Bold Street Coffee, Liverpool

Of all the coffee shops in northern cities I've been working my way around, Bold Street Coffee might just be the best yet.

The flat white was faultless. Beautifully crafted, perfectly textured, the espresso blend packing a punch but with a subtle fruitiness and hints of smoke too. A joy to drink.

A Monterey Jack, cheddar and onion toastie was also on the money. Generously proportioned and oozing loads of molten cheesy goodness, the sweet, sauteed onions were a nice touch, improving on a classic combination by avoiding the overpowering raw onion reek. The only thing I'd change would be to swap out the Monterey Jack for something with a bit more character, it melts well but doesn't taste of much.

£2.60 for the coffee, a little bit more expensive than the other independents I like, but still passes the 'cheaper than a shit version from a chain test' easily, and £2.95 for the huge sandwich seemed like a bargain. Also worth pointing out that the service was lovely, no hipster aloofness here.

Highly recommended. I'll be returning.

9/10

89 Bold Street
Liverpool
L1 4HF

http://www.boldstreetcoffee.co.uk/

Hanover Street Social, Liverpool

Liverpool gave me the runaround this time last week, or rather, I gave myself the runaround in Liverpool. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to eat, so long as it was good.

A vague inkling that Asian and spicy might be the way to go led me to the Maharajah, but the enormous void of the restaurant with just two couples hiding away in one corner felt too dispiriting for a solo dining session. I walked in through the door and straight back out again.

Where next, I thought? How about that Japanese place that gets consistently good reviews? A bowl of noodles wouldn't go amiss. So I traipsed across town to Etsu, only to find the reverse situation.They were so busy they couldn't fit me in. At least the traipse across town was a fine one;- Liverpool is really growing on me so I need to spend more time there (and less time on Knowsley Industrial Estate, chance would be a fine thing).

By this stage I was getting weary, I'd been up since five thirty that morning and was craving sustenance, so I gave up on Asian food and ended up in the vicinity of Liverpool One. If all else failed there'd be Salt House or Lunya.

I chanced on Hanover Street Social and remembered reading that it was run by the people behind Salt House Tapas, which seemed like as good an endorsement as any for a quality operation.

Sadly it didn't really turn out that way. It wasn't so much bad, as just a bit slack. I suspect this is a quality operation, but it was as if the B team were on duty for the Tuesday night lull and either couldn't really be bothered or weren't quite up to it.

The good bit first: tiger prawns and Colchester oysters can be had for just £1.25 or £1.50 each (a bit less for the half or dozen), so I had a couple of each. The oysters were spot on; bright, saline and creamy. Properly shucked too so as not to lose the juices. The prawns were also sweet and fresh if a touch overcooked, but went down a treat with very well made aioli and house ketchup.

The cheeseburger, offered cooked medium or well, was where it all went wrong. The burger itself had been overcooked into pointlessness, several stages past medium. It was dry, mealy and not really worth the effort. Why not send it back, you might ask. Well, sometimes I just can't be bothered with the hassle. I'm sure they'd have replaced it with something better without question, but sometimes when you've had a long day the extra ten minutes of time and effort doesn't seem worth it. Get the calories, cut your losses and leave.

Everything served with the burger was what brought to mind the description 'a bit slack'. All of it was perfectly edible but didn't inspire much enthusiasm. Limp fries, tasteless onion rings, catering pack relish and a big pile of undressed rocket. Ho hum.

As I've said I made no complaint, I ate most of the burger to fill myself up before bedtime, not that anyone actually went so far as asking me if everything was ok. I didn't really mind, it saved me the bother of replying 'fine thanks'. Other than that service was perfectly amenable.

Prices are reasonable for this sort of thing, or at least would be if the thing in question were done well. I paid just over twenty quid for the two courses and a glass of wine. I'm sure there's a quality operation lurking here somewhere, and perhaps on another day I'd have found everything wonderful, but a burger meal that was wrong in pretty much every way suggests something's not quite right.

5/10

16-20 Hanover Street
Liverpool
L1 4AA

http://www.hanoverstreetsocial.co.uk/

Host, Liverpool

Pan-Asian, a restaurant genre to strike fear into the heart of the purist. I'm not really one of those, but I understand their criticisms. Asia is a big place. The two most populous nations on earth have cuisines more varied than some continents, and that's just within their own respective borders. And it's not as if the vast span of Asia outside China and India eats food that's lacking in distinction either.

So can a Pan-Asian restaurant like Host really do justice to such myriad variety, or is it destined to disappoint? The classic jack of all trades but master of none.

A duck and watermelon salad with cashew nuts and thai basil was pleasing to eat on account of its textural contrasts. Fibrous meat, yielding, juice heavy melon and the snap and crunch of nuts and beansprouts. Taste wise it wasn't so much fun. Sweet fruit, sweet-ish meat and a sweet dressing left it one dimensional, needing something acidic for balance, or at least for the advertised basil to be detectable.

I couldn't resist ordering the seared beef pho to follow, partly because I fancied something soupy, and partly because at twelve quid it was by some margin the most expensive pho I've ever seen.

What does the mark up on your average Vietnamese restaurant prices get you? A very fine looking dish with a well stocked platter of garnishes, which although plentiful sadly didn't include any of the more unusual herbs, just regular coriander, mint and basil. The meat was the high point of the dish, a good slab of well seared, blush pink sirloin that wouldn't have been out of place with a bowl of frites. Springy noodles were also a hit.

So far so good, just the broth to taste, and oh... it just tastes of salt. Not offensively so, there's just not much else to it. None of the meaty depths of a good stock, no aromatic star anise back note. Ultimately what you're paying for is the European-isation of the dish, everything else acting as the supporting cast to the big slab of protein in the centre of the plate. Not unpleasant, just not really the point of pho as far as I'm concerned. It should be all about the broth.

Sadly it didn't really add up for me at Host. I hoped that the food would defy expectations, but it just served to confirm my suspicions that pan-Asian restaurants are never the place to go for genuinely good Asian food.  At £24 for two courses, one beer and service it's also not cheap.

Service, I should point out, was excellent. Everyone I spoke to was attentive, polite, and keen to check that everything was ok. Fine, I said, of course. Which it was. You can't really take up your issues with the entire concept with the waiting staff.


5/10

31 Hope Street
Liverpool
L1 9HX

http://www.ho-st.co.uk/

Lunya, Liverpool

As a little warm-up for my impending holiday in Spain I thought I'd have a little tapas session while I was in Liverpool last week. The city is blessed in this regard, being home to both Lunya and Salt House, the pair just a stone's throw apart on the edges of the Liverpool One development.

Last time around I chose Salt House, primarily as the menu at Lunya was a little overbearing. Multiple pages describing a great many things in some detail. The menu is still comprehensive but has thankfully slimmed down to a more manageable single page crammed full of goodies.

Having eaten there I understand the rationale behind the extensive menu. Lunya is also a deli and importer of Spanish and Catalan foods, and the long list is clearly borne from a desire to show off the marvellous ingredients rather than any tendency to overcomplicate. This was evident in bowl of gordal olives stuffed with orange and chilli flakes, which were as good as any olives I've eaten anywhere, ever. The only ones I think come close are the gordal olives from Brindisa.

A glass of manzanilla, which took an age to arrive, was fantastic with the olives and well worth the wait. Tinder dry and a bit salty, but somehow cool and refreshing with it.

Catalan fish stew, or sarsuela, was simple but delicious. The thin, savoury saffron spiked broth was brimming with good quality, plump mussels and prawns and several chunks of what I think might have been red mullet.

Pear, rocket and valdeon cheese salad was enormous, and all about the cheese really. The ripeness of the blue dominated the flavour but not in a bad way. It was smooth and sweet rather than bitter, and the whole had a pleasing texture from the freshness of the leaves and added crumbled walnuts.

The only duff note of the night were the ham croquetas. Nothing wrong with the taste but they'd either not been fried for long enough or dunked in oil that wasn't hot enough (I'd guess the latter) rendering them a touch heavy and rather greasy.

Bread was a fine example of the usual Spanish stuff. It can seem a bit heavy at first, lacking the finesse of a French loaf, until you realise the denser texture is perfect for soaking up whatever delicious juices happen to be swimming around your various dishes asking to be devoured. In this case it became the vehicle for a good half bowlful of lovely fishy stuff. Splendid.

Save for the drinks being very slow to arrive, and the oil for the bread never arriving at all (though I didn't really miss it) service was excellent. The food arrived quickly and the guy serving me knew the menu well and was happy to offer recommendations.

It's also very good value here. Offers are available on every week night, on Wednesday it was any five tapas for a fixed price dependent on when you order, £18 before 6, £19 before 7 and so forth. As a result before service I paid £20 for the food and £4.25 for a generous 125ml measure of sherry. Full prices are still more than fair, with olives cheaper and far better than other places nearby (Jamie's Italian to pick an example at random) and an almost main portion sized fish stew chock-full of seafood costing only £6.95. Well worth a visit.

Roll on Friday when I'll be heading south for more of the same.

8/10

18-20 College Lane
Liverpool
L1 3DS

http://www.lunya.co.uk

 

Salt House Tapas, Liverpool

I finally got round to a long planned day out in Liverpool on Saturday. Good intentions of spending some time in assorted museums and galleries were curtailed by the glorious weather, so I actually spent most of the day strolling the streets, loafing in parks, and stopping off for refreshments here and there.

Tapas had been part of the plan for a while, having not had any decent Spanish food for a while, and having received glowing recommendations for both Salt House and Lunya. On the day there was little to choose between the two, but Salt House won on account of its outdoor tables being in the sun rather than shade.

Things didn't get off to the best of starts. I was sat at the table for a good ten minutes, and watched a couple arrive after me, sit down, peruse the menu and order all before anyone seemed to notice I was there. A waitress eventually came over and said 'Are you waiting for someone?' 'No, just me' I replied. 'Oh', she said, 'can I get you something?' 'Perhaps a menu?' 'Ok', she wandered off, looking a bit surprised. Maybe solo dining is still unheard of in these parts, it's still quite uncommon in a lot of places, and can be an uncomfortable experience. I've long since stopped caring though, if I'm out and about alone and want a good meal then why not. I'm not going to get Iberico ham at Greggs am I?

Fortunately things improved rapidly from thereon, the menu arrived swiftly and the waitress was soon back to take my order. I chose from the lunch special menu (3 tapas plates and bread for £8.90) and added a half plate of acorn fed Iberico ham (£7) from the main menu. To drink, a glass of manzanilla sherry.

Before we proceed further, I need to make this clear. Sherry is categorically not just for your Gran at Christmas time. Anyone who still thinks this is true is missing out. Try a glass of chilled dry sherry (Manzanilla or Fino) with just about any savoury dish, you might be surprised. With a plate of good quality ham it's a match made in heaven.

The Iberico ham at Salt House was excellent, carved properly in thin slivers, each morsel delivered an intense flavour that was somehow both deeply savoury and sweet at the same time. The fat was rich and creamy, slowly melting on the tongue to release layer upon layer of flavour. This in combination with the cold, dry, slightly salty tanginess of the sherry is just perfection. I sound like I'm getting a bit carried away here, but it really is that good.

Once I'd stopped salivating over my ham, I did eat some of the other food that had arrived. A piece of mackerel with piquillo pepper sauce was excellent. Spankingly fresh and cooked accurately so that the skin was crisp and the flesh soft, moist and sweet. The portion was perhaps a touch stingy, I know it was from the lunch menu, but it was mackerel which is usually cheap as chips.

Which leads me on to fried potatoes with bravas sauce, which are basically chips of a sort. This was the only duff note of the meal. The potatoes were fried nicely, but the bravas sauce was a bit bland, having only a very mild tomatoey flavour. Something with a bit of chilli in it, or at least a more concentrated tomato taste would have been better.

A cos lettuce salad was simple and perfectly pleasant, it came dressed with olive oil, manchego cheese (I think), and a couple of anchovies. The sourdough bread with oil and vinegar was also fine.

I still had some ham left after finishing the other dishes, so I ordered a Mahou lager and sat back sipping my icy cold beer, nibbling on bits of ham, feeling the warm sun on my face and generally thinking I was in Madrid. I wasn't of course, but on Saturday afternoon Liverpool made a very fine substitute.

A great meal topped off by what turned into great service. After the initial hiccup my waitress became increasingly chatty and turned out to be a lovely Liverpudlian lass. This little conversation we had as I paid the bill made my day:

Waitress (hands me the card machine to enter my pin): Here you go.
Me (no option to leave tip on the machine): I'm not sure if I have any change, do you still get the tip if I add it on here? If so can I add it on here?
Waitress: Yeah you can, but you don't have to give me a tip.
Me: No that's alright, I want to. I've enjoyed it.
Waitress (not taking machine back): Nah, don't be daft I haven't done anything special, I don't expect one.
Me (entering pin then checking wallet for change): I used to live in London, I'm used to places adding 12.5% whether they deserve it or not.
Waitress: Well that's out of order that, I think it should be up to the customer if they want to leave a tip. I'm just doing my job.
Me (finds coins, leaves generous tip): I agree, I'm leaving a tip though 'cos it's been really good.
Waitress: Aww, cheers.

As far as I can recall that's the first time the staff in any restaurant I've been in have tried to turn down a tip!

In total the bill was £23 not including service. Good value for top notch ingredients and a generally high standard of cooking. Service was friendly, efficient and completely lacking in pretension. Highly recommended.

8/10

Salt House
Hanover Street
Liverpool
L1 3DW

http://www.salthousetapas.co.uk/