Liverpool Restaurant Guide

‘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.

Born in 2019, a Liverpool branch of the Manchester- and Leeds-based street food chain that “specialises in Indian vegetarian food and craft beers. It’s always good, lively, and popular” and “very good value” too.

2019 Review: The original Delifonseca (re-named to avoid confusion with its spin-off), now with vintage cocktail bar, wins praise for its “really good food and interesting choices” from a daily-changing blackboard menu. Change may be afoot, however, with the owner eyeing a vast, Kickstarter-funded expansion of its dockside spin-off (home to a famed market hall), with plans to eventually operate from one base.

Nisha Katona’s burgeoning chain has grown from its Pool base to number 12 outposts in total and is finally eyeing up a London opening – in Fitzrovia, on the former site of Côte Brasserie. Reporters “absolutely adore” its “Indian street food with a UK twist” (featuring “lovely, tasty and original flavours”, and served in tiffins), abetted by “good cocktails”.

Peter & Elaine Kinsella’s “fun” and “fabulous” Catalan bar and deli offers a “mix of authentic tapas done exceptionally well”. Since opening in 2010 they have expanded to bigger premises in Liverpool ONE and opened Lunyalita in the Albert Dock, but a branch in Manchester’s Deansgate was a victim of the 2020 lockdown.

“You can’t fault the way seafood is served, from whole fish and seafood platters to battered oysters” at this popular venture from an Italian-Scottish family, that transforms from a daytime café into a “bustling trattoria” in the evening, serving a “very good traditional Italian fish menu”.

Energetic Scottish chef Nico Simeone continued his steady rate of restaurant openings with this Liverpool branch; the style of cuisine changes every six weeks, as at his others (previous menu examples include New York, Vietnamese Street Food, Childhood, Guilty Pleasures), and the only option is the £32 six-course set menu (matching wine flight £29). It’s all “very good food at great value”, although the quality varies “depending on the theme being served”.

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.

“Gary Usher just gets it right” – with his “high-standard” bistro cuisine at prices most reporters find reasonable (and despite the name, this is not a seafood specialist). “Cooking and service remained a delight” through the Covid restrictions, so “Wreckfish managed to recreate the special-meal-out feeling”. The worst criticism? – “I still don’t understand the undressed romaine lettuce leaves that accompanied the tender and sweet pork chop”!.

“Literally nothing could have been done better” – the tenor of reports on BBC MasterChef: The Professionals winner Anton Piotowski's upmarket but “relaxed” mid century-style dining room. The “very innovative” tasting menu (“an edible beetle has been known to appear”) “blew away” most reporters and represents “very good value for money” compared to London prices.

“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”.

2019 Review: “The meat’s good quality, and there’s no limits to what you can select” at this branch of a Brazilian buffet chain, where you eat as much as you like for a fixed price; by its nature, it’s “good for groups”.

2021 Review: “Italian small plates (this time)” “from the Salt House tapas stable” – win solid ratings for this “friendly, buzzy restaurant” from the Red & Blue team. It’s “great for a larger party”, with “seats at the bar good for dates”; “it’s crowded so you do get to hear your neighbours’ conversations – although in Liverpool that can be theatre”.

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).

2018 Review: Café outpost of Manchester’s New York-inspired all-day brasserie on the former site of a Liverpool grocery store. The Spinningfields original underwent a £1m refurb in 2016 and a Leeds branch arrived in autumn 2017.

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”.