite, 7 Liverpool Road, Birkdale, Southport. PR8 4AR. 01704 564 199 AFTER years helping to make the Warehouse Brasserie one of the north west’s premier eateries, earlier this year chef Marc Verite struck out on his own to launch his eponymouslynamed Bistro Verite just down the road in Birkdale.

The business is a return to Marc’s French roots – his father Claude owned a patisserie – and Bistro Verite is very much a family business.

The look is typical French bistro, simple and unfussy

Bistro Pierre in the Cavern Quarter and 4.30 - 6.30pm on Friday and Saturday).

Taste recommends: The

Bistro Franc, Church House, 1 Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DW. 0151 708 9993 (www.bistrofranc.com) THIS restaurant which opened in May this year is the latest from the North West Restaurant Group, who already run the aforementioned Bistro Pierre, on Button Street in the Cavern Quarter, and Bistro Jacques on Hardman Street.

More than £200,000 was spent transforming the old offices of the Bishop of Liverpool into Bistro Franc and they have splashed the cash well turning the restaurant into a great place for romantic dinners but also somewhere that can cope with large groups of diners.

The menu isn’t exactly purist French but you will find a good selection of duck, chicken, fish, lamb and beef dishes alongside a number of vegetarian options.

Taste recommends: If it is available, the 7oz tasty pan-fried fillet of beef.

This comes wrapped in smoked bacon sat atop a garlic croute served in a brandy and mushroom sauce and while it is the most expensive main course, at £16.95 it won’t break the bank.

Open: From 4.30pm-10.30pm every day.

sea bass, they cook it exceptionally well.

Open: Mon-Sat 12-4.30pm

Auberge Brasserie, 1 3 Seabank Road, Southport, PR9 0EW. 01704 530671 (www.aubergebrasserie.com) IF YOU are looking for French food in a stylish and modern setting then Auberge is the place for you. About as far as you can get from rustic, there’s no gingham tablecloths or strings of onions hanging by the bar, just beech floors and tables, deep aubergine walls adorned by gilt picture frames and sparkling chandeliers and an opulent bar area taking centre stage.

Tucked just off Lord Street it is as perfect a setting for a shopping lunch as it is for a romantic rendezvous and our reviewers report a warm welcome and excellent service whenever they have dined here.

The food is a real flavour of Paris as the chef fuses traditional favourites

for lunch and 4.30pm-10pm.

Open Sun 12-4.30pm for roast dinner.

Auberge Brasserie in Southport with modern dishes.

It is not the cheapest place to dine, starters begin at £4.95 and you will pay £8.95 for king scallops while main courses range from £12.95 to £26.95 – but you will get a lobster for that!

If you are looking to save a few pennies, check out the table d’hote menus. Available from

5.30pm-10.30pm Mon-Fri, 5pm-6.45pm on Saturday and 5pm-10.30pm Sunday, you will pay £13.95 for two courses and £16.95 for three and with six starters and nine mains to choose from you won’t feel like you are missing out.

Open: Mon-Fri 12-2.30pm for lunch, 5.30pm-10.30pm, 12pm-10.30pm Sat/Sun

while the menu changes daily based firmly upon fresh local produce.

Starters might include mussels marinere or baked camembert with caramelised apples and pistachio nuts while you will find such delights as chateaubriand and grilled venison among the main courses.

Although it has only been open a few months the bistro gets a mention in the 2010 Which Good Food Guide, scoring three out of five to the Warehouse’s two.

Open: 12-1.30pm and 5.30pm-10pm, Tues-Sat. Closed Sun and Mon.

Left Bank Brasserie, 42 Burscough Street, Ormskirk, L39 2ES. 0871 963 2094 THE Left Bank is a banker when it comes to great tasting food in a relaxed setting. Smart but unimposing from the outside, you could easily walk past it but that would be your mistake.

Inside it is a veritable Tardis, able to hold many diners, but still capable of offering excellent and friendly service.

The menu is very varied, featuring pastas and pizzas alongside traditional French

favourites, but also succulent sirloins and seafood dishes that whisk you away to the seaside.

Expect to pay between £2.50 and £5 for starters and £9-£15 for mains plus they do early bird offers and set menus which are a bargain.

Open: Daily from 11.30am-10pm.

Green Room, 95 Banks Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 0RB. 0871 811 4723 THE Green Room in West Kirby is another French bistro adhering to the simple rustic Gallic look.

With its wooden floors, exposed brickwork and art it

is cosy and romantic.

The bistro-style menu changes every three months to keep in with the seasons and there is plenty of choice without the menu being overfacing and the staff are attentive.

Open: Tues-Sat 5pm until late, Sun 12pm-8pm.

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Spanish Cuisine Spanish Cuisine Spanish Cuisine Spanish Cuisine Spanish Cuisi O’Este, 24 Chapel St, Ormskirk, L39 4QF. 01695 571123 (www.oesterestaurant. com) OPENED in 2006, O’Este offers a contemporary take on Spanish and Mediterranean drinking and dining.

The modern restaurant is stylish and open and the food is top notch.

You can nibble the tapas, dine from the a la carte section, tuck into paella, get your lunch in 60 minutes or simply pop in for some bread and wine.

Tapas is a little pricier than most but you do get

what you pay for, plus there are some great table d’hote menus at £11.95 for two courses and £15.95 for three.

The hanging chicken and lamb skewers are the restaurant’s signature dish but the O'Este platters for two with chicken and lemon kebab, prawn kebab with bravas, squid, saute mushrooms and chilli, balsamic and garlic dips (£15.95) are a great introduction to Spanish cuisine.

Open: Mon to Sat, 12 noon to 2pm and 5pm to 10pm; Sun from 12 noon to 9pm.

La Viña Spanish Wine Bar & Restaurant in North John Street Esteban, 40 Lark Lane, Liverpool, L17 8UU. 0151 727 6056 (www.estebantapas.co.uk) A COOL and funky-looking establishment, this Mediterranean restaurant is a South Liverpool favourite.

Offering a wide range of freshly made tapas, served in a vibrant yet relaxed atmosphere, the restaurant also has an al fresco dining option on its heated terrace.

All the typical tapas dishes are here plus a few house

specialities and there are lots of bargains to be had, not least of all the early bird menu Mon-Thurs, 5pm-7pm when you can enjoy three tapas and either a large glass of wine, a glass of sangria or a glass of beer for just £12.95.

At weekends try the famous Esteban Breakfast – served between 12pm and 3pm – for just £6.25.

Open: Mon-Fri 5pm-11pm, Sat 12pm-11pm, Sun 12pm-10.30pm

Kuki’s Tapas and Mediterranean Restaurant, 119-121 Banks Road, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 0RB. 0151 625 3100 (www.kukis.co.uk) THE vivid blue and orange frontage of this bustling tapas bar belies the bistro-like decor inside.

Apart from a sizeable list of tapas on offer, Kuki's also serves a wide range of authentic meat, fish and pasta dishes from Spain all served

up with a healthy portion of Spanish hospitality.

It’s not the cheapest place, patatas bravas come in at £3.60 while Langoustinos a la plancha – Mediterranean king prawns griddled with rock salt – will set you back £7.90, but it won’t break the bank either and if you are looking for some more out of the ordinary tapas choices this is well worth a visit.

Open: Mon-Sat: 5.30pm – late

El Nino, 117-119 South Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, Merseyside L22 0LT, 0151 928 4630 (www.elninos.co.uk) FERNANDO Torres isn’t the only El Nino in Liverpool, this family run restaurant only opened last year but has already become known for its home-cooked, traditional Spanish cuisine and wonderful hospitality.

The team of chefs has over 20 years experience at cooking Mediterranean

cuisine and they offer a full al a carte menu alongside a great selection of tapas dishes.

The restaurant itself is rustic in feel and the red, orange and exposed brick colourscheme only adds to the warm and homely atmosphere.

The menu changes regularly with tapas dishes ranging from £2.75 to £5.75.

Open: Closed Mon, Tue Thu, Sun 12pm-10.30pm, Fri – Sat 12pm-11pm

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La Viña Spanish Wine Bar & Restaurant, 11-15 North John Street, Liverpool L2 5QY. 0151-255 1401 (www.lavina.co.uk) SINCE it opened almost five years ago La Vina has been one of the city’s most popular Spanish restaurants. It is a regular haunt of LFC’s star Spaniards but don’t worry you won’t need Premiership wages to dine here.

Whether you are looking for a romantic candlelit dinner for two, a big celebration night or just a spot of lunch you will love the atmosphere and top-class service La Vina offers.

Tapas Tapas, 14 Back Colquitt Street, Arthouse Square, Liverpool, L1 4DE. 0151 709 0999 23 South Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 5PE. 0151 949 1151 (www.tapastapas.co.uk) THESE two restaurants bring a bit of Mediterranean sunshine to Merseyside.

You will be spoilt for choice with more than 49 individual tapas items on the list plus four types of paella and the chef’s specials.

If you want something a bit more meaty, opt for the Patatas A La Rico (potatoes fried with, peppers and chorizo) or the Carne De Arroyo - strips of sirloin sautéed with mushrooms, onions and finished with red wine.

Tapas start at £2.95 for bread rising to £5.95 for scallops.

Paella starts from £9.95 for a vegetarian version. Look out for the special offers too.

Taste recommends: The Tortilla Espanola, packed with potatoes and onions, the authentic taste of this Spanish omelette will have you thinking you are dining on Las Ramblas.

Open: From 5pm Mon-Sat and from 2pm Sun.

And then of course there is the food.

Naturally you will find plenty of tapas dishes but La Vina also offers much more of a taste of Spain than just patatas bravas.

The menu is split into montados (tapas on small bread), paellas, brochetas (meat or vegetables on skewers), meat and fish tapas, vegetable tapas, main courses, cured meats and salads. There is also a wide selection of breads and some fantastic desserts.

There is so much good food here it is hard to make one recommendation .

Fernando Torres

Taste recommends: The Pollo y Chorizo (grilled chicken & chorizo skewers, £4.35), the Pollo al Vino (chicken in garlic and white wine, £4.35) and the Champinones Rellenos de Espinacas (stuffed mushrooms with spinach, onion and red pepper topped with manchego cheese, £4.45).

If you can make it through

Tapas Tapas on Arthouse Square

all those tapas to dessert the Tarta de Limón y Pasas (lemon & raisin cheesecake, £4.10) is the one to order.

Celebrity diners: Most of the Spanish Reds, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and even Rafa Benitez himself pop in here looking for a taste of home.

Open: Mon-Sat 12pm-11pm and Sun 12pm-10.30pm

Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Ita Il Forno, 132 Duke Street, Liverpool L1 5AG, 0151 709 4002 (www.ilforno.co.uk) DUKE Street has undergone something of a revival in the last four years and Il Forno is a firm favourite among the new restaurants that have sprung up there.

A large, bustling Italian with a huge real flame pizza oven, it has become a hit with celebrities and Premiership footballers alike. Not to mention visiting Italians who want a real taste of home.

Il Forno has won numerous awards including a Taste Liverpool Highest Quality Assured accreditation and a Made in the North West award for using and promoting locally sourced produce.

It has an extensive menu offering authentic Italian dishes with pizzas starting from £8.45, and steaks from £16.95.

Celebrity diners: Jennifer Ellison, LFC’s Dirk Kuyt, EFC’s Marouane Fellaini Open: Mon - Thur, Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm; evening 5.30pm - 11pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 12pm - 11pm Il Forno in Duke Street PAOLO Cillo grew up surrounded by the tastes, smells and sounds of great cooking.

The 25-year-old, who is head chef at Italian restaurant Il Forno, was born in the picturesque town of Potenza, in southern Italy, where he discovered his love for cooking at the tender age of 11.

Paolo says: “Since I was a young boy, I have always had a passion for cooking.

“I was able to use fresh herbs, pasta and fresh local Italian produce on a regular basis, which meant I grew up in a home which had a strong emphasis on food and cooking. I always wanted to be a chef.

“I loved being in the family kitchen and I really enjoyed watching my family cook and helping to prepare dishes.

When I was older, I helped in the kitchens of my family’s local trattoria – which only further ignited my passion for food and cooking.”

Paolo’s career began as a pot-washer but he immediately climbed up the ladder by winning a place to train at the prestigious Etoile Cookery School in Italy.

Months after completing his training, he set his sights even higher with ambitions to work in a restaurant more than 1,000 miles away from his home...Il Forno.

He says: “I’d heard about Il Forno through the acclaimed Italian chef and restaurateur Antonio Carluccio, who praised the establishment for its classic dishes. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit Britain, see the restaurant, have a break from Italian life and learn more about Liverpool.

“And, since arriving, the city has met all of my high expectations.

“I think it is a really exciting place in which to live and there is so much to see and do.

“Liverpool people are incredibly friendly and good humoured, and they make me feel more and more welcome as my time here progresses.”

And, thanks to his culinary prowess, Il Forno was named one of the Top 10 UK authentic Italian restaurants by a top newspaper magazine and has also attracted rave reviews from, among others, Taste Italia magazine.

It has also received a gold award in recognition of its high standards

by The Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association.

CHRISTAKIS

GREEK TAVERNA 7 York Street (off Duke Street) Liverpool L1 5BN

MIDWEEK MADNESS AT CHRISTAKIS 3 Course Meal plus a Glass of Wine for just

£9.95

Head Chef Paolo Cillo

The Fat Italian, 60 Coronation Road, Crosby, L23 5RC, 0151 924 8842 A POPULAR restaurant in Crosby you do need to book to guarantee a table, even mid week.

It’s not just the food that makes this one of the best eateries around but the excellent, friendly service that has people coming back for more again and again.

Situated in a row of shops, The Fat Italian makes the most of a small shop front space with a light modern interior – cream and dark walls – clever use of mirrors and a small bar at the back.

Despite the name above the door the dishes offer an unchallenging amble round all of the Med, from goat’s cheese salads and gambas pil pil to feta lamb, mushroom

stroganoff, fajitas and an impressive selection of steaks. Pizza and pasta include a tried and tested selection of favourites, like lasagne, meatballs and vegetarian cannelloni (£4.95 a dish on Sunday before 6.30pm) and a specials board changes daily.

The Fat Italian’s charms are the freshness of its ingredients, a light hand on flavours and polished presentation and most of all a welcome warm enough to rival anything the Med could offer.

Taste recommends: Wild sea scallops wrapped in Parma ham set on black pudding with creamy Dijon mustard sauce (£6.95) and the Italian lemon tart Open: Tue to Thu 5pm to 9.30pm, Fri and Sat 5pm to 10pm, Sun 5pm to 9pm.

Da Piero, 5 Mill Hill Road, Irby, Wirral, CH61 4UB, 0151 648 7373 (www.dapiero.co.uk) SET in the heart of Irby Village, Wirral, this first class Italian is no well kept secret any longer having been awarded The Best New Entry in The Good Food Guide 2010.

Beating strong competition from the whole of the UK, Da Piero was singled out by the prestigious guide for "food that fills you with joy”. The guide also comments on "Piero's instinctive cooking" and "obvious love" for ingredients adding "portions

are generous and prices reasonable".

Established in 2005 it's small and unpretentious but the food is sensational. The menu is way more adventurous than a typical Italian joint and leans heavily on the tastes and traditions of Sicily. Whilst many of their ingredients continue to be imported directly from Italy, local produce has also been sourced to match chef Piero’s exacting standards.

Taste recommends: Try the caponata or the Sicilian sausages with lentils.

Open: Tues to Sat from 6pm

Villa Romana, 6 Wood Street, Liverpool, L1 4AQ, 0151 708 8004 (www.villa-romana.co.uk) SANDWICHED between bars in the Wood Street area of the city, this warm, cosy, rustic Italian has built up a loyal following over the years.

Diners keep coming back

for its unpretentious and reasonably priced food.

It’s a popular bustling restaurant where you can expect good service and a menu full of tasty Italian dishes.

Open: Mon-Fri 11:45am-2:30pm and 5:30pm -10pm, Sat 11:45am-10.30pm

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Just £15 per person ncluding half a litre of House wine FREE Book early on 0151 708 7377

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15

Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian C Piccolino, 14a Cook St, Liverpool, L2 9RF, 0151 236 2555 (www.piccolinorestau rants.co.uk) LOCATED in the heart of the Liverpool business quarter, this is the sort of restaurant where contacts are made and deals are done.

But you don’t have to be having a working lunch to take advantage of this established restaurant, part of a nationwide chain, serving a wonderful combination of both modern and classic Italian dishes.

Stretching over two floors and with its stylish dark wood and plump red leather seats, it works as both an ideal venue for an intimate meal for two or a large

party celebration.

The antipasto misto (£13.95 to share) with cured ham and melon, olives and artichokes is a great way to begin, and the seafood risotto with king prawns, squid and mussels with saffron makes a delicious main course.

Pasta options are plentiful with all the usual favourites and desserts include the delicious baked vanilla cheesecake with citrus blueberries.

Look out for a daily specials menu designed by new head chef Francesco Guarracino exclusive to Liverpool Piccolino and a new menu del giorno served from 12pm every day.

Open: Mon to Sat, noon -– 11pm; Sun noon – 10.30pm

Zelig's, Thomas Steers Way, Liverpool One. Tel: 0151 709 7097 (www.zeligs.co.uk ) IF celebrity sells then Zeligs, the biggest nightspot to spring up at Liverpool One, is destined to become a true collectors’ item.

Leonard Zelig, the fictional proprietor, may have first made his name mixing it with various social classes of 1920s New York courtesy of Woody Allen, but his big break into the gastro world starts here in the former European Capital of Culture.

The latest offering, from the people who brought us Circo, Alma da Cuba, Negresco, this certainly bears all the hallmarks of its quirky, flamboyant style. A huge, cavernous building with a bar downstairs and a restaurant above it is lit by ornate chandeliers; stuffed boars’ heads adorn the walls and faux antiques are scattered about.

Photographs of The Beatles, Elton John, Winston Churchill, Barack Obama and even Russell Brand are all

depicted in frames alongside Zelig and his monocle and moustache.

The grey concrete and silver tubing of the air conditioning is brazen in its appearance but, against a bar and restaurant littered with candlelight and warm aromas, somehow it all comes together just perfectly.

Zelig’s serves Italian dishes from Spaghetti Marinara & Beef Carpaccio to stone-baked pizzas. Pizzas and pastas average £9, and other mains are around £15.

Starters and desserts about £5.

Celebrity diner: Frankie Dettori Open: 9am to 2am. Food is served from lunchtime to 10pm.

Antonelli’s, 15-19 South Road, Waterloo, L22 5PE, 0871 963 2825 (www.antonellis.co.uk) A FAMILY run Italian in Waterloo Antonelli’s has been in business now for 20 years.

A new head chef and restaurant manager were appointed towards the end of 2008 and oversaw the launch of a revamped a la carte plus a new seasonal menu.

There is also a specials board that changes twice a week. The menu covers pizza and pasta as well as

locally sourced meat and fish dishes and the food is complemented by a good selection of wines.

Antonelli’s also runs a VIP club which is free to join and gives members a 10% discount on meals.

Antonelli's has an especially warm welcome for children, with special menus available and they are experts in catering for large parties, able to serve large groups all together.

Open: Tues – Thurs: 5pm -–10.30pm; Fri/Sat :5pm -– 11pm; Sun 12.30pm – 10.30pm.

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Graham Kirk operations head chef for Gusto

Gusto, 146-148 Telegraph Rd, Heswall, Wirral, CH60 0AH, 0151 348 4538 (www.gustorestaurants. uk.com) Gusto, Albert Dock, Liverpool, 0151 708 6969 HAVING developed a strong and faithful following in Wirral, the Liverpool Gusto opened its doors last year at the Albert Dock in the former Est Est Est. A successful Italian chain it has a reputation for superb food in lovely surroundings.

Heswall Gusto has a super-chic dining room influenced by the glamour of 1950s New York and features romantic booths, exposed brick walls, old black and white Hollywood-style photos and cream leather chairs. Frequented by the

Wirral's local fashionistas and discerning diners, favourite dishes at Gusto include the lobster spaghetti with chilli and garlic; quattro stagioni pizza with mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, olives and Tuscan ham; and the suckling pig with roast garlic mash and apple sauce.

Liverpool Gusto is probably one of the most popular dock venues, and has been since Living Ventures – owners of the Living Room – gave the original Est Est Est a major makeover a couple of years back.

But now it is newly evolved again, retaining the favourite elements of its predecessors – well-pitched prices, reliably excellent food and a lively atmosphere – but with considerable added flair.

Simply furnished in dark woods

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Ho O 11

IT was no surprise when Graham Kirk went into the food industry – he was following in his father’s footsteps.

Graham 29, says his dad was his inspiration to become a chef: “My father was a chef and ran his own catering company so I grew up with an insight into the industry.”

Now, though, Graham is his own man with his own ethos when it comes to creating fabulous dishes.

And one thing that’s certain, he says, is that great food does not have to be complicated.

“I believe it’s best to keep it simple,” Graham adds.

“I like to use fresh, seasonal ingredients and just treat the products with the respect they deserve.

“Don’t over-complicate flavours - I like to let the main ingredient do the talking.

“That’s why I like dishes to demonstrated good quality, fresh ingredients with basic flavours. You can achieve from those a beautiful dish that makes the mouth water.”

Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Italian Cuisine Olive Press, 25-27 Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TA, 0151 227 2242 (www.heathcotes.co.uk) OPENED in 2004 by celebrity chef Paul Heathcote (see also Simply Heathcotes, Liverpool on page 4) this modern Italian is aimed at the family and lunch time business market rather than top end fine dining.

But that doesn’t mean any scrimping on quality or taste.

ith subtle white globe lighting, the estaurant is designed to generate buzz without feeling as if you’re rammed on top of adjoining ables.

Staff are enthusiastic without eing overbearing and the menu is easonably priced with most pasta nder £10, starters £3.50-£7.95, main around £12 plus and desserts round £5. There’s also a children’s menu for £5.75, and two Con mici set menus to share at 17.95pp or £22.50pp aste recommends: Fillet steak ith valpolicella reduction and the alt baked sea bass Celebrity diners: Heswall Mike McCartney, John Barnes Albert Dock: David Gest, ollyoaks stars Open: Daily 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 1pm

This is a fine Italian with delicious down-to-earth dishes such as pizza, pasta and grills.

The light décor is a smart combination of rustic Italian and modern style, much like the Olive Press’s menu. Fresh ingredients go into classic and innovative Italian dishes, like Olive Press lasagne, the fantastic burgers on focaccia, the stone-baked pizzas and the special lobster dishes.

It’s very family friendly: children enjoy a healthy kids menu and can even make their own pizzas.

Moderate prices and a fun atmosphere make this a local favourite.

Taste recommends: Olive Press burger grilled on focaccia with garlic mayo Open: Mon – Thurs, 11:45am -–10pm; Fri – Sat 11:45am – 11pm; Sunday 11:45am – 9pm

The Olive Press in Castle Street

Celebrate our first anniversary and save £10!!

Use the voucher opposite for £10 off at West Kirby Loch Fyne when two or more dine from our a la carte menu - SunThurs all day, Fri & Sat until 6pm to 30th October.

New Winter A La Carte Menu now available.

From October, introducing a £10 Two Course Fixed Price Menu.

Christmas Menu now available.

Volare, 613 Lord Street, Southport, PR9 0AN, 01704 546232 (www.italianrestaurant southport.co.uk) VOLARE (it means ‘to fly’ in Italian) is very much your traditional Italian restaurant.

Award-winning chef Onofrio Maimone brings his varied but unpretentious fare all the way from Sicily and the menu, with more than 50 pizza, pasta and meat dishes to go at, offers a bit of something for everyone.

Opened in November 2007, Volare won the Customer Excellence Award for Italian cuisine in October last year which has certainly raised its profile locally.

In terms of starters, the usual suspects are all lined up, but there, amongst the minestrone, antipasti and

prawn cocktails, are some pleasant surprises. The asparagi e polenta (£5.25) – a plate of poached asparagus with grilled polenta and a lemon dressing – is light, flavourful and doesn’t weigh you down like concrete boots ahead of the main course.

Pizzas are delicious with thin bases, the toppings light, but the size of these things to be seen to be believed. A generous 12in pizza in any book, any one of these, from the capricosa (ham, artichoke, mushrooms, onions and olives £7.45) to the calzone (folded pizza with chicken, spinach, garlic, cheese and tomato sauce, £7.95) could feed the entire Genovese family five times over.

Open: Noon to 11pm, seven days a week.

Casa Bella, 25 Victoria Street, Liverpool, L1 6BD, 0151 258 1800 (www.casabellarestaurant. co.uk) CASA Bella is one of Liverpool city centre's most popular Italian restaurants.

Set in a beautiful converted bank building on Liverpool's Victoria Street.

Casa Bella is decorated in the typical style of a Venetian villa with elegant stone columns and grand windows.

Casa Bella is owned by Franco and Sylvia Furlani who took over in 2000.

Italian born ex-chef Franco manages the restaurant bringing a real continental feel about this Liverpool eaterie combined with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

The restaurant serves more than 15 types of pizza

along with a broad range of pasta dishes. The pizzas range from classic favourites to more unusual recipes prepared in the open plan kitchen.

As well as pizzas and pasta Casa Bella specialises in freshly prepared classic Italian fish and meat dishes.

There are also daily specials and an extensive a' la carte menu. Alongside these is a large selection of mouth-watering desserts made on the premises and served at your table.

The restaurant is situated within easy reach of many of Liverpool’s famous landmarks, especially The Cavern Quarter and the Metquarter.

Open: Mon – Fri 11.45 am – 2.30pm and 5.30pm – 10.30pm; Sat 11.45am – 10.30pm; Sun noon – 9.30pm (including Bank Holidays).

£10

£10 Gift Voucher when two or more dine

£10 off your bill with this voucher. Use by 30th October 2009.

£10

Terms & conditions. Valid with two or more main courses from the a la carte menu. Not for use in conjunction with any other offer.

Offer valid Sun - Thurs all day. Fri/Sat until 6pm. One voucher per table only - valid at West Kirby.

Loch Fyne Restaurant Village Road, West Kirby CH48 7HE • Tel: 0151 929 6750 • www.lochfyne.net 17

Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian

Paprika, Arrowe Park Road, Upton Village, Wirral, 0151 606 1982 (www.paprikaindiancuisine.com) A VIBRANT restaurant and take-away, Paprika has become a popular haunt for Wirral’s curry fans.

Forget the stereo-typical image of an Indian restaurant.

The decor is cool and contemporary and the ambience laid back and chilled out, making sure that customers receive the ultimate dining experience.

The experienced head chef, Saha Noor Ullah, prides himself on creating the finest dishes from only the freshest of ingredients.

An extensive menu allows you to sample food from various cuisines of the Indian sub-continent including Bengali, Tandoori and Sylheti, as well as many

other traditional favourites.

Choose from the mildest of dishes such as murghi modhu makhoni, which is roasted boneless chicken cooked in a mild cream sauce with almond and butter, topped with yoghurt and drizzled with honey.

Or, for something a little more spicy, try murgh kofta chargha, which is mince on spring chicken spiced into meatballs, cooked in a distinctive spicy flavour using the chef’s specially blended sauce.

Traditional favourites include Madras, vindaloo, biryani, balti and the ever-popular tikka masala.

There is also a buffet night every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 5pm-10pm, when you can eat as much as you like for £9.95.

Open: Mon-Sun 5pm-11pm Spice Lounge in Albert Dock

The Spice Club, 304 - 308 Hoylake Road, Moreton, 0151 606 8666 SET in the heart of Moreton in Wirral, The Spice Club has already put itself on the map as the place to come for fine Indian dining.

It does have the look of an old school curry house from the outside, but once inside the decor is understated with polished wooden floors, stylish furniture and the walls tastefully adorned with modernish art.

The Spice Club offers an eclectic menu of dishes from clay oven specialities such as

The Royal Tandoori, 453 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 3JL, 0151 733 6816 THIS long-established student favourite bangs out superb and reasonably priced curries.

Often busy this fairly small to medium sized curry house offers a big selection of house specialities in addition to all the classic

18

the tandoori sizzler, the chef’s selection of tandoori specials served with delicious home-made naan bread, to jhinga goa, the famous Goan king prawn dish which uses fresh green chillies, garlic and coriander leaves to create a mouthwatering spicy dish.

Other specialities include chicken tikka sylheti, a slowcooked mild dish enriched with mango fruit, keema mattar, which is minced lamb with green peas and tangy spices, and methi gosh, lamb cooked with fenugreek.

Open: Mon-Sun 5pm- late

Indian dishes you would expect.

Typically decorated and with friendly staff, the Royal lets its food do the talking.

Taste recommends: The chicken or lamb Korahi special and the excellent Keema Pilau.

Open: Sun-Thurs 4.30pm -12.30pm; Fri/Sat 4.30pm -1am

Mayur, 130 Duke Street, Liverpool, 0151 709 9955 There’s stiff gastro competition on Duke Street, but Mayur has earned its place among its rivals on Liverpool’s restaurant row.

The service is first class from the moment you walk through the double set of glass doors.

Courteous and attentive staff usher you to your table and you never have to flag anyone down to get a top-up on your drink, your plates cleared or the bill.

The interior is very stylish with Villeroy & Boch glasses and snow-white tableware.

The decor has had no expense spared and the food lives up to the beautiful aubergine-coloured walls and twinkling chandeliers.

Opened by a family of doctors, the ethos is one of high-quality food served in a healthy way.

A large part of the menu focuses on cuisine using the Tandoor oven, where bread, fish, meat and game are all cooked in the authentic North West Indian style which is low in oils and fat. There are also curries and creative chef specials.

Open: noon - 2.45pm every day and 5pm - 11pm on weekdays, closing at midnight on Fri/Sat

Spice Lounge, Atlantic Pavillion, Albert Dock, L3, 0151 707 2202 A STONE’S throw from the ECHO arena this stylish venue offers a delicious array of modern Indian cuisine.

Opened by restaurateur Ali Noor after making a success of two popular restaurants in Woolton Village and Hunts Cross, he uses only natural flavours made from fresh herbs and spices, to give an authentic flavour of India.

His aim is to provide “proper Indian dishes” the food that people are really eating on the hot streets of Delhi and Rajasthan and the beaches of Goa. For authenticity, he imports spices every two months direct from India, which he grinds and roasts every day. His four chefs were also imported, direct from the kitchens of the sub-continent, to cook over authentic charcoal-fired Tandoori ovens.

The interior of the Spice Lounge is utterly sumptuous. It was inspired, according to Ali, by a 1938 temple just outside the city of Delhi.

He wanted to replicate the opulent airy feel of it, with dark wood and rich crimson swags decorating the brick and long windows of the former dock building, massive vases of lilies mixing their perfume with the sizzle of onions, and huge glowing chandeliers drawing the eye towards the lofty ceiling. The glass tables in the reception area are actually fish tanks with goldfish darting round.

Expect to pay more than usual but it’s worth it.

Open: Sun-Thu noon-3pm & 4pm-11pm; Fri-Sat Noon-3pm & 4pm-midnight

The Mayur Restaurant in Duke Street (left) and Uday Seth, Head Chef (above) preparing sea bass in banana leaves

Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine Indian Cuisine

The Gulshan on Aigburth Road The Gulshan, 544-548 Aigburth Road, Aigburth, Liverpool 19, 0151 427 2273 (www.gulshanliverpool.com) ANY local curry aficionado worth his poppadums will have been to The Gulshan at some stage.

An award-winning restaurant and a popular out-of-town haunt with celebrities visiting here, this Indian restaurant has built up quite a reputation.

Founded by Mustafa and Salina Rahman in 1986 it has won numerous plaudits and has just been short listed for what is known as the Oscars of the Curry industry, The British Curry Awards 2009.

Recently, the Gulshan has undergone something of a transformation with the downstairs restaurant decor getting a stylish makeover, and there’s been a tapas and

cocktail bar added upstairs too.

Expect to see many curry favourites on the menu but also a host of excellent chef specials and a good range of vegetarian options.

It’s very good value with most mains between £7-£10 although you are likely to up the bill with the tempting side dishes.

Taste recommends: The lamb green balti massalla (£8.30), one of The Gulshan’s signature dishes.

Celebrity diners: Former cricketer and Strictly Come Dancing winner Darren Gough; TV presenter Eamonn Holmes.

Open: Mon-Sun, 5pm-11pm

Maharaja, 34-36 London Road, Liverpool, L3 5NF, 0871 811 4798 (www.maharajaliverpool. co.uk) WHEN you ask Indian food fans to name their favourite restaurant the Maharaja is often the name that comes up.

And this is despite being located in London Road, outside of any culinary district in the city.

An Indian with a difference, Maharaja serves food from the south of the subcontinent, specifically Kerala state.

This coastal region is known for its seafood, vegetarian dishes and spices and all feature prominently on a menu that is a million miles away from your typical curry house fare.

It is a large restaurant, seating up to 100, and has a function room for a further 30.

But this is not a place you

Sultan’s Palace, Victoria Street, Liverpool L3, 0151 227 9020 (www.sultans-palace.co.uk) A FAMILY run business in the heart of the city, Sultan's Palace is a firm favourite among curry fans.

A speciality is tandoori cuisine, barbecued in traditional charcoal fired clay ovens.

It has a highly styled traditional Indian interior with lavish ornamental furnishings and there is a spacious private dining room

go to for the interior design.

The food is so remarkable that you barely notice your surroundings.

At Maharaja, each curry is cooked individually from fresh ingredients which really makes a difference to the flavour. Their traditional recipes have been handed down from generation to generation and cannot be found in recipe books.

Celebrity diner: Gordon Ramsay ate here when filming in the city and loved the place Open: Mon- Sun 12pm 2.30 pm; Sun-Thurs 5.30pm-11pm; Fri/Sat 5.30pm- 11.30pm

available.

Chefs say the menu challenges the English palette to adapt to pure Punjabi food which is essentially proper Indian. Try the chef special Rara Gosht Punjabi at £10.95, a new blend of herbs and masala in a dish which combines minced and diced lamb to give a true Punjabi taste.

Open: noon till 2.30pm lunchtime; 5pm until midnight, daily

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Chinese Cuisine Chinese CuisineChinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine

New Capital, 9 Nelson Street, Liverpool, L1 5DW. 0151 709 1427 THE Lee family has run the New Capital Restaurant, in Nelson Street, since 1974.

Fat Ying Lee, a former chef in Hong Kong, and his wife, Hung Mui Lee, came from Tap Mun island, in Hong Kong.

The family are Hakka, historically from mid-China and New Capital’s specialities, as well as the all-purpose staples like shredded chilli chicken and

salt and pepper ribs, are Hakkanese specialities like slices of glistening pork belly with taro, a sweet, powdery potato-like root vegetable that grows in marshland, steamed with preserved vegetables, and salt fish with chopped pork and spring onions.

Food is cheap but great quality and the service is faultless.

Open: Daily from 12pm-11.30pm and 12pm-1am Fri and Sat.

Mr Chow’s Chinese Eating House, The Parade, Parkgate, South Wirral, CH64 6RW. 0151 336 2385 AT Mr Chow’s the philosophy is that even a simple meal becomes a veritable feast when taken in friendly company and we guarantee you a veritable feast at this exclusive Wirral eaterie.

Housed inside a Tudor fronted house on the Parade, Mr Chow's offers a

massive menu of dishes native to Canton and Beijing and is a great place for party dining although booking is advisable at weekends.

Taste recommends: The lemon chicken and the crispy duck or the sizzling crispy lamb. Expect to pay around £3 for a starter and from £8-£12 for main courses.

Open: Sun-Thu 12pm11pm and Fri-Sat 12pm-midnight.

Shangri-La, Ashcroft Buildings, 37 Victoria Street, Liverpool, L1 6BQ. 0151 227 2707 WHETHER you are popping in before a night on the town, after a night on the town, for Sunday supper or perhaps for the famed karaoke you are guaranteed a good time at the Shangri-La. A blaze of red, green and black and set over a few levels, the service is always warm and friendly and the

predominantly Cantonese-flavoured food is reliably good.

Work your way through the great dim sum dishes, opt for a set meal or take a big group along and take on the whole menu before going for a singalong.

They also stock some great Chinese beers.

Open: Mon -–Thurs 12pm-midnight, Fri and Sat 12pm-3am and 4pm-midnight Sun.

North Garden, 28 Nelson Street, Liverpool, L1 5DN. 0151 709 4247 TUCKED away on Nelson Street North Garden is a fabulous little restaurant, with great authentic tasting Chinese dishes and excellent service.

Taste recommends you try the braised halibut hot pot

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and order a pot of Chinese tea to wash it down with.

Don’t be surprised if your bill comes in at as little as £25. Great for a nibble after a night on the tiles given the opening hours!

Open: Tues-Sat from 3pm-3.45am and Sunday 3pm-2.45am.

Tso's, St John’s Lane, Queen Square, 0151 709 2811 TSO’s offers a mouth-watering taste of the Orient in authentic and stylish surroundings and still leaves you plenty if change for the taxi ride home.

Elegantly designed with traditional Chinese decor and aquarium, Tso's has been serving buffet-style Oriental cuisine in Liverpool city centre since 1994 and has built up an enviable reputation for excellent quality food using only the finest ingredients.

It is also value for money. The famous buffet boasts more than 60 dishes and, what's more, you can eat as much of it as you like for a set price.

Begin with taste sensations like crispy wonton, sui mai and salt and pepper chicken wings then move on to the likes of tender beef in black pepper sauce and honey roast char sui. For a little more you can sample the crispy aromatic dick, mussels and tiger prawns on the grand buffet.

There’s also a great choice for vegetarians.

Prices for the buffet lunch start at just £5.95 before 4pm, Mon to Sat. The grand buffet is available from 6pm to midnight.

Open: Mon-Sun 12pm-12am.

Tso's in Queen Square

The Mandarin in Victoria Street The Mandarin, 73-79 Victoria Street, Liverpool, Merseyside. L1 6DE. 0151 227 9011 (www.mandarinliverpool. co.uk) ONE of the most modern and attractive Chinese restaurants in Liverpool, your biggest problem at the Mandarin may be trying to decide just what to order, the menu is endless.

The only other difficulty you might have will be trying to finish the huge portions.

A family run restaurant since 1988, the Mandarin is a stunning venue with its stained glass and tropical fish and has a long standing reputation for quality food and service.

You will of course find all the Oriental favourites among the starters, including barbecue spare ribs (£6) and chicken and sweetcorn soup (£3) but you will also find house specialities like shredded duckling broth (£3).

Hor's d'oeuvres range from £2.80 for dumplings to £14 for half crispy fragrant duck with pancakes plus they offer the usual banquets.

Main courses come in between £7.50 and £11 for oysters or mixed seafood dishes.

For fish fans, the restaurant is also happy to serve up fresh lobster, crab, Dover sole, sea bass, turbot, mussels or king scallops in a sauce of your choice and vegetarians

have a choice of eight main courses.

Taste recommends: The Cantonese style fried sliced steak, served on a sizzling hot platter, it is a dish to remember, while the baked lobster tails with ginger and spring onion or black bean sauce are well worth forking out £18 for.

Open: Mon - Thu 12pm to 11.30pm, Fri - Sat 12pm-12.30am, Sun 3.30pm11.30pm.

Chinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Chinese Cuisine Maplewood Warrington Road, Bold Heath, Nr. Widnes, WA8 3UX. 0151 424 2259 THE Maplewood restaurant in St Helens’ Bold Heath may be rather cavernous in size but it is rare that you won’t find it packed out with people.

Tucked back off a main road it is something of an unassuming restaurant, housed in a single-story block and marked only by a crimson and gold signpost outside. Yet step inside and that modest exterior erupts into a sumptuous world filled with dark wooden furniture, plush carpets and exquisite silk paintings.

Given the size of the place it is a popular choice for big groups and celebrations, to mention family nights out and the service is second to none.

There are no big surprises on the food front just plenty of well-cooked familiar Cantonese dishes. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

Taste recommends: The Maplewood special appetizer combination £6.50 per person for a huge platter of shiu mai, spring rolls, chicken parcels, sesame prawn toast, crispy won tons, Peking ribs, skewered satay chicken and crispy seaweed.

Open: Daily from 5.30-10.30pm

Mei Mei, 9–13 Berry Street, Liverpool, L 0151-707 2888 THIS large Chinese restaurant right on the edge of Liverpool’s Chinatown is one of the city’s most stylish with its cream and berry tones and open aspect.

The menu is extensive and largely Cantonese. Among the soups and starters there the ubiquitous chicken and sweetcorn soup or you could try a platter with crispy deep green seaweed, crispy spring rolls, chicken wings and sticky and succulent ribs.

There are plenty of familiar dishes among the

mains as well as the more exotic like scallop with tofu in a black bean sauce or cai sun, a spinach/ asparagusstyle Chinese vegetable cooked with garlic, and dumplings consisting of baby bamboo mixed with prawn.

Taste recommends: The fried sliced beef with Chinese mushroom and bamboo shoots or the crispy duck.

Expect to pay between £35-40 for two dining from set menus, more with wine.

Open: Mon-Thurs 12pm-11.30pm, Fri and Sat 12pm-midnight, Sun 12pm-11.30pm

Yuet Ben in Duke Street Yuet Ben,1 Upper Duke Street, Liverpool, L1 9DU. 0151 709 5772 (www.yuetben.co.uk) ONE of Liverpool’s oldest and most revered Chinese restaurants, the Scouse institution that is the Yuet Ben has more excellent reviews and customer testimonials than you can shake a spare rib at.

The restaurant, whose name means “honoured guest” was opened in 1968 by Shandong-born Yuh Ho Yau and originally stood on Great George Street. These days it is run by Yuh’s daughter Theresa and her husband who make it their mission to bring to Liverpool authentic tastes and flavours of Northern Chinese cuisine.

As ECHO reviewers repeatedly state (not to mention the Hardens restaurant guide) Yuet Ben is what Chinese food should be all about.

The venue itself is far from fancy but you don’t need shiny lights and designer furniture when your food is this good and such great value, plus choose the right table and you will get a fabulous view of the Chinese Arch.

The menu isn’t quite the telephone directory you get in some Chinese restaurants but there is lots to love.

Starters range from £3.50 for crispy wantons to £8.50 for crispy duck. Expect to pay from £7.50 to £12.50 for mains and there is a good offering for vegetarians.

Taste recommends: The barbecue spare ribs and, if you make it to dessert, the crepes with mandarins and Cointreau.

Celebrity diners: Julian Lloyd Webber, Les Dennis, Dawn French and Kenny Dalglish have all dined here.

Open: 5pm-11pm Tues to Sun, closed Mon.

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Japanese & Pan Asian Cuisine Japanese & Pan Asian Cuisine Japanese & HoSt 31 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9HX. 0151 708 5831 IT would be easy to sell HoSt as an upmarket Wagamama and on some levels it is but under the guidance of 60 Hope Street and The Quarter owners Gary and Colin Manning HoSt has become one the city’s coolest restaurants.

This East-meets-West Pan-Asian fusion restaurant may have something of a utiliatarian feel to it with the hard benches and minimal décor but that only ensures all the focus is on the food.

And it is worth focusing on. The menu is large with almost 20 small plates and

the same number of mains and as you might expect it is made up of rice, noodle, soup and fish dishes from the likes of China, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan.

Small plates range from £3 to £5 while main courses come in at around the £9 mark.

Taste recommends: The duck gyozo dumplings (£3.50) and the red curry with duck and rice (£9.50).

Celebrity diners: There have been so many but director Ken Loach, Sex and the City actress Kim Cattrall and Alex Curran number among them.

Open: Daily 12pm-3pm and 5pm to 10.30pm

Etsu on The Strand

IF YOU fancy learning the art of sushi making for yourself then Yo! Sushi is the place.

The Liverpool One venue which serves up sushi dishes conveyor-belt style, began offering sushi masterclasses this year under the tutelage of head chef Adam Atkinson.

At a cost of £50 and two hours of your time Adam, 26, will teach you how to prepare all different types of fish, and how to make everything from maki rolls – sushi rice, rolled into a

Etsu, 25 The Strand, Liverpool, L2 0XJ. 0151 236 7530 (www.etsu-restaurant.co.uk) ETSU may be tucked away in a somewhat quiet corner of Liverpool city centre but it is definitely worth seeking out.

Opened in late 2007 it is the baby of two Japanese chefs with over 40 years Japanese culinary experience between them who wanted to offer authentic Japanese food in a cosy and relaxed environment.

And with just enough room for 46 diners it is certain that. Our reviewer described the white and polished wood restaurant as “minimalist with a heart” and it is certainly stylish.

If you are looking for an introduction to Japanese food this is a good place to start as it offers the full range from sushi and sashimi to steak and chicken dishes via tempura and noodles and they do bento boxes available at lunchtimes. If you are feeling really adventurous you could even try the unagi don – that’s grilled eel to you and me!

Appetisers start from £3.95 rising to £7.95 for soft shell crab while evening main courses come in between £12.95 and £14.95. The lunchtime bento boxes range from £6.95-£9.95.

Taste recommends: The vegetable gyoza – dumplings stuffed with cabbage, onions, garlic and carrots, with dipping sauce and if it is on offer (it’s a special) the plum cake with black sesame ice cream.

Open: Closed Mon, Tues 12pm-2.30pm and 5pm-9pm, Wed 5pm-9pm, Thurs 12pm-2.30pm and 5pm-9pm, Fri 12pm-2.30pm and 5pm-10pm, Sat 5pm-10pm, Sun 4pm-9pm

rectangular shape, wrapped in seaweed ‘paper’ called nori and filled with the fish or vegetables of your choice, to gunkan – rice blocks with flavoured fish eggs, nagiri – rice topped with fish, hand rolls, and iso rolls – or inside out rolls.

By the way sushi is actually Japanese for ‘with rice’, not raw fish.

Yo! Sushi, 14 Paradise Street, Liverpool, L1 8JF. 0151 515 2241. Call for dates and times of courses.

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0151 705 3005 www.sapporo.co.uk

Pan Asian Cuisine Japanese & Pan Asian Cuisine Japanese & Pan Asian

The Sushi Bar at the Vincent Hotel, 98 Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1JR. 01704 883800 SUSHI doesn’t stop at the suburbs you know. At the stylish Vincent Hotel in Southport you can dine on the finest handmade sushi, tasty miso soup and freshly cut sashimi in uber-glamorous surroundings. Although you don’t always have to eat it off

a half-naked lady!

Sushi and sashimi a la carte starts from £2 for one piece or you can sample a platter of sushi or sashimi from £15.50 to £28.50.

Celebrity diners: Alex Curran and Coleen Rooney are often spotted at the hotel.

Open: Daily 12pm-3pm and 6pm-9pm (10pm, Fri and Sat).

Wagamama, Liverpool One, 14 Paradise Street, Liverpool, L1 8JF. 0151 707 2762 (www.wagamama.com) IF you are looking for fabulous noodles in a relaxed setting Wagamama is the place. The chain landed in Liverpool just over a year ago and is a hit with shoppers, cinemagoers and workers given its location.

The restaurant’s philosophy is fresh and nutritious food in an elegant yet simple setting with helpful, friendly service and value for money and that pretty much describes what you get.

Wagamama is modelled on the popular Japanese

ramen bars and dining is communal style meaning you sit on long benches with other customers.

Be warned, they serve food when it is ready so don’t be shocked if different dishes come out at different times.

Just go with it.

Prices start from £2.95 to £5.95 for sides and £6.50 to £9.95 for rice, salads and noodle dishes. They also have a good children’s offering.

Taste recommends: Yaki soba – teppan-fried soba noodles with chicken, shrimps, beansprouts and peppers garnished with fried shallots, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.

Open: Sun – Wed 12pm to 10pm and Thurs - Sat 12pm to 11pm.

Head sushi chef at Sapporo Teppanyaki Chana Phumiphak, (below) preparing special Sapporo sushi (above) Sapporo Teppanyaki, 134 Duke Street, East Village, Liverpool, L1 5AG. 0151 705 3005 (www.sapporo.co.uk) WHILE Chinese restaurants have been part of Liverpool’s dining scene since the early 20th century when Chinese sailors would come here on steamships carrying silk and cotton, Japanese cuisine has been a bit slower to take off.

However in recent years a number of establishments have opened and won over the hearts of Mersey diners. And, contrary to popular opinion, Japanese food is not just about raw fish.

Since it opened in 2003 Sapporo Teppanyaki has been packing them in, enticed by exquisite cooking and a fantastic atmosphere.

Because at Sapporo you don’t just get a meal, you get gastronomic theatre.

Although there are also plenty of sushi and noodle dishes on offer, the teppanyaki grill is what it’s all about here as chefs chop, fry and juggle your food on the flaming hot-plate right before your eyes.

If you do want sushi they have it all from beginner dishes like Nigiri sushi – a

finger of rice topped with fish or seafood and served with radish, pickled ginger and wasabi (from £7.50 for five pieces) – to more elaborate concoctions including the aptly titled Liverpool Roll: thin slices of smoked salmon with cream cheese and rice rolled in flying fish roe (£8.50 for six pieces).

If you do fancy trying the teppanyaki experience – where diners sit in large groups around the grill – the easiest way to do it is with one of their set combinations. These start from £28 for the Ninja featuring Namasu salad, miso wakame soup, tuna maki rolls, chicken teriyaki, grilled vegetables, fried rice, potatoes and fruit salad.

If you really feel like going wild try the Emperor combination at £40 for a minimum of six people. The best of the menu you get everything in the Ninja banquet plus smoked chicken rolls, barbecue spare ribs, duck roll, chicken with asparagus, lobster tail, scallops with ginger and sesame and jumbo prawns!

Celebrity diners: Cilla Black, tennis ace Martina Hingis and even Noel Gallagher have all popped in.

Open: Opening times: Mon-Sat 12pm-11pm, Sun 12 noon- 10.30pm.

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Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine

Chilli Banana, 2 Lark Lane, Aigburth, Liverpool L17 8US, 0151-726 8641. (www.chillibanana.co.uk) TASTE 09 readers of a certain age will have fond memories of the beautiful French restaurant L’Alouette in Lark Lane.

It is now home to Chilli Banana with the two floors completely refurbished in contemporary Thai style.

From the outside, the large windows and branded awnings make Chilli Banana look very inviting.

Inside, the decor is hint-of-colonial with its ceiling fans and dark wood bar, mixed with modern restaurant and a touch of the Orient.

Like its sister restaurants in Wilmslow and Macclesfield, Chilli Banana delivers home-style Thai cuisine.

Opened in 2006 it was a welcome addition to the league of culinary nations which now inhabits Aigburth’s favourite stomping ground.

Expect a warm welcome because the team at this popular restaurant was awarded 'Taste Liverpool 08' accreditation for excellence

in food and customer service.

You can enjoy a Thai tapas menu at lunchtime, priced £2.50 to £3.75 per dish, with Satay Moo (pork skewers, not beef as you might expect); Po Pia Tod (spring rolls) and Tempura Gung (vegetables and prawns deep fried in light batter) to name but a few.

On the a la carte menu set meals for two offer good value ranging from £38 for a vegetarian option to £47.50 for mixed dishes. Tod Man Pla (spicy Thai fishcakes) is just one of several starters on offer in a set menu followed by whole crispy sea bass topped with a sweet garlic chilli sauce served with steamed fragrant rice, plus chicken stir fry, all washed down with jasmine tea.

Wonderful.

Desserts include banana split, banana ice cream, and yes, chilli banana.

Celebrity diners: Expect to see a few Hollyoaks stars popping in.

Open: Tues, 6pm-11pm; Wed, Thur & Fri: 12:30-2:30pm, 6pm-11pm; Sat 12:30-3pm, 5pm-11pm; Sun 12:30pm-10pm (closed Mon)

Chaophraya’s Pad Ma Kam (Prawn Pad Thai) serves 2 SOAK 100g of rice noodles in water for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok and when hot add a tablespoon each of sliced red onion and chopped turnip, 10 prawns and an egg.

Add noodles, tossing over a high heat, add 2 tablespoon of water, and stir until noodles are soft.

Season with two tablespoons of tamarind sauce, one tablespoon of fish sauce, three teaspoons of sugar and two tablespoons of chilli sauce.

Stir together, add 10 dried shrimps, 1 tablespoon of chopped tofu, 50g beansprout, 50g of carrot cut into matchsticks, and one chopped spring onion and quickly toss.

Serve with garnishes of fresh coriander, crushed unsalted peanuts, slivers of red chilli and a quarter of fresh lime.

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Chaophraya, Kenyon Steps, Liverpool One, 0151 707 6323 ARGUABLY the most popular restaurant to emerge from Liverpool One, Chaophraya has a commanding location perched on the top deck with views of the Albert Dock.

It’s a huge, stunning looking restaurant with an equally impressive and glamorous sister bar next door, Palm Sugar Lounge.

Already a hit with the in-crowd there’s a real buzz about the place and you will need to book in advance to secure a table.

The decor in Chaophraya has the wow factor – floor to

ceiling windows offer incredible views across the city's docks and waterfront while also sucking in tons of natural light and thrilling sunsets.

There’s even an outside seating area where you can enjoy alfresco dining on balmy nights.

Chaophraya (pronounced Chow-Pie-A) takes its name from the main waterway that runs through the central region of Thailand and is regarded as the lifeblood of the Thai people.

There are already successful, award winning Chaophrayas in Leeds and Manchester and Liverpool

looks set to follow suit.

A tank of goldfish presides over the entrance of the restaurant, and huge chandeliers hang from the ceiling.

Designed over two floors there is plush seating with round tables to cater for larger parties as well as smaller tables for intimate dinners.

The female staff all wear pretty long red Thai-style gowns and service is very friendly.The kitchen is downstairs in full view of diners so you can watch the chefs cooking.

From tender lamb chops with mango and stir-fried

rock lobster with black pepper sauce to the more conventional creamy Paneang curry, Chaophraya offers a huge selection to suit all tastes and pockets (much of it is very reasonably priced).

Thailand remains one of the most devoutly Buddhist countries in the world, so many Thai dishes are vegetarian.

Taste recommends:The delicious tod mun khao pode – deep fried sweetcorn cakes blended in red curry.

Celebrity diner: Former Deputy PM John Prescott Open: Mon-Sat 12pm-10.30pm, Sun 12pm-10pm

Chaophraya in Liverpool One and (right) chef Phua Knaop (aka Pum) UNTIL recently demand for good Thai food had largely outstripped supply on Merseyside but as it becomes more widely available more and more people want to try their hand at cooking ther own dishes from South East Asia.

Chef Thanyanan Phuaknapo – nicknamed Pum – runs Thai cooking workshops for Chaopraya.

“Thai food has got more popular and people want to know how to cook it at home,” she explains. “The special thing about Thai cooking is that we use fresh ingredients, rather than dried.

It’s not as oily as Chinese food, as they like their food to look shiny. Because it’s so hot, we don’t need anything oily.”

Green or red curry paste should be store cupboard staples and while the fresh pastes are excellent, pounding the herbs and spices yourself is more authentically Thai.

“In Thailand we like to pound the ingredients together with a pestle and mortar,” says Pum. “It should take about an hour. You cover the bowl with your hand and just bang the ingredients. You don’t get the essential oil out

of the skin so well using a blender.”

Kang Pa, jungle curry, is less ubiquitous than green or red, but just as tasty. It isn’t mixed with coconut milk. The end result is sweet and hot.

Tom Yam – meaning clear soup – is another favourite.

The paste is available in supermarkets, but making your own is easy.

“The stock is made from boiling a chicken bone in water, nothing more than that,” says Pum. “Add any chicken or prawns you have, put in the lemon grass, lime leaf, chilli and galangal, leave that to boil. Then you season with fish sauce and a little bit of sugar.” She suggests adding any “non-juicy” vegetable, like cauliflower.

Sometimes the spice ingredients are used whole.

As a sandwich-style dish, pickled plums, pickled ginger, lemon grass, galangal and soy sauce go on top of a piece of fish which are then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.

Dishes vary enormously across Thailand, according to local ingredients.

In the North, away from the sea, spicy pork or beef

sausage tend to be very popular.

Very hot dishes tend to come from Southern Thailand, often seafood-based.

The sweet Pad Thai, which

means rice noodles, is popular in central parts of Thailand.

Says Pum: “If you have the ingredients, Thai food is simple to prepare, healthy and very tasty.”

Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisine Thai Cuisi Tammarin, Unit 7 Victoria Buildings, London Road, Stockton Heath, Cheshire, WA4 2AG. 01925 606168 IT may be just a little place and has only been open for a few years but this restaurant is fast gaining a reputation as one of Cheshire’s best Thai restaurants. Make your way up the stairs from Stockton’s Heath’s busy main street and you will be transported into a little Eastern oasis. Buddhist icons and Oriental statues scatter the cosy restaurant – we particularly love the water feature – and the welcome could not be warmer.

The service here is impeccable, they really cannot do enough for you.

On the food front it is

superbly cooked, wonderfully presented Thai cuisine. It isn’t the cheapest but it is good value as portions are sizeable.

Taste recommends: The turn khah gai to start, a creamy chicken in coconut soup, This has just a little bit of fire in it and you will remember its flavour long after it has all gone.

If you like duck do not leave without sampling the gaeng ped yang – duck curry, a deliciously rich dish, the taste gets better and better with every mouthful and the sticky rice is among the best we have tasted beyond the Pacific Rim. Open: Mon-Sat 11.30-2.30pm, 6-11pm, Sun 12-3.30pm, 6-11pm.

Sabai in North John Street Sabai, 26 North John Street, Liverpool, L2 9RU. 0151 236 7655 STYLISH and classy sum up the sumptuous setting of Sabai in Liverpool city centre. The spacious restaurant is contemporary and uncluttered.

The menu is rather the opposite though because with an almost endless collection of all manner of green and red curries, Sabai specials, Thai salads and stir fries could take a while to decide.

Not that the unfailingly polite and courteous staff will mind in the least, Sabai actually means “to relax or chill out” and the ever-smiling waiters and waitresses here do their very best to ensure you do exactly that.

There are a number of

menus, as well as the a la carte there is a daytime menu and a great early doors menu, (available Mon – Thurs 5pm – 7pm) which offers two courses and a drink for £12.50 per person.

If you are new to Thai food the tapas menu (available Mon-Thur 3pm-7pm and all day Sun) is a great introduction to the cuisine as you can order lots of dishes and find out which you like.

Taste recommends: The geng phed beef – a red curry cooked with coconut milk, Thai spices and vegetables. If it’s on, the Thai dessert – a sweet and sticky rice with slices of mango is a great finale to a meal.

Open: Mon – Sat 12noon – 11.30pm, Sun 12noon – 10.00pm

Siam Garden, 607 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 5AG, 0151 734 1471 SERVING traditional South East Asian cooking, this long-established restaurant in the popular Smithdown Road area has built up quite a following.

The service is very friendly and helpful and the menu is diverse enough to keep

everyone happy.

Typical dishes include Tord man Plas (a popular Thai crispy king prawn cake served with a sweet and sour dip and Beef Pat Kra Prow (sliced beef cooked with chilli and fresh basil leaves).

Open: Mon – Sat noon – 2:30pm; Mon – Thurs 5:30pm – 11:15pm; Fri/Sat: 5:30 – 12am; Sun: 3:30 – 10pm

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The AmericasThe Americas The Americas The Americas The Americas Dinomat, 14 Paradise Street, Liverpool One, L1 4JF. 0151 709 7097. (www.dinomat.co.uk) DINOMAT pays homage to the B movies of the 1950s taking its inspiration from the American diner and with more than a little nod to Pulp Fiction.

A fabulouslydesigned restaurant it offers American coffees, diner style lunches and evening meals plus there is a large bar area and an extensive cocktail list.

You will find the likes of roasted bourbon shrimp and Southern style chicken among the appetisers, priced from £4.95 to £8.95 plus there is a great range of grills for those

with big appetisers.

As you might expect given its diner theme Dinomat also offers a huge range if hot dogs including corn dogs and Texas chilli dogs.

If you hanker after a good old-fashioned burger you are well catered for with a whopping eight to choose from, priced from £8.95 to £15.95 for the gut busting Dinomat challenger – three 6oz burgers stuffed with lettuce, mushrooms, crisped onions and Monterey Jack cheese.

Celebrity diner: Comic Jimmy Carr spotted having lunch.

Open: From 12pm until late every day.

Savina, 138 Duke Street, Liverpool city centre, L1 5AG. 0151 708 9095 (www.savinarestaurant. co.uk) IF YOU love Mexican then Savina is a must-visit. Since it opened in 2006 it has built up a well-deserved reputation for authentic-tasting, good quality Mexican food and friendly service.

All the favourite dishes from south of the border are present from fabulous fajitas bursting with chicken or beef to enchiladas and burritos.

Prices range from £3.95 for starter nachos and dips to

£6.50 for “pescados de chipotle” – scallops marinated in white wine. Main courses start from £9.95 to £18.95 for a T-bone steak marinated in chilli.

Taste recommends: The Quebradizo on the dessert menu (£4.50).

This is chocolate wrapped in a cinnamon and honey dusted tortilla and definitely to die-for for chocolate fans.

Celebrity diners: Comedian John Bishop and Reds players spotted eating here.

Open: From 12-2.30pm and 5-11pm Mon – Fri and from 1pm-11pm Sat/Sun.

El Macho, 23 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ. 0151 708 6644 www.elmachorestaurants. co.uk FOUNDED by Mexican brothers Victor and Jaime Casaus, El Macho opened in 1985 and remains one of the city’s best-loved restaurants known for authentic cooking in a unique setting.

The menu is packed with traditional Mexican dishes and is known for its skillets, charcoal grilled steaks and sea food. Among the starters you will of course find the

favourite nachos but it is definitely worth trying something a bit different like the chilapatas which are tortilla cups filled with spicy chicken breast, creme fraiche and salsa.

Prices range from £4.50-£6.50 for starters and from £10-£14.50 for mains.

The skillets serve two at £25.

They also offer excellent vegetarian burritos and chimichangas with sweetcorn, butterbeans and leeks.

Open: From 6pm until midnight.

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The James Monro in Tithebarn Street

Eddie Rocket’s, 23, Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4DN. 0151 707 2500. (www.eddierockets.ie) WITH its retro red leather sofas, black-and-white checked flooring and a jukebox at every table, Grease’s Sandy and Danny wouldn't look out of place at Eddie Rocket’s.

Fabulous music and fast and friendly service, makes it a great fun alternative to a formal restaurant. Youngsters will love setting their own playlist on the jukeboxes while the late night openings make the venue a hit with the party crowd.

On the food front it is typical diner fayre as you would expect. There is a choice of eight mouth-watering burgers; if they're not your thing,

there are salads, sandwiches, nachos and hot dogs.

The dessert list is packed with classic American treats such as fudge brownie, knickerbocker glory and banana splits and the food is prepared in an open kitchen.

Prices range from £2.95-£3.95 for starters and from £4.25-£5.50 for a burger.

Taste recommends: The authentic American hand-dipped shakes and malts, blended with scrumptious pure malt extract. They come in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and Oreo cookie flavours and will cost you just £2.95 for a very generous serving.

Open: Sun and Mon 10am to 1am, Tues, Wed and Thurs 10am to 3am; Fri and Sat 10am to 4am.

The James Monro 69 Tithebarn Street, Liverpool. 0151 236 9700. www.thejames monro.com IT IS at the heart of Liverpool's business district, but the James Monro’s menu has its roots on the mean streets of New York city.

Described as an NYC restaurant and speak-easy, it promises authentic New York indulgence “from Little Italy to the Latin Quarter to the American Great Plains” and, while there is no steam coming up from the pavements outside, they sure have the Big Apple’s flavours nailed.

There are no starters as such, but the dishes on the lunch lights section like the home-made paté with melba toast and spiced New England apple chutney or the Chinatown BBQ Peking pork spring roll serve well as appetisers.

The mains include

Eddie Rocket’s in Bold Street

steaks, risottos and linguine plus a wide range of burgers.

Specialities of the house include spicy buffalo wings with a rich blue sauce, crispy fried soft shell crab sandwiches and steamed littleneck clams and prices for mains range from £11.95 for risotto and pasta to £19.95 for the 16oz T-bone steak with smoky onion rings. If you do like your steak check out the Monday offer where it’s two T-Bones for the price of one.

Taste recommends: The Bronx burger, (£8.95) a homemade 12oz pattie, topped with melting Gruyere cheese, fries and a tomato relish and our reviewer reports that it is worth going to the James Monro for the chunky chips alone.

Open: Food is served 12-3pm and 5-9.30pm on weekdays. Drinks are served midday to 11pm weekdays but the bar usually closes slightly earlier on Sundays.

The Americas The Americas The Americas The Americas The Americas

Alma de Cuba in Seel Street Alma de Cuba, St Peter’s Church, Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BH. 0151 702 7394. (www.alma-decuba.com) HOUSED in the former Catholic Church of St Peter’s Alma de Cuba is a fantastic venue.

The church has been converted magnificently and retains the grand altar and religious iconography and while the downstairs is given over to the lengthy bar, the restaurant sits upstairs on the mezzanine.

A favourite hangout for the city’s glitterati the cuisine is an eclectic mix of Hispanic, Caribbean and South American flavours.

Starters include duck confit spring rolls with black plum, tomato and chilli jam and grilled sardines with wild rocket and are priced from

£4.50 to £9.95 for a sharing platter. Among the delicious main courses you will find jerk chicken with coconut rice and peas, scallions and pea gravy and honey and three pepper baby-back ribs. Mains range from £9.95-£17.95.

Celebrity diners: Heidi Range from the Sugababes, the Hollyoaks girls, Natasha Hamilton and even Kid Rock.

Open: Tapas

a la carte menu is served from 5pm-11pm Mon-Wed, 5pm-11.30pm Thurs, 5pm-12am Fri/Sat and from 5pm-10.30pm on Sunday. The gospel brunch, where you can enjoy singing from the choir alongside your meal from 12pm-6pm every Sunday, is also highly recommended.

Chef Jamie Robertson

The Tavern Company Smithdown Road, Liverpool, L15 5AG. 0151 734 5555 Queen Square, Liverpool, L1 1RH. 0151 709 1070 (www.tavernco.co.uk) ESTABLISHED almost 20 years ago, the two Tavern Co restaurants are firm favourites within the ECHO team. Cosy, dark and rustic candlelit spots they specialise in South American and Mexican dishes and are ideal venues for romantic suppers, big parties or family dining.

Starters range from £4.95 to £10.95 for the monster combo and mains go from

£8.50 for burgers to £16.95 for the great American grill dish featuring sticky ribs, Cajun chicken, rump steak and corn on the cob.

Taste recommends: The Champagne enchiladas special – chicken or vegetable fillings thickened with Monterey Jack cheese and wrapped in soft corn tortillas on a bed of white rice and finished with a Champagne cream sauce. The Cajun popcorn little crayfish tails, battered and deep fried with a delicious chilli mayo dip is definitely worth a try too.

Open: Daily, serving food between noon and 10pm.

What’s Cooking 24 Britannia Pavilion, Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AD. 0151 707 2023 (www.whats-cooking.co.uk) THIS American diner-style restaurant is a recent return to Liverpool’s Albert Dock and is a great fun place for all the family.

Plates are piled high with American classics including burgers, ribs and nachos.

Mexican fans will love the burritos and fajitas and there is a great selection of

cocktails and mouth-watering desserts like toffee apple flapjack and banoffee pie.

Prices range from £2.95 to £8.95 for starters and from £8.95 to £14.95 for mains.

There’s also a children’s menu at just £3.60 for under 12s and £5.60 for juniors.

If you are going to a concert they do Arena deals and there are always special offers available.

Open: Seven days a week from 10am-11pm (last orders 9pm on Sundays).

Valparaiso, 4 Hardman Street, Liverpool, L1 9AX. 0151 708 6036 LIVERPOOL’S only Chilean restaurant was opened in 1985 by Chilean consul Julio Arellano and is a romantic little place in the heart of busy Hardman Street.

The menu changes often but is packed with traditional Chilean dishes including spicy and hearty stews and pastel del choclo – a typical Chilean dish of minced beef topped with minced sweet corn. And while the paella can take up to 40 minutes to arrive it is well worth the wait.

is served daily from 12pm until late, lunch is served 12pm-6pm while the

Owner Julio is so attentive to detail that he not only makes his own chorizo sausages and tortillas but has been known to serve customers the dishes he cooks for his own family.

Open: Tues to Sat 5.30pm – 10.30pm.

– THE PLACE FOR RIBS

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Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Everyman Bistro, 5-9 Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BH, 0151 708 9545 (www.everyman.co.uk) LOCATED beneath the famous theatre where actors like Julie Walters and Pete Postlethwaite learned their craft, the Everman Bistro is something of a Liverpool institution.

It’s been around for more than 35 years and serves good quality home-cooked fare.

Combined with a great atmosphere it’s an unbeatable combination.

A regular haunt for students and theatrical folk it not surprisingly has an arty vibe.

Under award winning chef Tom Gill the menu changes twice daily with a great choice of meat and vegetarian dishes and many gluten-free options. Sample

Rococo Coffee House, first floor, Lord Street, Liverpool, L2 6BP. 0151 227 4822 (www.rococoliverpool. com) IT would be all too easy to miss Liverpool’s newest coffee shop but do so and you miss out. Hiding up a flight of stairs on Lord Street it is about as sumptuous as coffee houses get with its opulent rococo styling, black and gold wallpapers, velvet sofas and chandeliers.

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mains include leek and potato hash and cider cream sauce; Tom’s lamb scouse with beetroot, red cabbage and bread and aubergine and sunblush tomato risotto.

Desserts, all home-made on the premises, include apple and ground almond Eve’s pudding and chocolate and strawberry roulade.

Food is delicious and very reasonably priced and you can get three fantastic courses for about £15.

The Everyman Bistro has received the top ‘A star’ rating in the Harden's Guide for the past three years, the ‘star’ for very good food and the 'A' for very good ambience.

Celebrity diner: Roger McGough Open: Sun – Thu 8am – midnight; Fri/Sat 9am – 2am

As well as a good selection of coffees which won’t break the bank (from £1.20 for an espresso shot to £2.10 for flavoured/mocha/chai lattes) they also do hot chocolate and tea.

On the food front, they don’t actually have a menu, they offer cakes, specialities and sandwiches every day (they roast their own meats) just ask what’s on. Prices range from £2.60 to £3.50.

Open: Mon-Fri 9.30am-7pm, Sat 8-8pm.

Fratelli Caffe Vergnano, 28 Whitechapel, Liverpool city centre, 0151 706 0074 MANY places claim to serve an authentic taste of Italybut Fratelli’s actually delivers.

This busy cosmopolitan cafe, next to Toni & Guy hairdressers in Liverpool city centre, is the place visiting Italians come when they want a

decent cappuccino.

Run by the charming Antonio Modica from Milan, it serves great coffee and sandwiches on freshly made focaccia and ciabatta.

They also serve fresh pasta dishes and salads.

Celebrity diner: Alexei Sayle Open: Mon – Fri 7.30am-6pm, Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 9.30am-5pm

Illy Espressamente, Waterstones, 12 College Lane, Liverpool One, L1 3DL. 0151 709 9820 (www.illy.com) ILLY are widely regarded as doing THE best coffee so place that inside a huge bookshop in the middle of a bustling shopping centre and you are onto a winner.

Throw in the fact that they also offer a great range of paninis, salads and authentic Italian desserts and biscuits – all baked fresh on the premises each day – and Illy becomes the perfect place to hide away for an hour or so.

Open: Mon – Fri 9.30am -– 8pm, Sat 9am – 7pm, Sun 11am – 5pm

Neighbourhood, 261 Woolton Road, Liverpool L16; 0151 737 2266 (www.neighbourhooduk. co.uk) IT’S long been popular with locals wanting a morning cappuccino or lunch but now this bistro’s reputation is spreading further afield- and deservedly so.

A former delicatessen, Neighbourhood has a lovely French feel to it. Huge

double-fronted windows flood it with light. There are polished wooden floors and tables in the front leading to a narrower rear section which backs on to the kitchen where you can spy the chefs at work.

There is a small outdoor seating area at the back and a couple of tables and chairs on the pavement near the entrance.

Homemade cakes and scones are displayed

Neighbourhood in Woolton Road Cafe Tabac, 126 Bold Street, Liverpool, 0151 709 9502 (www.tabacliverpool.co.uk) IF cafes were celebrities this would be Kate Moss, the laid back stylish one who everyone wants to emulate and let’s face it, has been around for quite some time.

Walk past the wood-framed glass front and inside looks warm and welcoming. The front room is stylish but comfortable with padded seats and stools to slump on, and a view of Bold Street perfect for people watching.

Any place calling itself a “coffee bar, wine bar and restaurant” is juggling a lot of expectations but Tabac somehow gets the balance right.

Menu includes a selection of hearty, homemade dishes like Tuscan chicken, stew and vegetable lasagne all priced £6.50. After 5pm tapas is also available.

Cafe Tabac tends to attract a cosmopolitan student crowd as well as a regular local clientele.

Open: Mon-Fri 9am-11pm; Sat & Sun, 9am-late (food served till 10pm)

Cafe Tabac in Bold Street

temptingly on the shop-like counter in the main part of the restaurant. Black and white photographs adorn the walls and the whole place exudes cosiness and warmth.

As well as serving superb sausages at breakfast it is known for lunchtime favourites such as sweet Italian sausage, beef and roasted pepper lasagne (£10.50) or chicken cacciatore (£9.50) – a delicious chicken

stew in a tomato and pepper sauce served with garlic mash.

In the evening the candles come out to give it a more grown up feel and you can choose from rustic hommade pizzas, pasta, meat and fish dishes.

Celebrity diners: Hollyoaks stars, singer Candi Payne and Premier league footballers.

Open: Serves food 10am3pm, 6pm -9pm most days, closed Mon/Sun evenings

Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Bars Newz Bar, 18 Water St, Liverpool, L2, 0151 236 2025 (www.newzbar.co.uk) ONE of the city’s most famous bars thanks to its celebrity clientele, Newz Bar remains a star attraction.

It has out-lived many a young pretender, still reliably drawing a crowd of the bold and beautiful most nights.

And it doesn’t just serve up champagne and cocktails to the ‘It-crowd’, it also offers food during the daytime early week and into the evening at the weekend.

The menu is divided into a selection of light bites, snacks

Candice Fonseca at Delifonseca in Stanley Street Delifonseca, 12 Stanley Street, Liverpool, L1 6AF. 0151 255 0808 (www.delifonseca.co.uk) IN the three years since it opned Delifonseca has more than made it’s mark on Liverpool’s dining scene.

The brainchild of Bury-born Candice Fonseca it combines the best deli offerings with an excellent restaurant and has garnered a clutch of awards.

It was named “Best small or medium sized business” at the North West Food Awards and beat competition from the likes of 60 Hope Street and the Gulshan to be named Restaurant of Excellence at this year’s

Liverpool Food and Drink Festival.

It even merits a mention in the prestigious Hardens Food Guide, described as: “A busy and pleasant bistro which inhabits a simply furnished dining room over a super deli... A quality foodie venture with great value Latino/Italian dishes many of which are brilliant”.

Among the dozens of mouth-watering meats at the deli counter are Cheshire Smokehouse’s air dried prosciutto, pastrami and Kassler, along with their award winning bacons, pancetta, smoked duck and chicken.

Cheese fans will delight at the sight of Stinking Bishop,

Brew Tea Bar, St Paul's Square, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9SJ. 0151 227 4325 (www.brewteabar.co.uk) COFFEE shops are everywhere these days and if Brew has any say in it, soon tea shops could be just as ubiquitous.

The first Brew opened on St Paul’s Square in August last year and quickly became a hit with office workers, then this summer owner Phil Kirby opened a second establishment on Bold Street.

As the name suggests they sell tea, lots of it and beautifully. As well as various loose teas, among them are a chocolate/chilli blend; Valentine’s Tea (a mixture of rose petals, rosehip, hibiscus and passionflower that smells of Turkish delight but tastes subtly perfumed) and Fruit Punch (a vermilion infusion of orange peel, lemongrass, hibiscus, strawberry and rosehip that is potently fruity).

They also do tea lattes and tea smoothies and there’s not a teabag in sight, everything is made from pure loose leaf brewed on Brew’s unique conveyor belt order system before your eyes and using filtered water.

They also offer a great range of breakfast foods, cakes and sandwiches.

Taste recommends: Brew’s green tea latte, apparently it contains approximately 10 times the antioxidants found in a glass of orange juice!

Open: 7am - 6:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm Sat.

Colston Bassett Stilton and Snowdonian Black Bomber among others and local favourites like Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire, Mrs Appleby’s Cloth Wrapped Cheshire and Delamere Mature Farmhouse Goats Cheese.

Much of what is on sale downstairs makes its way into the restaurant upstairs.

There, head chef Martin Cooper, who has spent two decades at the forefront of Liverpool’s dining scene, oversees a menu which includes everything from light bites to sandwiches and salads.

There is also a blackboard of dishes which changes daily, depending on the seasons and the produce available,

however you may find such delights as filé gumbo – traditional Cajun spicy stew of ham, sausage, chicken and okra, or baked fillet of sea trout served with asparagus and potato cake, and a saffron cream sauce, among them.

Vegetarians are also superbly catered for at Delifonseca and the lentil and potato moussaka is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes.

Taste recommends: The chicken ciabatta – lemon and thyme roasted chicken thighs, in a hot ciabatta with rocket parmesan shavings and chunky chips (£7.25).

Open: The deli shop is open Mon-Sat 8am-9pm while the dining area is open 12pm-late Mon-Sat.

and salads – ideal for a quick working or shopping lunch – and Great British Classics including comfort food favourites like beer battered fish and chips, mixed grill, steak pie and sausage and mash. Prices are reaonable with mains from £5.95 to £12.95 for an 8oz sirloin steak.

Taste recommends: Club Sandwich (£6.50) Celebrity Diners: Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Cole and Nicola Roberts; Blue’s Duncan James to name but a few.

Open: Serving food: Mon – Wed 12pm – 7pm; Thurs, Fri & Sat 12pm til late.

PanAm, Britannia Pavilion, Albert Dock, L3 4AE. 0151 702 5840 (www.panam-venue.co.uk) ONE of the first bars to set up home in the converted warehouses of the Albert Dock nigh on a decade ago, PanAm has stood the test of time and remains one of the city’s favourite hangouts.

Inside, the decor is pared back with lots of exposed brick and fabulous booths.

Downstairs the venue is split

into two rooms with one looking out on the dock and ideal for daytime bites and coffees and a restaurant upstairs.

On the food front they offer a full internationally-flavoured a la carte menu, bistro fare and even a kids menu and pre-concert menu for those off to catch a show at the ECHO Arena.

Open: From 11am to 2am daily.

Circo, Britannia Pavillion, Albert Dock, Liverpool, L3 4AD 0151 709 0470 (www.circoliverpool.com) CIRCO’S not just a bar, it’s an experience.

With clown heads jostling for space with circus lights, girls in ringmaster’s costumes and an enormous polar bear guarding the stairs, the dockside bar is no ordinary venue.

Beloved by the city’s glitterati, the place is equally as suitable for a spot of lunch as it is a gourmet

dinner or a pre-club cocktail.

Food is international and the menu is eclectic.

Taste recommends: The Purple Face cocktail. £1 from the sale of each of this vodka and liqueur-based drink goes towards the ECHO’s Liverpool Unites charity.

Celebrity diners: Abbey Clancy and Jennifer Ellison are regulars and Beyonce held her after show party here when the MTV Awards were in town.

Open: Sun-Thurs 9am-midnight, Fri and Sat 9am-2am.

Vinci Wine Bar and Restaurant, 77-79 Allerton Road, Liverpool, L18 2DA, 0151 738 1000 (www.vinciwinebar.com) GREATLY expanded last year Vinci has become a thriving, popular nightspot on Allerton Road.

From its original incarnation as a small cosy wine bar it has more than doubled in size with a sensational double-sided bar,

feature fireplace and restaurant upstairs.

The mix of clientele goes from trendy single students and young professionals through to middle-aged wine drinkers. And it works.

Daytime and specials menus offer Italian classics like meatballs and lasagne as well as restaurant favourites like sea bass, Thai green curry and burgers.

Open: Tues-Sun noon-late (last orders for food 9pm)

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Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Cafes & Bistros Vegetarian

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Egg, Top Floor, 16-18 Newington Street, Liverpool, 0151 707 2755 THE Egg Cafe off Renshaw Street, has long been a Mecca for Liverpool's trendy intellectual crowd.

Hand-painted flowers on the walls charm as you climb the creaky staircase to be greeted by the friendliest staff you could wish to meet on entering the roomy yet cosy, Bohemian vegetarian cafe.

There’s a mixture of medieval banqueting tables and smaller intimate corners, with a mezzanine level that looks down over the rest. The decor is in the finest tradition of oldschool vegetarian restaurants – original features painted with flowers, and a great view over the city.

Hot and cold dishes on display at the counter are all vegetarian, and most are vegan too.

Egg is a Godsend for vegetarians who want choice – and ones with an appetite that a salad won't satisfy.

There's usually four or five deliciouslooking savoury dishes, plus five or six desserts on offer.

You can't buy wine but you can bring your own and be charged £1 corkage.

It is a wonderful sanctuary and, while it doesn’t have the polish of fancier places, it has a homely feel that just can’t be replicated.

Taste recommends: The broccoli and stilton quiche and the banana cake Open: Mon – Sat 9am – 10.30pm, Sun 10.30am – 5pm

Green Fish, 11 Upper Newington Street, Liverpool city centre, 0151-707 8592 (www.greenfishcafe.com) OPEN since 1994 this vegetarian cafe has developed a reputation for providing affordable, fresh and healthy food. The ethos is strict – there are no stock cubes, monosodium glutamate or other nasty additives.

The layout – like the atmosphere – is relaxed and friendly. Diners are encouraged to share tables and books and leaflets are strewn about the place.

The menu is fairly standard – four or five savoury dishes, plus jacket potatoes, assorted salads, soups and three or four desserts.

Everything is prepared daily on the premises, and they cater for a variety of dietary requirements, especially gluten intolerant, dairyfree, and low cholesterol.

Expect dishes like mushroom risotto, chilli, broccoli quiche (£3) and vegetable lasagna (£2.75).

Open: Mon to Sat, 10.30am to 5pm

Mello Mello Vegetarian Cafe, 40-42 Slater Street, Liverpool, 0151 707 0898 MELLO Mello flies the flag as a community cafe. With a fabulous vegetarian menu, wide array of beverages and healthy Fairtrade snacks, it’s a real treat.

The cafe is open every day from 11am-8pm, later when there are events on, and the staff make the food on site.

It has a great homely feel, with comfy sofas and fabulous vintage-style decor, making sure it really lives up to its mellow name.

A not-for-profit venue run by volunteers it has free wi-fi, a library, and a range of events, plus a practice room/recording studio in the basement and a textiles studio on the first floor.

Open: Daily from 11am – 8pm

Sheldrakes Bar and Bistro, Banks Road, Lower Heswall, Wirral CH60 9JS. 0151 342 1556 (www.sheldrakes restaurant.co.uk) SHELDRAKES’ website boasts “view to dine for” and we are not arguing with the claim for one minute. As dinner vistas go the one on offer here – right across the River Dee to the Welsh Hills – takes some beating.

A former sailing club, Sheldrakes is a charming place, strings of fairylights twist round the windows and lush green plants climb up to the ceiling.

The food is predominantly Mediterranean in flavour featuring dishes like spinach and ricotta egg lune pasta finished with parmesan and pesto and

smoked salmon and king prawns, with fettuccine, fennel and a dill sour cream sauce.

However you will also find classics like chargrilled Cheshire fillet steak and even Thai dishes and ostrich on offer.

On Sundays Sheldrakes serves up a fantastic carvery, and in the summer you can experience the Sheldrakes barbecue on the restaurant’s delightful terrace – the perfect setting for a glass of Pimms.

Prices range from £6.95 to £12.50 for starters and from £12.95-£19.95 for mains, while pasta and risotto comes in at under £10.

Open: Mon-Sat 11am-midnight, Sun 11am-10.30pm

Chef Matthew Dougherty at Sheldrakes Bar and Bistro in Heswall

Home at Woodside Ferry Terminal

Leaf Tea Shop and Bar, 27 Parliament Street, Liverpool, L8 5RN, 0151 707 7747. (www. thisisleaf.co.uk) OPENED earlier this year the Leaf Tea Shop and Bar is a ‘punk tea shop’ in the heart of Liverpool. Set on the ground floor of the freshly refurbished Elevator warehouse space, it’s cheek-by-jowl with the rehearsal rooms used by The Zutons, The Rascals and Hot Club de Paris.

Hosting a friendly café in the day the delicious menu is complete with home made scones, cakes and snacks along with a mouthwatering array of more than 22 tea infusions from all over the world.

But after dark, Leaf transforms itself into an alternative live music venue, showcasing DJs, bands, gallery space, films, art, knitting groups and anything else that takes

their fancy.

For real tea aficionados – or those who’d like to be – there’s a tea tasting master class, exploring tea from around the world. Leaf’s resident tea expert is on hand to offer advice and in-depth information on the benefits and history of tea.

The venue was founded by young entrepreneur Natalie Hayward, 26, from Otterspool, who studied business and marketing at Lancaster University, and began her career with Korova Corporation, promoting some venues such as Alma de Cuba and BabyCream.

But before she began this role she had already set up her own music company. She says her current venture has drawn on both experiences.

Open: Sun-Thu 8am-midnight; Fri-Sat 9am-2am

Home, Woodside Ferry Terminal, Birkenhead, CH41 6DU, 0151 330 1475.

A NEW venture from the team behind Home in Oxton Village, Home is part restaurant, part cafe.

Set in the pretty tea rooms of the original ferry terminal, it’s light and bright and offers great views over the river to the Three Graces, the Albert Dock and the ECHO Arena.

On a bright day, savour the sunshine of their stunning roof terrace, or if there’s a chill in the air enjoy a cosy winter meal from the comfortable seating inside, gazing through the huge windows.

The service is great, and food ranges from breakfast dishes like smoked salmon eggs benedict to lunch favourites haloumi cheese and black olive tapenade sandwiches. There are good vegetarian options, and they’re happy to chop and change dishes to suit.

Taste recommends: The portions are on the generous side and the side dishes delicious, so if you’re planning a trip for lunch it might be an idea to skip breakfast.

And for maximum day out potential, take a trip on the ferry while you’re there.

Open: From 9am-5pm daily and 10am-5pm Sunday.

Natalie Haywood founder of the Leaf Tea shop and bar in Parliament Street

Afternoon Tea Afternoon Tea Afternoon Tea Afternoon Tea Afternoon Te ONCE a Victorian pastime reserved for ladies of a certain standing, afternoon tea has undergone a resurgence in recent years.

With everyone from fashion models to footballers’ wives getting together to sip Earl Grey and munch on cucumber sandwiches and pastries, it has become quite the 21st century food fad.

And here on Merseyside a number of restaurants have been quick to join the tea party.

Among those leading the charge are Roses tea rooms in Heswall. Roses was launched three years ago by Greek-born husband and wife Michelle and Andreas Foulia and has been packing them in ever since.

Michelle recommends afternoon tea should be as pretty as possible and insists on high quality ingredients. And it pays off, her tea room has been showered in accolades and is ranked alongside the likes of the Ritz and the Dorchester as a member of the British Tea Guild.

The menu should, says Michelle, include excellent loose leaf tea.

Assam, Earl Grey, Lapsang Souchong and flowering teas are good – black tea woven to roses and carnations – plus delicate sandwiches, warm freshly-baked scones with clotted cream and hand-made preserve, and a sponge cake, either mini individual cakes or one Victoria sponge.

Afternoon tea is served at Roses between 2.30pm-4.30pm from £7.50 and they also offer a children’s high tea as a great introduction to the tradition.

For those on this side of the water looking to sample an afternoon tea, the London Carriage Works is worth a visit. The Hope Street Hotel restaurant has been working on its afternoon tea for the last year.

With a menu inspired by the famous Betty’s Tea Rooms in Yorkshire, you can enjoy platters of Cain’s raisin beer cake, lemon drizzle cake with caraway seeds, tiny, light-as-air scones, nutty carrot cake with pecan nuts and maple syrup and wonderfully chewy macaroons with rosewater.

Tea is served between 3pm-5pm and starts from £9.50.

On the other side of the city centre you can enjoy afternoon tea at celebrity hangout the St John Restaurant at the Sir Thomas Hotel (where Jade Jagger has been spotted).

For £9.95 each you can nibble on assorted sandwiches, tea time cakes, fresh baked scones with clotted cream

and fruit preserves and sip freshly brewed tea from a selection. Or for £19.95 you can add strawberries dipped in chocolate and a glass of Champagne.

If you are looking for a truly exclusive afternoon tea, it is worth seeking out Elude restaurant in Liverpool’s docklands.

They offer a private afternoon tea for groups of eight or more featuring such treats as freshly baked lavender shortbread and quail’s egg mayonnaise on stone baked crusty rolls.

For tea with a view, book a table at the new Maritime Dining Rooms at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

They offer as number of tea options from the “light” – finger sandwiches, scones with strawberry conserve and clotted cream, and a loose leaf tea of your choice (£6 or £11 for two people) to the full afternoon tea (£11) with finger sandwiches, scones with strawberry conserve and clotted cream, home-made biscuits, patisseries and freshly baked cakes, loose leaf tea (£15 for minimum of two then £7 for each additional person). And if you really want to push the boat out you can add a glass of Prosecco.

Roses Tea Rooms, 23, Milner Road, Heswall. 0151 342 9912 (www.rosestearooms.co.uk) The London Carriage Works, 40 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9DA. 0151 705 2222 (www.hopestreethotel.co.uk) St John Restaurant, Sir Thomas Hotel, 24 Sir Thomas Street,

Liverpool, L1 6JB. 0151 236 1366 (www.sirthomashotel.co.uk) Elude, 15 Porter Street, Docklands, Liverpool, L3 7BZ. 0151 227 3882 (www.eludeliverpool.com) Maritime Dining Rooms, Fourth Floor, Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AQ. 0151 478 4056. (www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk)

THE practice of taking tea in the afternoon is usually credited to Anna Russell, the Duchess of Bedford. During the 18th century, dinner came to be served later and later in the day until by the early 1800s, the normal time was between 7pm and 8.30pm.

This meant the Duchess often found herself peckish between lunch and dinner a problem she solved by asking her butler to prepare a light meal of tea (usually Darjeeling) and cakes or sandwiches. She enjoyed this so much that she began inviting her wealthy friends and soon the tradition became popular in upper class circles.

NOW FULLY LICENSED 0 8 4 5 6 4 3 5 2 8 6 TAKING XMAS PARTIES BOOKINGS

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