Liverpool, Spanish Restaurant Guide

“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.

“A well-thought-out range of well priced, sometimes interestingly different dishes” has made this lively venue a worthy follow-up to Paddy Byrne’s ‘Everyman Bistro’ (from which he moved here in 2015) and is likewise “ideal for pre-concert or theatre dinner”. As of Autumn 2024, it’s ‘temporarily closed’ with the website suggesting a relaunch after a refurb – given this uncertainty regarding its future direction, we’ve left it un-rated for the time being.

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).

2021 Review: Manchester’s tapas smash hit branched out in August 2019, with this large 250-seat opening, in the Exchange Flags development, overlooking Liverpool’s fine town hall (which formerly traded as Steven Gerrard’s ‘The Vincent’). A big and well-stocked bar is also key to the offering.

This “fun spot in the Albert Dock” – younger sibling of Peter & Elaine Kinsella’s Lunya – offers “a real taste of Spain and good value for money”. “Special mention for the excellent service” (“genuine attention paid to food allergies, above and beyond the routine questions”).