Merseyside Restaurant Guide

“Local restaurant which has been there for years and always produces high-quality fare with excellent service”, from the “consistently awesome Locke brothers”, Matt & Adam. “There’s a wide choice of dishes – nothing too ostentatious, just good cooking”, “well-executed and reasonably priced” in a “modern European” idiom. It’s popular, so “booking is necessary”.

“Fabulous food with unusual flavour combinations, lovely staff and great service” make this neighbourhood bistro from Chris Edwards & Owain Williams “well worth the trip to the student quarter of Liverpool”. “Seasonality is the key here” – but “don’t come here for a romantic dinner-for-two: it’s buzzing!”. Top Tip – “the amazing early-bird dinner menu”.

“A spacious, beautiful building” in the Georgian Quarter next to ‘The Phil’ (built in 1888 as a ‘Home for Destitute Children’) hosts Paul Askew’s culinary bastion – still, after ten years in operation, the most high-profile all-rounder in the city in our annual diners’ poll. At heart this is high-quality “traditional” – if contemporized – dining: the ‘Excellence’ menu is a three-course à la carte, although there is also a six-course ‘Tasting’ option at £125 per person: “fabulous food, tremendous service, and a lovely atmosphere”.

Puglia-born chef Maurizio Pellegrini and his Scottish-Italian partner Rosaria Crolla launched this local fixture in 2009 and, all these years later, it’s “still very popular because of the quality of the seafood” (“excellent” oysters and seafood platters, “plus more basic dishes such as seafood risotto and pasta”). There are now two siblings: the Italian Club, and the Italian Club Bakery, both within an easy walk of this venue.

“A reliable, slick operation… always busy”: It all started in this “crowded” converted former bank for ex-barrister Nisha Katona, who has taken the Indian street-food formula she pioneered here and created one of the UK’s better small restaurant groups, nowadays with over 25 outlets around the country. The formula? Dishes are “authentically Indian”, “tasty, vibrant and good value”. Top Menu Tip – “love the chat bombs and the Goan fish curry”.

“A really great concept – lots of decent beer and spicy, snack-y Indian food” – is the MO of this casual and vividly decorated city-centre outpost of the small northern group: “more like a canteen than a restaurant”. Don’t expect trad curry and Tiger beer, though – here you’re looking at “vegetarian-only food based on Gujarati cuisine” served alongside local craft beers (including their own). The owners started out in Leeds, but there’s also a Manchester Piccadilly sibling that spawned a brewery a few years back.

A leading link in the Elite Bistros chain, run by chef-patron (and tireless social media poster) Gary Usher, who dropped ‘fish’ from the name at the end of 2023 to highlight the wider-ranging nature of the menu. Fans say it’s “excellent all round”, and particularly “great- value at lunchtime” (plus early evenings) when there’s a two-course set for £17 per person, and a three-course set for £20 per person. Despite its change of name, there are “some lovely fish dishes” on the menu, but that’s just the start of it, with the “unctuous featherblade of beef” singled out for praise this year.

2022 Review: ‘General Post Office’ now means ‘Global Provisions Outlet’ at this repurposed edifice in the Metquarter – Liverpool's biggest food hall, with 11,000 square feet in which to graze, which opened in summer 2021 and aims to champion independent vendors by offering support and incubation. High-profile initial sign-ups included Nama from Sheffield's JORO – an izakaya-style offering.

“There’s no doubting the quality of the food” at this tapas bar that has flown the flag for Catalan cuisine on Merseyside for 15 years and “never fails to produce a good lunch”. Its “friendly staff” will share in success following founders Peter & Elaine Kinsella’s recent decision to transfer ownership to an employee trust rather than selling up to retire.

2021 Review: Sibling to Manchester’s popular Albert’s Schloss, this ‘bohemian bier halle and cook haus’ replaces The Hub Alehouse. It’s unlikely to be a hugely foodie destination, but – if we’re reading the runes correctly – it should be a good laugh with hearty scoff (schnitzel, burgers, raclette) to soak up some fine brews.

2021 Review: BBC2’s ‘My Million Pound Menu’ winners Dave Bone (chef) Jamie Duffield (front of house), and Anthony Power opened this new venture in Duke Street Market (a revamped docklands warehouse) in spring 2019. The food offering is based on dishes found along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes in Spain, France and Portugal, and – though we received no survey feedback – it’s receiving a good rep generally (including from Michelin who awarded it a 2020 Bib Gourmand).

“A six-course themed taster menu, that changes every six weeks!” is the “playful idea” at Nico Simeone’s national chain, whose two London branches (in Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf) are “great for special occasions, but also affordable for a regular monthly meal out to experience the different cuisines”. At such keen prices, it’s unreasonable to expect perfection and most diners acknowledge this: it’s “a clever, and obviously very popular, concept, albeit one where the experience can seem a bit manufactured”; “although it doesn’t always live up to expectations, when you get the right menu everything clicks into place”; so while inevitably it’s “hit and miss, it’s also great value”, and “for a fun evening it does the job well”.

2021 Review: “Consistently good food at a competitive price” plus a “useful central location and a great choice of gins” means this modern brasserie from Merseyside’s Red & Blue Restaurants group is “worth a visit”.

2022 Review: “Always busy and buzzing with conversation”, this “reliable upmarket resto in the business district of the city centre” – a link in the glitzy national Italian chain – wins solid marks for its “atmosphere, good-quality produce and cooking”.