DOWN THE HATCH LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

I used to love going to the old Le Bataeu club on Duke Street when I was younger (we were over 18 obviously!) so nostalgia meant I was very sad to see it close down a few years ago. This sadness was quickly replaced with excitement however once I found out that it's basement would be taken over by Down The Hatch, Liverpool's very first real veggie/vegan junk food restaurant. It was about time that Liverpool city centre got it's very own modern meat free venue and last week was when we finally got round to being able to booking a table and giving it a try after all the Christmas and new year madness.

HOST LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

We have visited Host up on Hope Street in Liverpool several times in the past and we had always had a great time. It was slightly surprising then when we realized that it had been quite a while since we had ventured through their doors. That changed one evening when we bought tickets to see a show at the nearby Everyman theatre and having looked at the what seemed to be completely new menu on their website from the one we had last time we came we decided to go and see if their treats were still as good as what we remembered. Off we went on a warm Saturday evening with great expectations!

YARD AND COOP LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Chicken joints used to be few and far between in Liverpool but over the last few months more and

more venues have been popping up. The latest chick on the block is Yard And Coop. Opening its second venue in England after it's flagship in Manchester, can Yard And Coop really call itself "The Home Of Buttermilk Chicken?" We booked a table to find out for ourselves.

THE EVERYMAN BISTRO LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

A theatre wouldn't be my first point of call when looking for somewhere to eat but when looking for somewhere to eat after going to see a matinee performance of the Everyman Theatre's Company production of Fiddler On The Roof (which was stunning btw!) we saw that they had their very own Everyman Bistro offering up food prior to evening performances. Somewhere to eat right where we were spending the afternoon? Made perfect sense to give them a try and so we made a table reservation and after enjoying the show we headed down into the Everyman's basement to take our seat.

BISTRO PIERRE LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

So having enjoyed the £12.95 pre theatre menu at Bistro Franc in my previous post and being lucky enough to have tickets to go and see Sheridan Smith star in Funny Girl at the Liverpool Empire last week, we decided to give their sister restaurant, Bistro Pierre a whirl. Their pre theatre menu offered a different selection of starters and mains so it's practically like visiting a completely different venue isn't it? Could Bistro Pierre offer a tasty trio of courses similar to that of Bistro Franc? We headed off to go find out.

PLEASE SPONSER ME FOR RED NOSE DAY

One of the good things about having this blog is being able to reach out and try and connect with people for a good cause. So this post is a bit of a begging one but I don't care because I'm doing it to raise money for Red Nose Day 2017. Myself and a bunch of guys from my work are riding a stationary bike in a relay for 180 miles from our hotel in Liverpool to our head office in Hammersmith. We are hoping to raise £1000 for Comic Relief and you can help by donating as much or as little as you can to support our bike ride!

SLIM'S PORK CHOP EXPRESS (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Liverpool has a very rich multi cultural heritage but could a restaurant advertising a unique British take on American classics with a sprinkling of dim sum dishes inspired by the neighboring China town be fusion to far? Based right on the top of Seel Street, Slim's Pork Chop Express takes a lot of its influences from the movie "Big Trouble In Little China" with the retro references lining the walls to the names of the dishes on the menu, it really sounds like an 80's child's playground. I went down one Friday to see if it is all a bit gimmicky or a fun and playful place to bring a bunch of mates for chilled out meal.

CROSBY COFFEE'S MOCHA BROWNIES (AS FEATURED IN THE LIVERPOOL COOK BOOK)

Having been blessed to be given the opportunity to give away a copy of the brilliant Liverpool Cook Book produced by Meze Publishing, I have also been granted permission to share one of the books fabulous recipes with you in the hope that it will inspire you to head out and purchase a copy of the book for yourself. The first recipe to instantly jumped out at me from the pages was Crosby Coffee's mocha brownies. Not only did they look divine in the book but I can confirm upon making them that they taste equally as delicious!

WIN A COPY OF THE LIVERPOOL COOKBOOK

 Released on October 20th, The Liverpool Cook Book brings together the very best of the city’s burgeoning food and drink scene; from a fantastic array of independent restaurants, to cafés, pubs, delis, producers and suppliers. The book is the 16th in the series of regional ‘Get Stuck In’ guides by Meze Publishing, who were recently crowned Best Newcomer at the Independent Publishing Awards and I'm very excited to be able to offer you all chance to win your very own copy of this fabulous book:

MIYAGI LIVERPOOL (MATTY B RECOMMENDS)

It was time for some more foodie adventures in Liverpool now with a trip to Miyagi. This Asian restaurant located in the city centre up the thriving foodie hot spot that is Bold Street specializes in street food treats from the Far East. A glance at the menu shows traditional nibbles sitting alongside classic dishes with modern twists. Miyagi's namesake is a legendary movie creation, would the food be able to stand up to the name?

CRUST LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Pizza can often get a bit of bad reputation in the foodie world, whether that's because they have now become associated with dodgy takeaways you'd only dream of going too at 3am in the morning after a night out on the ale or because of the uninspired versions that get churned out at chain restaurants up and down the country. It can be really hard to find the real McCoy but Crust Liverpool hopes to change that perception by "pushing boundaries" with the Italian classic. Quite a bold statement I thought so when I feeling peckish one lunchtime and was passing by it seemed like a good idea to try to see if the goods matched up to the claims!

MOOSE AND MOONSHINE LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Moose Coffee have been operating in the North West for some time now and the success of their

American/Canadian diner breakfast experience has led to the opening of Moose and Moonshine on Liverpool's trendy Hope Street. With tickets booked for the Philharmonic hall just a few doors down, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go and try out their preview menu to see if that passion for producing a great North American brunch could be transferred to an evening offering.   

KO GRILL LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

For me, a lazy Sunday is all about tucking into a massive Sunday roast and if I had my way it would always be with a plump and juicy chicken. Therefore when it came to choosing somewhere to eat last Sunday in Liverpool, the tasty sounding chicken dishes on KO Grill's menu sounded like just what we needed, I mean sometimes you don't always want to cook that chicken yourself do you? So our decision was made and off we popped to Bold Street, Liverpool's continually expanding foodie hot spot to see if our wishes for a fabulous Sunday dinner could be fulfilled.

NEON JAMON LIVERPOOL CITY CENTRE (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

If there are two things that go well together its Tapas and a warm sunny day. Last week in Liverpool as the sun continued to shine over the city, I headed up to Neon Jamon on Berry St with a friend to take advantage of the glorious weather and pretend that I was outside a small cafe on the Mediterranean coast enjoying fine wine and great food. Having opened their new site just over six months ago, had Neon Jamon managed to transfer that taste of Catalonia from it's Smithdown Place branch near Penny Lane to the bustling streets of Liverpool's vibrant, multicultural city centre?

BUSABA LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Another restaurant opened in the old Stockton's building in Liverpool City centre last week and it's the one I was most looking forward to trying. I love Asian food so the prospect of a new Thai restaurant in the city was to exciting to resist and so, a couple of days after its official opening, three of us popped on over to Busaba on Hanover Street to see if our expectations could be matched.

ROOKWOOD BAR AND 'CUE LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

There are many new ventures in Liverpool claiming to offer great authentic BBQ food but not many of them are offering this for £15 for two courses with a bottle of beer! At the time of writing, this is what Rookwood Bar and 'Cue currently have on offer for midweek diners and with such an enticing offer on the table it was a bit of no brainer that we would have to go and try it out! 

CHEZ LE COQ LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

 

A Rotisserie chicken restaurant in Liverpool! Well I just had to check that out didn't I? Chez Le Coq situated on the currently booming Bold street has been making waves for a while now and last month I finally managed to take a trip down there to see if the claim on their website that their rotisserie chicken is the "finest" around was true! With all the recent restaurants open on Bold Street in Liverpool over the last 12 month it's becoming the place to be for hungry Scousers everywhere so you need to stand out from the crowd. With its name and the large cockerel emblazoned on the glass exterior it's pretty clear what Chez Le Coq is all about making it easy to grab the attention of any peckish pedestrians passing by who may be on the mood for some chook! 

LIVERPOOL PIZZA SLICE (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

When I get in late from work I don't need persuading to go for the easy option and get in a takeaway. Liverpool Pizza Slice situated in the Aigburth area of the city has just opened and begun to deliver so we decided to stray away from the big pizza giants and see what this local independent had to offer instead. So yes, this is a review of a takeaway. Don't worry, I haven't gone mad. This is a food blog designed for getting good food out there so let me say this from the off, Liverpool Pizza Slice delivered me one of the finest pizzas I've had not just in Liverpool but in the whole of the U.K. Let me tell you why:

THE BAGELRY LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

So it's noon and your peckish, where does one go to grab a spot of lunch in Liverpool's bustling city centre. Well if you're in the Chinatown area you might of noticed the Bagelry. This little cafe which specialises in (you guessed it!) bagels got my attention on social media recently so I decided to nip up Duke street and check them out!

CHAOPHRAYA LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

With the continual growth and regeneration of Liverpool city centre and the addition of more and more food outlets opening every month you sometimes forget about those guys who have been slogging it out in the area for years. One such venue is Chaophraya Thai Restaurant. We've been to this established restaurant several times in the past but had been a while since we had been through it's doors. Looking for somewhere to dine one evening, we decided it was time to go and check them out again and see if they can still hold their own against the new kids on the block.