Liverpool Restaurant Guide

“The views are just to die for” at the West Tower’s 34th floor restaurant – a “great place to bring people”, particularly if you opt for the afternoon tea – but it’s no one-trick pony, and also pumps out some “gorgeous”, more serious cooking. Even the least enthusiastic report (which finds it “overpriced and way too pretentious”) says “it has the most amazing setting, and the food’s good”.

“Fabulous Maray never disappoints” – whether you head to this “packed” and “buzzing” outpost (est. 2014), or the equally popular offshoots in Allerton and the Royal Albert Dock. Inspired by the kind of food found in the Marais in Paris, it serves “interesting and inspiring” Middle Eastern small plates (“with a focus on vegetarian dishes”), and the end result is “a great experience” according to its army of fans.

This city-centre two-year-old from “incredibly talented chef” Anton Piotrowski, a BBC MasterChef: The Professionals winner, “is really getting it right now – great to see such a risky enterprise doing so well”. “What an unexpected delight – just another bistro from the outside, but inside it’s quickly clear it’s so much more”. “The tasting menu includes some very adventurous offerings” and on all accounts the food is “beautifully plated and tastes gorgeous”.

“Liverpool’s answer to London’s Dishoom” – Nisha Katona’s Indian street-food concept, “in the heart of the city”, has really nailed it, delivering “small sharing helpings of Mumbai-style street food”, alongside “yumblelicious” cocktails, served “by welcoming and knowledgeable staff” in a “modern and individual setting” (albeit one now being replicated around the country). Top Tip – “the always-good tiffin box option is the best”.

“Paul Askew’s elegant five-year-old, next door to the Liverpool Philharmonic, continues to produce some equally elegant and accomplished cuisine” which makes it one of the city’s top dining options. Recognising that not everyone will want something as full-on as the nine-course tasting menu, there are also prix fixe and ‘Excellence’ menus, also with pescatarian, vegetarian and vegan options.

“Another of Gary Usher’s fabulous bistros” is a typical take on this “great addition to the city-centre”: a stylishly refurbished two-year-old (formerly a derelict workshop), in the city’s merchant quarter, that’s nowadays the city’s most-mentioned eatery. Its gutsy, affordable fare is generally well-rated, but ratings sipped a notch this year on some more middling reports (“good in parts…”, “good but expected more…”, “prices are slightly high even if everything they do, they do well…”)