From affordable, innovative fine dining to the ultimate comfort food...
If there’s one thing you can guarantee about time spent in Liverpool, you certainly won’t be leaving hungry. In fact, we’d recommend talking a change of trousers because if your top button can withstand a weekend in the city that knows how to eat, then you’re clearly buying your jeans too big.
From immersive grilling over lava coals and six courses which tell stories, to half-baked cookie dough and world-famous fried chicken, give a warm welcome to some new kids on the block…
What: Six by Nico
Where: 11-15 North John Street, L2 5QY
When: November 2019
If you stand in the centre of the city and listen really, really closely, you’ll hear a buzzing noise in the background. That’s the sound of the hype around Six by Nico as the acclaimed concept restaurant launches on the Liverpool dining scene. Brought to life in Glasgow in 2017, by Scottish-Italian chef and gastronomic renegade, Nico Simeone, Six by Nico is a culinary experience like no other.
A brand new six-course taster menu (£29pp) is reinvented every six weeks, inspired by places, memories and ideas. This is all about giving food a narrative as well as telling stories through carefully curated space design. The 90-cover restaurant will make this the second Six by Nico in England. It will also feature a swanky wine and spirits bar where guests can wash down meticulously-sourced ingredients alongside the truly beautiful produce.
What: Smoke & Dough
Where: 14 Paradise Street, Liverpool ONE, L1 8JF
When: Open now
Like your dining experiences to come with a bit of DIY? You’re going to love the latest addition to The Terrace in Liverpool ONE. Smoke & Dough invites guests to pick from a selection of marinated meats (think garlic butter chicken, chimichurri steak, mango chipotle pork) and cook the skewers on their very own lava coal pit at the table. Waiters will just keep bringing over your meat of choice ‘til you can take no mo’.
Herbivores have no fear, for there is plenty to tempt you. From spinach & ricotta tortellini to cottage cheese & vegetable shashlik. Make sure you leave room for a homemade dessert at this late-night restaurant and bar because between the Tiramisu Cube and the Smoked Chocolate Dough, your willpower is going to be tested.
What: The Baltic Bar & Restaurant
Where: 16 Jamaica Street, L1 0AF
When: Late 2019/early 2020
The Baltic District is home to a famous food market, a growing portfolio of contemporary residential property, a converted yellow submarine, some of the city’s most innovative creative businesses, an anarchistic golf course and a Peaky Blinders themed drinking den. It’s hard to imagine it could be missing anything really but then The Baltic Hotel comes along to plug a gap we didn’t even know was gaping.
The 35-bed boutique hotel will house a sophisticated bar and restaurant on its ground floor, launching a 'fusion driven approach to drinking and dining' in the coming months. The industrial-chic venue teases speakeasy style sipping and a world-class restaurant which aims to 'hit the spot' no matter what time of day with a menu of fresh ingredients and recipes from around the world.
What: Dhuma
Where: 308 Hoylake Rd, Greasby, Wirral CH46 6DE
When: Open now
Contrary to popular belief on the Liverpool side of the River Mersey, the Wirral isn’t just home to old people, charity shops and fields of sheep. The rural peninsula is actually a bustling hive of drinking and dining activity and one of the latest in line is contemporary Indian eatery, Dhuma.
Everything from street food to signature dishes will be created by a head chef who has a history in Mayfair, Notting Hill, Fulham and even working alongside Gordon f*cking Ramsey. As seems to have become customary in the trend for urban Indian fare, vegans, vegetarians and gluten-dodgers will be as spoilt for choice as the carnivores. All will unite over a unique cocktail list, extensive gin menu and repertoire of beers, including the locally-brewed Love Lane IPA.
What: MyCookieDough
Where: Liverpool ONE, L1
When: Open now
If you say you don’t like cookie dough, you’re lying. Okay, that might be a bit harsh but cookie dough is an edible phenomenon that has been sweeping the globe like a vanilla-scented tornado for quite some time now. Cookie dough junkies can now get their fix at Liverpool ONE as MyCookieDough finally brings its hunks of half-baked heaven to the city centre shopping district – the twelfth store in the country no less.
The dough is soft-baked to form a crusty outer layer around a centre of molten batter, freshly cooked while you wait and topped with a swirl of luxurious ice cream. The menu will evolve regularly with seasonal special editions to boot. Make sure you catch Instagram favourites: Oreo Cookie, Banoffee Pie and the irresistible Slutty Brownie slathered in sauce, while you can. Ooh, Matron!
What: Jollibee
Where: Whitechapel (hopefully)
When: TBA
If, like us, you’ve ever ended up spiralling down a rabbit hole of mukbang videos on YouTube (get your mind out the gutter) then you’ll likely be familiar with little ol’ Jollibee. It’s a Filipino fast-food chain which already has more than a thousand restaurants around the world as is famed for its hearty menu of naughty-but-nice junk.
We’re talkin’ Jolly Spaghetti topped with sliced hot dog, legendary burgers, Chickenjoy fried chicken with gravy, and the famous corned beef breakfast dish with eggs and garlic rice. Too tempting to care about the calories, right? Well the good news is, Jollibee has submitted applications to open a flagship restaurant in Whitechapel as part of its regional expansion plans so lets all keep our fingers, toes and eyes tightly crossed that that great shout gets the go ahead.
