Food Man Chan

Second Chance Salon

2010-02-06T11:42:00.003Z

The Exchange Restaurant - 3 Thomas Steers Way,Liverpool, L1 8LW, 0151 708 4200

This is called second chance salon because a family meal on Christmas Day was a little disappointing but the management were very apologetic and assured me that if I was to come again things would be very different. So not wanting to dwell on bad things here is a review of a recent visit made just after a visit to the Liverpool Wheel, just before it was dismanted from its current Liverpool One site.

Despite being a restaurant in an international hotel chain that serves many business guests - any one reading the menu will be left in no doubt that the it has serious aspirations of being a top notch eaterie that really care about the sourcing of local artisan produce. The prospects looked good.

The Jewel of Irby

2009-08-23T19:26:00.011+01:00

Cromwells - 9 Thingwall Road, Irby, Wirral - 0151 648 9898

I was looking for a place for Sunday lunch on the Wirral and being a Liverpool based resident I used Google and stumbled across the Cromwells website. A couple of things impressed me and made me want to visit and try it - the content and tone of the website seemed very positive and the sample Sunday lunch menu was very attractive and the prices were VFM @ £8.95 for 2 courses or £10,95 for 3.

As I ended up their with my friend Juliette, who was over from Manchester and we sat our designated table the waitress politely asked what camera I was carrying as the lady boss - Kay - was an enthusiastic photographer and had spotted my tell tale Crumpler shoulder bag. Suddenly I had a really good feeling about this place. I told the waitress to tell Kay I was carrying a Panasonic Lumix G1 with me and all the food shots for this blog entry were taken with that camera.

The Sunday lunch menu is written up on a chalk board and changes weekly but follows a fairly formulaic approach of three starters - soup, melon cocktail or potato wedges - mains always include roast beef and at least one other roast plus a selection of dishes from the a la carte main - puddings change weekly and the list comes on a small chalk board that is bought to your table but always feature a selection of ice creams for the most excellent Cheshire Ice Cream Farm. Like the ice cream, much of the produce used by Cromwells is sourced locally - indeed their website has a list of their suppliers.

Anyway on my first visit I had the homemade spicy potatoe wedges - simple but very effective like so many things in life where less is more

On my next visit I didn't fancy any of the startes and I asked the waitress could I have one of their most excellent homemade Yorksire Puddings with their roast gravy as a starter instead - the answer was yes - service here is very customer focused and if the request is reasonable they will try their best to oblige.

On my first visit I had the roast Lamb which does not come a Yorkshire pudding as standatd (it comes as standard with the roast Beef) but I asked if I could have one and the answer was yes.

All Sunday lunches are accompanied by a generous serving of potatoes and veg - superb roasties and boiled new potatoes seem to be staples as do mashed swede and carrot and roasted parsnips, the green veg was brocolli one week and wonderful cabbage another.

On my second visit I had the grilled fillet of Seabass with lemon juice and cracked black pepper - this was a mians from the carte but I was allowed to order it on payment of a modest supplement.

Desserts change weekly but always feature ice cream from Cheshire Ice Cream Farm - below is the homemade Lemon Tart with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream

Vanilla and Rhubarb with Ginger Ice Cream

As you can see from the pictures the quality of the food speaks for itself at Cromwells and coupled with great front of house service and a VFM policy, it is no wonder that booking is essential for Sunday lunch. FoodManChan hopes to try the main carte one evening very soon - I really fancy the Black Pudding Topper starter - raditional Black Pudding made by The Bury Black Pudding Company, topped with Locally reared Bacon from Lewis’s Butchers, Greasby & mature Cheddar and the Homemade Meatloaf Mains -Traditional Homemade Meatloaf, made with locally reared farmed Beef & Pork from Lewis’s Butchers, Greasby. Accompanied with a Port & Redcurrant sauce.

They are running a two for one promotion on their a la acrte menu at the moment.

A great asset to Irby and the surrounding area - Cromwells gets a definite two thumbs up from FoodManChan

Who's the King of the Jungle?

2009-07-26T16:15:00.009+01:00

Mei Mei - 9-13 Berry St, Liverpool, L1 9DF - 0151 707 2888

Last night my friend Neil treated the 4 of us to a meal at the Mei Mei - somewhere we hadn't dined in there for many months, but recent feedback was that the kitchen was on form and producing some of the best Chinese food in Liverpool.

Based on what we had tonight - the current Mei Mei kitchen is well head of the Harbour City, Chung Ku, and Tai Pan. The dishes showed a lightness of touch and subtlety of taste that was refreshing in the extreme.

We kicked off with three starters to share between the four of us.......

Thai Style Boneless Chickens Feet - the dressing with fresh lemon, coriander and sweet chilli was abosolutely sublime and very refreshing!!!!

Next up that Cantonese classic of deep fried Stuffed Crab Claw which were done perfection and served with three dips - vinegar, sweet and sour and salad cream...

The Lobster dish was amazing - so refreshing and different from the usual ginger and spring onions with or without noodles. Th Lobster was steamed on a bed of egg white and flavoured with a Chinese wine sauce. - truley inspired cooking....

Mains were......

Superb stir fried King Prawns in a Chilli and Tomato Sauce

Tong Choi with fermented beancurd and chilli

The ubiquitous Soya Chicken

This was an amazing dish - the stewed duck with 8 treasures (48 hours notice required) - pity you cannot the duck under the eight treasures but the skin and flesh was done to perfection - soft and moist and full of flavour....

We accompanied everything with boiled rice and this truely wonderful Thai style seafood fried rice topped with pork floss.

We finished with Mango Pudding

One of the best Chinese meals I have had in Liverpool - ever

Wok It - another South Liverpool Gem...

2009-07-05T04:16:00.012+01:00

Wok It 437, Smithdown Rd, Liverpool, Merseyside L15 3JL - 0151 733 2008 ]

Its been open about a month and is the latest SE Asian style eaterie to grace South Liverpool. The concept is simple but new to the the dining out scene - essentially a takeaway with an open kitchen with Wagamama/Tampopo syle bench style seating and tables which is used for communal dining. There is no table service and all main courses comes in American style Chinese Takeaway Containers, whilst the starters are all pre-packed. The drinks list contains a selection of Asian largers/beers and the superb Zenya range of bottled Green Teas which are served chilled - check out Pomegranite Green Tea -its rather good. Cutlery is either plastic or one use chopsticks

The Wok It Menu is pretty basic but with enough variety for it to be of interest to your average foodie who is looking for something new

First choose your staple - which lists a selection of noodles and rice including ramen, soba and udon whcih are served with shredded carrots, chinese cabbage and beanspruts. Match this with your choice of individually priced ingredients - the usual pork, beef, chickenn, tofu and tiger prawns but also pak choi, sugar snap peas baby corn and even an egg. Prices range from £1.70 for the tiger prawns to 30p for the egg. Choose one or as many ingredients and you would like depending of how hungry/rich you feel. There is a good selection of sauces - including more unusal ones such as Tamaribnd and Basil and Teryaki. So mix and match to your hearts content.

We started with the Spicy Vegetable Cracker and Wasabi Peanuts

Be warned - the Wasabi Nuts are very potent but addictive - the Vegable Crackers are like prawn crackers but with a midly spiced flaovour - very pleasent.

I had the Soba, Pork with Tamarind with Basil combo-

This was very good with a real slightly sour flavour provided by the tamarind and the sweetness of of the Thai basil. It was just a little bit different and all the more welcome for being so.

Graham had the Udon noodles with Pork and Tiger Prawns in the Spicy Chilli Sauce - beware this is a chilli sauce that really kicks with no compromise to the western palate - just as its should be.

Superb - especially if you enjoy a decent chilli kick

The Bill -

The headlining total may seem high for two people but closer analysis would reveal that it is really mo more expensive than a decent takeaway with the option to sit in. My Soba with Pork in a Tamarind Sauce only came to £5.20, Portion size is generous - Thoses American style takeaway cartons are deceptively large and many customers just sealed them up and hey presto instant doggy bag. I only managed 2/3's of my portion.

As declared at the bottom of the menu, there is a healthy eating policy in place with limited or no used of MSG. FoodManChan says go try for yourself.

A Tale of Two Set Lunches

2009-06-30T23:32:00.014+01:00

New Star - 149A Duke St, Liverpool, L1 4JR Tel:0151-708 8882

Eastern Diner - 159-161 Allerton Road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool, L18 T: 0151 724 2021

The ubiquitous "Businessmans Lunch" was pioneered many decades ago by early westernised Chinese Chop Suey Style Restaurants were the three courses with a VFM price tag were seen by one and all to be the best thing since sliced bread. As my family were one of the pioneers in the 60's of such estbalishments I feel no gulit in saying that whilst VFM was a key ingredient, authenticty was not. The food served, whilst cheap filling and very tasty - it could never be called quality cuisine. The first course was alway soup - made from a catering packet or a glass of orange juice - main courses (of which there was a daily changing but limited list always came with fried rice or chips and included classics such as sweet and sour pork, beef curry, chicken and mushroom and if you were a vegetarian it would be curried boiled eggs or Spanish omelette which meant the omlette had tomato and peas in it. Dessert was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a few tinned lychees or if the chef was in a good mood, jam sponge and custard.

Well it is now 2009 and the culinary scene has changed quite alot since the 60's but the set lunch is still alive and kicking and where it works, a great way of making money during the day time hours. FoodManChan decided to see what was "on the menu" in 2009.

Venue one was the New Star - a city centre chinese restuarnt that as a good mixture of chinese and wastern customers, where both traditional and westernised Chinese style food of a good standard is served, They have a very good cheap and cheerful set lunch menu with limited choices but ideal for the average wage slave with only an 1 hour to spare for his mid-day repast.

Venue two was the Eastern Diner - located in a thriving suburban district of South Liverpool - it is surrounded by many of other eateries, wine bars etc - many of which don't open at lunch time. It serves a mainly westren clientel and the menu reflects this but the set lunch is a vital part of their trade.There's is a more sophistcated set lunch more suited to ladies who lunch and retired couples than the office worker in a hurry in the New Star

The New Star
£4.50 buys you a bowl of chicken and sweetcorn soup and a serving of prawn crackers - a choice of three fried dishes, three chow mein dishes or chicken beef ir pork in the sauce of your choice which is quite generous - I think I counted about 12 different types that included clasics such as sweet and sour, curry, garlic and blackbean. Also on the list were a very delicious black pepper and a fiery chilli and garlic. These came with a choice of boiled rice, plain fried rice or chips

Chicken and Sweetcorn with Prawn Crackers - an iconic classic

These were functional but nothing to write home about - don't get me wrong I enjoyed them but they lacked the wow factor

Beef in Black Pepper Sauce with Boiled Rice

This on the other hand was a real treat - the sauce was delicious, the beef tender and look at the way in which rice is presented - all good stuff.

The Eastern Diner
The price of a set lunch at the Eastern Diner is much less straight foward, though the choice of what is available is much greater. A standard main course is £4.90, with a soup it is £5.90, but you could add a starter course or opt for an executive main course or any combination the the above. To keep things fair - I opted for the soup and standard combo at £5.90 - £1.40 more than New Star and no prawn crackers.

However, there were are choice of three soups and I had the Hot and Sour Soup which was really rather good and a much bigger portion than the New Star

Mian courses always come with chips and either plain fried rice or boiled rice and a little salad. As I had Yang Chow Fried Rice, I got the same treatment, Portion size - the New Star wins easily though taste wise both were just as delcious.

On a strainght comparison I feel the New Star just pips the Eastern Diner with comparable quality but the additon of prawn crackers and being £1.40 cheaper. However when you take into account the better choice, quality and quantity of the soup and the potential to create a much more substantial meal. the Eatern Diner deserves serious consideration. Very much a case of six of one half a dozen of the other.

Bamboo Part II - is this one of South Livepool's Best Kept Secrets

2009-06-26T17:22:00.009+01:00

Bamboo - 64 Rose Ln ,Liverpool, L18 5ED, 0151 724 4416‎

A recent visit to Bamboo revealed it had much potential and in need of a further visit. Well the chance came when I went to have lunch with my parents and their friend Linda who were curious at the low prices and the potential to get real "one plate meals" in the suburbs of Liverpool - so we had a very critical panel of diners.

We kicked off with 3 starters to share:-

Deep Fried Wonton with a Sweet and Sour Dip

Very competently executed and the filling consisted of prawns and some minced pork. At £3.20 a portion its an abosulte steal - better value than any chippy.

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops

As promised the Salt and Pepper mix was very low in salt but quite high in spiceness - though the pork chops was a little on the dry side which even the waiter did admit as as we left but again a very competent excution of a Cantonese classic.

Vietnamese style Spring Rolls filled with salad flavoured with coriander and king prawns and a dip of fish sauce, chilli, vinegar and sugar

See the previous blog entry for more details about this dish, which is one of my favorites.

Then followed on with three "one plate/bowl meals" from different parts of SE Asia to share.

Teriyaki Chicken Stir fried with Udon Noodles

If you like Japanese style dishes you will love this - deep fried breaded chicken breast covered in teriyaki on top of a pile of stir fried udon - very good - gets my vote

Tom Yum Special with Vermicelli

A big bowl of vermicelli in a Thai style Tom Yum (hot and sour) broth served with sliced tender beef, chicken and king prawns - superb

Dry Fried Beef Ho Fun (Hong Kong style)

This was superb - best dish of the day - very much a two thumbs up dish

Service was spot on. This place should not remain a secet for long as the standard of service here is high, the food is spot on with a very good variety to choose from and the value for money factor unmatched by anywhere else

Bamboo Menu with Current Prices Side One

Bamboo Menu with Current Prices Side Two

Bamboo - is this one of South Livepool's Best Kept Secrets

2009-06-21T22:54:00.014+01:00

Bamboo - 64 Rose Ln ,Liverpool, L18 5ED, 0151 724 4416‎

On late Saturday afternoon I was driving back from a wedding reception held at a ceratin hotel on the edge of Sefton Park and the reception buffet had been woefully inadequate and was feeling more than a bit peckish when I was on Rose Lane and noticed Bamboo to my right. My sister had been there and thought it OK but I had never been and so decided it was time I tried it out for myself. It has only been open for a couple of months

I had a pot of Jasmine tea and a starter of Vietnamese Style Prawn Spring Rolls - essentially rice pancakes are soaked in water and wrapped around a fresh coriander flavoured salad with half a sliced king prawn at each end served with a dip of vinegar, sugar, fresh chilli and fish sauce and not a bit of deep frying in sight....

These were so refreshing - not had them anywhere else in Liverpool before. Two Thumbs Up from FoodManChan

My main course was fried Ho Fun with sliced chicken in a spicy sauce of Garlic, Thai Sweet Basil and Chilli

Again most enjoyable and just a little bit different

As I said I was just passing and will definitely be back for a further exploration of the menu very soon - which the manager a certain Mr Lei tells me has some rather unique items such as salt and pepper dishes which are extremely low in salt and that all dishes can be cooked without Salt and MSG with a lower fat content.

Bamboo Menu Side One

Bamboo Menu Side Two

Fathers Day Lunch at the Chung Ku

2009-06-21T21:55:00.018+01:00

Not been here for a while for a number of reasons but as Fathers Day loomed the decision was taken by father that he would like to lunch at the Chung Ku

The reason behind this was that he had craving for two things that The Chung Ku does really well - the deep fried whole Cantonese Chicken Wings and the perennial favourite of Lobster Noodles with Ginger and Sping Onions on a bed of yee mein noodles

Chciken Wings

Lobster Noodles

Look at the size of that claw - one lobster was enough as even though there was six of us for lunch we wanted to save our appetite for the other things that were to come.

My choice for this meal was a 24hr special order dish which has no direct translation of its name Gum Wah Yuk She Kai - basically it is slices of boiling fowl interleaved with slices of yunnan ham, chinese mushroom and ginger, topped with a supreme stock and garnished with stems of Kai Lan (chinese broccoli) - so nice

Look at that presentation - including the head with beak and all

Next up came my sisters favourite of Teng Jai Juk - Fishing Boat Congee - again it was of a very good standard

A selection of very fine dim sum followed

Har Gau - steamed prawn dumplings

Ngau Yuk Cheung Fun - Steamed Beef Rice Roll

Chiu Jow Fun Gwaw - steamed nut, vegetable and meat dumpling

This a personal favorite of mine

Sui Mai - Steamed pork and prawn dumplings - everyones favourite dim sum

Saang Chow Nor Mai Fan - fried sticky rice with chinese preserved meats - sublimely executed by the Chung Ku and one of my brother in laws favourite dim sum

Lor Bak Go - fried slices of turnip cake - these were absolutely superb

Jung - steamed sticky rice parcels filled with greenbean and salted egg yolk and fatty pork

Steamed Leaf Tripe - bit of an acquired taste but a favorite of my sis

Hoi Nam Wonton - dumpling filled with coarsely diced pork, prawn and chinese mushroom served with pak choi in a light chicken broth - one of my favourites

To finish we had Dan Tart - the Cantonese speciality egg tart - again these were sublime

This was a great Father's Day lunch and shows that the Chung Ku is still able to produce top notch "real" Chinese food

The Best Hot Dog in the World - Probably

2009-04-22T15:43:00.004+01:00

Costco - 20 Waterloo Rd, Liverpool

The cafe at Costco has a very limited menu but what it does it does really well and at a very competative price. The pizzas are sublime, the chicken and bacon bake is deicious and the bake potato selection second to none. However for me the best item is the Hot Dog with Onion, a genuine 100% beef hot dog in a soft bun topped with onions

Hutong

2009-04-18T04:57:00.007+01:00

One Michelin Star - Amazing 28th floor location on 1 Peking Road in Tsim Tsa Tui, Kowloon, Hong Kong and stratospheric prices - can Calvin Yeung's food at Hutong live up to the hype!!!!

Hutong - 1 Peking Road, kowloon

Well the long awaited visit to the controverisal Hutong finally happened. It has just been accoladed a star rating in the newly released Michelin Hong Kong and Macau Guide.

Local opinion is divided with many saying its a rip off and the food is just for westerners who know nothing about real chinese food. So this was always going to be a very interesting meal.

First of all you must approach Hutong with an open mind and not be constrained by preconceptions of old school Chinese food and service which has more incommon with the likes of Maxim's XXXX Garden chain. Those who ate at The Oriental at the Dorchester Hotel in London which was one of the first Chinese restaurants in the world to gain a Michelin Star would not recognise the style or presentation of food at Hutong. The Oriental was strictly old school with luxury and opulance, married to dishes like Foie Gras stir fried with Asparagus and homemade XO sauce and some ofthe highlest levels of front of house service.

Hutong is new school. Calvin Yeung has created innovative new dishes that have their flavour and texture combinations firmly from a classical chinese ancestry but with ultra modern presentation in an cleverly concieved dining space that combines a fabulous modern 28th floor location over looking Victoria Harbour and the Hong kong Island skyline with an old style courtyard style decor. Service is impreccible.

A Michelin star, righly or wrongly, is more than just about food, setting and service have to be of a standard as well. Hutong is very good and the prices reflect the fact that quality costs.

We had the Michelin Award Tasting Menu

First up came indiviual platters that contained starter size portions of:-

Razor clams steeped in Chinese Rose wine and Chilli Pad - some ofthe best razor clams I have ever tasted

Scallop slices topped with pomelo segments - ab fab - loved this dish

Green Asparagus Spears dipped in white sesame seeds flavoured with chili - was much better than it looked or sounded

Nect came the seafood combo

Boneless Mandarin Fish slices topped with crispy crushed yellow beans and chilli. Crystal King Prawns with Salty Duck Egg Yolk and Crab Roe Batter - pure foodie heaven.

Meat

Hutong Signature Crispy De-Boned Lamb Ribs- chef Calvin Yeung's signature dish and it really was the best lamb I have tasted in a long while and served with shredded leek and a dipping sauce

Wok fried beef tenderloin with scallions- good but not good enough in this company - when everything else has been well above average this was good but could have been better

Vegetable and Dumpling

Wok fried string beans with dry chili and minced pork - again great textures and flavours

Shrimp and Pork Dumpling in Superior Soup - again very good stuff

Dessert

Cocounut Ice cream, coconut shavings, apple spring rolls and red date shooter - interesting but not so good if coconut is not your thing

Italian Club Fish

2009-04-17T17:30:00.007+01:00

Italian Club Fish - 85 Bold Street - Liverpool City Centre - L1 4HF - 0871 9624398

Follow the link and you can read all about the Corolla family - the original Italian Club and get all the background you need on this gem of a eatery which serves a rather fine line in fish and seafood.

A Saturday lunch yeilded a very fine meal indeed.

Starters:-

Smoked Haddock Fishcakes served with a homemade Tartar Sauce

Six fresh Oysters with sherry vinengar and shallots

Balsamic Carpaccio of Tuna with a Roacket Salad

Mains:-

Gran Fritto Misto - selection of seafood and fish in a light batter served with homemade chips, tartar sauce and a side salad

Traditional Parmesan Crusted Fish Pie

Grilled Sea Bream served with sauteed mediterrean vegetables and bread

Menu Page 1 Page 2

Chilli Banana

2009-04-17T10:12:00.009+01:00

Chilli Banana - 2 Lark Lane, Liverpool, L17 8US - 0151 726 8641

Lunchtime on Lark Lane can be a bit quiet unlike evenings which are generally pretty busy, and very much so at the weekend. Thus the option of Thai food at lunchtime is most welcome and something I had wanted to try for a while. The reputation of Chilli Banana has always been very good since in opened a number of years ago when it took over from the L'Alouette but it was only now that I got to try it. We dined off the Thai Style Tapas Lunch menu and whilst the prices were a tad on the steep side, the quality and variety of the food was very good and though we were the only table that lunchtime, service was very good and the whole dining experience was most enjoyable.

What we had:-

What could be more typically Thai than Tod Man Pla - spicy fish cakes

Satay Gai - skewers of marinated Lancashire chicken served with peanut sauce and fresh cucumber pickle

Moo Ping - skewers of char-grilled marinated Lancashire pork served with a spicy sauce - these were very good

Laab Gai - spicy chicken salad with mint, onion and lemon grass - chicken was a little dry

Yam Pla Grob - crispy whitebait spicy thai salad - a very tasty and refreshing salad

Mee Grob - sweet and sour crispy noodles - not sure about this dish - I found the taste and texture a bit strange

Kow Neow - thai sticky rice served in a steaming basket

To accompany there is a selection of designer teas served in individual traditional Thai teapots - I had the very freshing FRESH MINT & CHRYSANTHEMUM

A shared dessert the name of which I cannot remember concluded a very pleasent lunch

Casa Italia - Old School Italian in a Modern World

2009-03-30T10:12:00.005+01:00

The Casa Italia - 40 Stanley St, Liverpool L1 6AL 0151 263 1040

Little has changed at the Casa Italia in the last 30 years - testament to a winning formula that was right from the very beginning. It serves and has always served no nonsense pasta and pizza and the crowds keep flocking in. There is a great atmosphere, the price is fair and what it does it does very well. Front of house service is very good and best of all - consistent.

On a busy Saturday evening, four of us shared 3 starters - the classic Italia garlic bread

A bowl of mixed salad with the ubiquitous Casa Italia Dressing

Affetato Misto - platter of cured and smoked meats with pickles

Mains portions were very generous and tasty - starting with classic penne carbonara which appeared on the menu as maccheroni

Tortellini alla Panna - Oven baked meat filled pasta, with chicken, bechamel & mozzarella

Pizza Margherita - Classic pizza with olives with a good grinding of fresh peppercorns

Spaghetti Napoletana - Classic tomato sauce with fresh basil

This is good, honest food - no pretentious allusions to single estate olive oils, wild meat and fish from the mounatins and seas of Italy - it is food we can all enjoy and at at price that is accessible and in a great atmosphere.

Another foodmanchan 2 thumbs up recommenation

All Good Stuff

2009-03-21T14:30:00.002Z

Breakfast need not be fried, greasy, fatty and full of cholestrol to be tasty - this is a great breakfast to set you up for the day and is full of natures bounty -

Virtually fat free pro-biotic yoghurt topped with Dorset Cereals simply delicious muesli, some stewed prunes and selection of exotic fruit salad - a great tasty breakfast that will keep ypu going throughout the morning

Lunch was an equally healthy salad (tomatoes, baby beetroot, readish, cucumber and lettuce) served with soem cottage cheese and a roll mop herring

and some potato salad topped with sliced boiled egg and cress

Elif - Real Turkish BBQ Restaurant

2009-03-21T09:33:00.002Z

Elif - 6 Lark Lane Liverpool Tel. 0151 728 7362

Lark Lane has many eating places but Elif stands out as being one of the best - not only in Lark Lane but in the whole of the city of Liverpool. The menu is not extensive but what it does it does very very well and consistently so - so far standards have not dropped at all since it opened and the popularity of the place even on a weekday night bares testament to the quality of the food and service.

We always have a seelction of their execllent dips which come with real turkish pide bread that has been toasted over the charcoal grill.

Ispanak Tarator- Tender leaves of fresh Spinach mixed with Yoghurt, Tahini and Garlic

Cacik - Minted Turkish Yoghurt Dip with Cucumbers

Pathican Tarator - Smoked Aubergine puree with Yoghurt, Garlic and Olive Oil

Salads include - Piyaz - A Butter Bean salad with boiled Egg, Olives, Tomatoes and Onions with an Olive Oil dressing

A basket of the wonderful turkish pide bread

There are also a selection of hot starters as well - things like chicken wings, spicy sausage, meatballs etc - two of the more unusal ones are the lambs liverfor the offal fans out there and in addition to the usual king prawns in garlic there is the more unusal - Kalamar Dolmasi - Calamari tubes stuffed with Feta Cheese and Parsley grilled on charcoal

Main courses, which are primarly meat - chicken or lamb in various guises - are all cooked over charcoal on the superb BBQ they have installed - the star attraction has got to be the Adana Kebab but everything off the BBQ is good and usually there is at one choice of grilled whole fish - sea bass or sea bream

All meals come with a superb salad

and BBQ roasted onions in a beetroot and pomegranite dressing

One of my favourite eating places in Liverpool and the food is generally pretty healthy as well

The Boathouse - Parkgate

2009-03-21T08:42:00.004Z

The Boathouse - 1 The Parade, Parkgate, Neston,Merseyside, CH64 6RN - 0151 336 4187

Great views across the Dee Estuary - a great menu with a kitchen brigade that is able to deliver on the plate what is described on paper - the Boathouse is an ideal Sunday afternoon venue for a spot of good food and relaxation. Four of us dined and the general feeling was that we had really enjoyed our visit.

Starters included - a classic potted shrimps in lemon butter with half a toasted english muffin

Seared Scallop with carrot puree, parma ham & vanilla fish cream

Mains included - a rather decent Caeser Salad - it may not look much but it was packed full of crisp romaine lettuce, strips of ham and fresh anchovies, very decent croutons and a generous shaving of decent quality parmean - all good stuff

The traditional Sunday Roast - slices of beef and lamb with the usual trimmings and a truely gloriuous yorkshire pudding swimming in gravy

This was cod with crayfish on a bed of creamy mash

Recommended

The Recent Best of Harbour City

2009-03-09T20:36:00.008Z

Harbour City, 27-35 Berry St, Liverpool, L1 9DF 0151-708 5999

Sublime Yau Kai/Soya Sauce Chicken - currently the best in Liverpool - fabulous caramel colouring and the most moist and juicy of flesh

At a recent meal we sampled thier version of the classic Peking Duck - eaten over three courses - it must be ordered with at least 24 hours notice

First course was duck bones, tofu and preserved vegetable soup

Then the sublime crispy duck skin with pancakes, shredded leek and cucumber and hoi sin sauce

Finally, the meat from the duck is served stir fried with asparagus and XO sauce

The pai gwat fung jow jung jai fan - steamed pork ribs and chicken feet rice is very good

Well worth having is the steamed scallops on the half shell with garlic and vermicelli - truely sublime

The ultimate to die for dish - a whole roast suckling pig

Right at the moment Harbour City is on top form - I urge you to go and eat there

Dining Afloat

2008-05-25T06:02:00.014+01:00

Here is a record of some of the delicious food I encountered when I spent a week onboard Ladyline Hotel Boats cruising the Llangollen to Oswestry section via Ellesmere - all food is homemade

Day One
Dinner
Smoked Makeral Pate

Diced chicken with mushroom and leeks topped with creamy mash and caramelised onions

Served with white wine sauce for pouring and a selection of vegetables

Tarlet of Summer Berries on a Mascapone Base drizzled with fresh cream

Day Two

Breakfast
As well as the usual selection of cereals. fruit juices, tea, coffee, toast, jam and marmalde - toast always comes with real butter

there was always the option of a fully cooked breakfast as well - you just had to say what you wanted and how much of it - my first cooked breakfast consisted of bacon, sausage, egg, tomatoes and mushrooms - the bacon and sausage were very good quality and the egg perefectly cooked - sunnyside up and over easy

Lunch
A particularly fine meal of local ham, chutneys, selection of fine cheeses, salad and some superb homemade potato, rosemary and feta bread

Lunch aslo included a particulary pleasent baked camembert

Afternoon Tea saw the return of the absolutely glorious Victoria Jam Sponge - truely a work of culinary art - as good a bit of baking as I have had anywhere

Dinner
Starters was pan fried scallops with thier coral served with a cherry tomato salsa - superb - two thumbs up from foodmanchan

Our main course tonight was roast beef with all the trimmings - parsnip mash, green beans and scrummy crispy roast potatoes served with a yorkshire, gravy and horseradish sauce.

Desert was good old custard trifle

Day Three

Breakfast - I just had cereal and toast - no cooked brekkie for me this morning

Lunch
The Ladyline version of Ceasar Salad with some rather decent homemade chive bread

Afternoon tea today came with homemade coconut and cherry madalanes

Dinner
Starter was a delightful corstini of parma ham and parmesan topped with a crispy sage leaf and served with salad leaves with a balsamic dressing

Main course was homemade smoked haddock fish cakes served with hassleback baked potatoes and a selection of sauteed vegetables
- quite delicious

I skipped desert and just had some cheese and biscuits

Day Four

Breakfast - found out last night that kippers were an option so I had kipper fillet grilled with butter, a couple of soft poached eggs and some fried mushrooms

The kippers were delicious - mild yet very tasty and perfect with a nice runny poached egg

Lunch was homemade meatballs in tomato sauce on a bed of linguini served with freshlymade garlic ciabatta

I should mention a selection of fresh fruit is available after lunch each day

Afternoon tea today came with some absolutely delightful homemade scones served with strawberry jam and clotted cream - I admit I had two they were so nice.....

Dinner started with button mushrooms in a creamy stilton sauce

Main course was baked local ham with a mustard crust served with boiled exquista potatoes, sauteed cabbage and carrot and a classic white sauce

Dessert was homemade mango fool

Day Five

Breakfast - as Linda had beento the deli in Ellesmere the night before, blackpudding was a breakfast option and so I obliged with an order for bacon, sausage, blackpudding, egg and mushrooms - a veritable fry up

Lunch was a slice of homemade spinach, red onion and feta tart topped with slices of parma ham and served with oven roasted vine tomatoes

Dinner started with a classic Waldorf salad

and follwed by a mains of a sort of Ladlyline style chicken casserole served with cualiflower cheese and string beans

I skipped dessert and cheese that evening but I seem to recall it was chocolate mousee

Day Six

Breakfast this morning was a fried slice topped with creamy scrambled eggs and two slices of some seriously good bacon

Today was the day of the famous chicken lunch - crispy crumbed drumsticks, sate chicken with peanut sauce and coronation chicken - all good stuff

Dinner started with an intensely flavoured homemeade mushrrom soup

the main course was a traditional roast leg of lamb dinner with all the trimmings - roast parsnips, leeks and carrots plus roast potatoes, gravy and mint jelly - a fine roast dinner

Put it all together.......

Dessert was a homemade lemon courd roulade

Day Seven

Breakfast - a return to kippers this morning but with a fried egg this time

Lunch was a bed of creamy rissoto topped with a mild goats cheese and slice of parma ham with a twist of black pepper - quite delightful

Our final nights dinner started with that 60's classic - Egg Mayonnaise but given a ladyline modern twist by serving the eggs topped with just a small serving of mayonnaise, diced gherkins and an anchovy fillet - a great little starter

Main course was fillet of pork in a whisky cream sauce served with potatoes, mashed carrot and swede and string beans

Dessert was a classic jam suet sponge pudding with lashings of custard

Day Eight

Breakfast was to be my final meal onboard the Lady Margaret - the day started with the only ture sunrise of the week

followed by a superb breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, fried slice, and mushrooms

Thus we are now at the end of a week of very fine food onboard a very fine Ladyline Canal Hotel Boat.

Beware of Greeks Baring Gifts

2008-05-17T10:50:00.005+01:00

Christakis Greek Taverna - 7 York Street, Liverpool, L1 5BN Tel: 0151 708 7377

For a start it Greek Cypriot which is the case of most so called Greek taverna's in the UK but that in itself is not necessarily a bad thing - and look at the publicity - its been around for the last 27 years. Anyway my visit was with friends on a Friday evening when the live entertainment, which starts at 10pm and goes on till 2am consists of some dodgy Zorba the Greek style dancing and a belly dancer from Lark Lane who is hotter on audiance participation that hip wriggling and to top it all the food is less than stunning. Basic would be perhaps the most kind way of describing it but if one wanted to be cruel one could say it was tasteless, luke warm (which is actually an authentic Greek style of serving) and completely lacking in any form of innovation. Any here are a few pictures for you to judge for yourself and play the identify me game by refering to the menu

Were were 3 and had 2 of the Meze and one starter and mains from the party menu - all just one price - £15 inc. the entertainment each plus drinks etc - it was an experience but so is root canal surgery so I am told.

And finally - the belly dancing queen - funny - I always thought belly dancing was Egyptian/Turkish

Some Very Fine Dim Sum

2008-05-06T12:29:00.003+01:00

Harbour City, 27-35 Berry St, Liverpool, L1 9DF 0151-708 5999 - currently 30% off all food

Possibly serving some of the best dim sum in Liverpool at the moment.

Woo Gok - Yam Croquettes - these were superb - some of the best I have ever eaten

Kai Jat - slivers of chicken, fish maw, yam and chinese sausage wrapped in beancurd pastry - again one of the best examples of its kind

Gaon Jeen Choi Yuk Bau - fried minced pork and vegetable buns

Siu Long Bau - Shanghai Dumplings

No idea what these were called but the looked pretty and tasted fine

Char Siu Soo - BBQ Pork Pastries

Fung Jau Pai Kwat Fan - Steamed Chickens Feet and Pork Ribs with rice

Siu Yuk - the crispy belly pork here at Harbour City is very good - great taste and divine crackling

Wor Tip - Pot Sticker Dumplings

Finish with a delightful Mango Pudding

Shining Bright

2008-04-28T09:22:00.004+01:00

New Star - 149A Duke St, Liverpool, L1 4JR Tel:0151-708 8882

Certainly the New Star seems to be going from strength to strength. I ate there last night and overall the quality was very good with only the noodles of the House Noodles dish letting the side down as they had not been fried properly and kacked the exepcted crispy texture that makes this dish.

The Siu Yuk Aap Fan - Roast Duck and Crispy Belly Pork with Rice, garnsihed with Pak Choi was spot on and a very generous portion

The Guan Chow Ngau Yuk Hor Fun - dry fried beef with rice stick noodles - one of the New Star kitchens signature dishes - one of the best of its kind in Liverpool if not the North West - tonights plate was up to its usual high standards

Jiew Pai Chow Mein - house special fried noodles topped with roast dick, crispy belly pork, chicken, pork, fish balls, squid and king prawns - usually another New Star success but for some reason the chef seemed to have forgotten to properly fry the noodles and give them the crispy texture that really makes this dish - so instead of the usual 9/10 today we got a 6/10 dish - but still quite good

We also decided to order a portion os See Jup Yeung Saam Bo - Aubergine, Green Pepper and Tofu stuffed with minced prawn meat in a garlic and blackbean sauce - always a tasty favourite

Certainly the New Star is shining brightly these days.

The Scouse House

2008-04-23T12:38:00.005+01:00

The Scouse House - 3 Oliver Lane, Birkenhead, CH41 6AP - 0151 647 6427

The latest venture of the redoubtable Anthony Zausmer, formerly of Posh Nosh Kitchen in Market St. - The Scouse House is quite unique as a space and all the better for it. Rather than describe the interior it is best for you to go along and see it for yourself. The menu, which can be viewed at the website, promises alot and on the two visits made so far, it has delivered.

Three types of Scouse is served in the Scouse house - traditional, blonde (with chicken instead of lamb and blind (no meat)so suitable for vegetarians.

I was well impressed by my bowl of scouse, the lamb was tender and flavoursome and the potatoes, carrot and turnip still had plenty of texture and flavour - all in all a great bowl of Scouse

BREAKFAST

The Scouse House also does a great All Day Breakfast which includes ulster fry and mushrooms:-

Toast was served with real butter and you really can taste the difference

The breakfast really was superb -

Bacon, Sausage, Blackpudding, Ulsterfry, Egg, Beans, Fried Tomato and Mushrooms with two rounds of quite delightful toast and butter - it hit the spot nicely.

Could this be the perfect Kebab

2008-04-23T12:27:00.003+01:00

Pizza Zara, 61 Lawrence Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L15 0EE

This is the Lamb Shish - two skewers of diced leg of lamb meat with a selection of salad in a pitta bread topped with tahini and chili sauce - £3.50 and quite possibly the best kebab I have ever tasted in Liverpool

More Chung Ku

2008-04-23T12:14:00.004+01:00

Just had a great mid week meal at the Chung Ku in Liverpool - this was real good Chinese food - the stuff you could only dream of getting in a restaurant in the UK not that many years ago -

We started with the standard Lai Tong - sliced pork, kai choi, salted egg, tofu and straw mushrooms in a clear stock

Gwat Heung Lung Lai - stir fried celery with fillets of dover sole on a bed of itaskeleton deep fried until very crispy.

Mui Choi Jing Yuk Beng - steamed minced pork mixed with preserved vegetables

XO Saam Seen Lo Suun Bak Fan Yue Jerk Chow - Bak Fan Yue Birds Nest filled with stired fried king prawns, squid, scallops and asparagus in XO sauce

Geung Jup Kain Lan - chinese broccoli with ginger

This was very good food indeed.

Da Bin Lo

2008-03-23T10:57:00.005Z

aka - hot pot, Mongolian hot hot or Chinese Steamboat. The most common English name for Da Bin Lo is probably Hot Pot - well it seemed to be when I was recently in Hong Kong. Rather than re-write what has been written many times before - please find a potted history and description of Hot Pot in its many guises in this link to the excellent Wikipedia article on Hot Pot/Da Bin Lo

This is a typical home style da bin lo set up - a single portable gas ring with a metal pan on top filled with a stock made from bits of veg, garlic and ginger and a selection of yue dan and yuk yuen - fish and meat balls. This is the broth where everything will be cooked over the course of an evening and by the end should yeild a tasty soup rich with flavour from all the cooking that has been done in it - obviuosly the pot is topped up with water throughout the evening when required.

You can get pots with a divider to allow for a plain stock and a spicer stock such as a Satay or Tom Yam based soup. Also, often nother chinese based stocks can be quite oily and have a heavy chili and spice content which is not to everyones liking - I have to say I am not overly keen on them, prefering a simple stock or a mildly spicy satay stock.

What you cook in your hot pot is really down to personal preference but below is a good selection which I had my cousins in HK recently

Here you can see stuff like the thinly sliced fatty beef, fresh enoki mushrooms, fish and meat balls, frankfurter stype sausages, prawns, beancurd, beancurd sticks - the list foes on and on

If there are lots of you at the table - sometimes having two pots of stock is necessary, especially if you have a long oval table - like the da bin lo recently at my house with friends

One gas burner and one induction plate. Also as you can see we had thinly sliced fatty lamb and pork as well - something that has only just become available in the Chinese supermarkets in Liverpool - well actually only the Chung Wah in Liverpool has managed to source these items.

Items that you can have with include:-

Dumplings are always a favourite and usually inlcude Sui Gow

and Wonton

Seafood is always nice but it will depend of what you can get hold of, especially if you are in the UK

In Hong Kong you can get hold of Oysters like these:-

These are deep fried gluten balls - hollow, they go very soft and a bit chewy when soaked in the da bin lo stock for a few minutes

The infamous thinly sliced fatty beef

A selection of yue dan and yuk yuen

A view of the da bin lo table at my house on Easter Monday before we started to eat ;-). It is now possible to get a very good range of stuff for da bin lo as the chinese supermarkets in Liverpool, especially the Chung Wah. Some of the stuff we had is listed below:-

Two types of stock - spicy and plain - with a selection of meat, fish and cuttlefish balls

Fresh king prawns

A selection of dumplins - siu gow, wonton and choi yuk wonton

Marinated frogs legs

Mushroom selection - enoki, shimeji and abalone

In this photos - thinly sliced beef and lamb, fresh wheat gluten, pigs kidney, various meat/fish balls and a tray of silken tofu

As I said before Da Bin Lo is a great way to eat and enjoy the company of friends

Foie Gras

2008-03-23T10:08:00.003Z

This is a love it or hate it food - the fact that it is the fattened liver of a forced fed goose makes it a no no food for many people who like to think they are ethical in their eating but foodmanchan will not be debating this issue - instead this blog entry will be about one of the finest starters I have ever eaten and yes - it did feature a slice of fresh foie gras

This is the menu description - Seared Foie Gras - with caramlised apple, Balsamic honey reduction and apple puree and diced beetroot. hk$158

This was truely a sublime dish - the foie gras was expertly seared so that it was crispy on the surface but the inside was almost cream like in texture it was so smooth and the liver taste was so delicate and subtle - simply stunning.

If in Hong Kong I do recommend you try this at The Stonegrill - I dined at the TST branch in Ocean Terminal - I would avoid the Waygu as it is the bland Australian bred stuff and not a patch on the full blooded Japanese Kobe Waygu - the Canadian short rib is very good though and much cheaper. As has already been said - the Foie Gras is to die for.................

New Star

2008-02-16T08:37:00.003Z

New Star - 149A Duke St, Liverpool, L1 4JR Tel:0151-708 8882

An interesting addition to the Liverpool Chinese restaurant scene. It opened in 2007 and soon estabished itself as having the best bakery in the north west, though it struggled initially with in main dining options but time has proved it can be very good at certain types of dishes and there are a number of special offers across the range of different menu options both chinese and english. The set lunch menu is execptional value at £4.50 for 3 courses and the quality and choice is top notch.

The whole subergine stuffed with prawn meat served in an abalone sauce is one of the signature dishes of the kitchen quite exceptional if you have not had it before

The hot pot of belly pork with yam slices is perfect for a cold winters dinner - real comfort food

New Star does saome real home-style dishes like -

Steamed minced pork with salted fish

Three style of egg steamed - salted duck, normal hens egg and preserved egg

Bitter melon egg slices

There are a couple of dishes that the New Star version of is simply to die for -

The salt and pepper prawns are not the biggest in the world but the seasoning is sublime and and the texture just perfect

The pigeon - red roast style - at the New Star is the best I have had in the UK - at £8:50 a pigeon it is an absolute bargain given the qulaity of the cooking involved - a superb gamey taste with flesh that is still moist and succulent and a crisp skin.

Dim Sum is ok - the range is a bit limited but generally pretty good and the bakery goods really excels on a Sunday though is available 7 days a week

New Star by name and New Star by nature

Sunday Retreat

2008-01-25T08:03:00.000Z

Cafe 23 - 23 Church Rd, Wavertree, Liverpool, L15 9EA 0151 733 8800 Cafe 23

Cafe 23 presents foodmanchan with a dilema - a great breakfast but crap service and soggy toast.

The place was buzzing on a Sunday afternoon when I felt the need for a full Englisgh but the usual cafe haunts of South Liverpool were all closed for business when I chanced upon this place. Not exactly a greasy spoon - more your upmarket neighbourhood cafe with leather sofas and coffee tables at the front of the cafe and the more usual tables and chairs at the rear.

The kitchen is open plan and looks as if it can do the business and best of all you can see your breakfast being freshly cooked and not come out of a nicrowave - but this still does not excuse the half hour wait without the meerest hint of an apology for the delay. Also my tea order got lost even thoigh it was part of the breakfast and I did not get my cup of tea till I asked

Teabag still in a cup - this happens in greasy spoons not places like Cafe 23 with upmarket intentions and prices to match

Breakfast when it came was very good indeed though spoilt a little by the refusal of a request for a fried slice. The blackpudding was to die for, tomatoes freshly fried and there was an unannouced portion of fried potatoes. A very nice breakfast imdeed.

Pity the toast was soggy

Cafe 23 presents a bit of a dilema - will I be back - I think so and in the hope that the poor service was a one off

Pizza Zara Part Deux

2008-01-23T22:48:00.000Z

Pizza Zara - 61 Lawrence Road, L15 0EE, 0151 733 8889.

My favourite kebab shop had it first visit of 2008 this evening - it was late (about 9:30pm) - it had been a long day and I was pretty hungry.

A donner and lamb shish mixed kebab was required and soon ordered.....
you can only see the donner meat in this photo but hiding deep within the pitta bread and salad are chunks of tender and tasty lamb shish all drizzled with a mild chili sauce and tahini

There - you can see the chunks of lamb. This was one delicious mixed kebab and an abosolute bargain at only £3.50.

As I was particularly hungry I had their plain garlic bread as well - it was a first for me but it will not be the last - it was truely to die for as they say - superb doughy texture and light yet pungent garlic taste and aroma.

Pizza Zara is definutely a FoodManChan two thumbs up place.

Birds Nest with Scallops

2008-01-20T21:42:00.000Z

Chung Ku - Columbus Quay, Riverside Drive, Liverpool Tel: 0151 726 8191 - Chung Ku

I had what was porbably one of the best birds nest dishes I have ever eaten tonight at the Chung Ku. Often the whole birds next thing is there purely for show and the material used is shredded potato which is chewy and abit stale but looks good as a sort of semi edible container for the rest of the dish. You can of course have the birds nest made from shredded yam or even noodles but to night we had it made with bak fan yu - essentially shredded white bait, which was what we had tonight

We had dai jee lo sun jerk chow (made from bak fan yue) - birds nest made from shredded white bait filled with scallops stir fried with fresh asparagus - it was to die for...........freshly cooked crispy birds nest that has abosrbed the sauce of the dish into its base and a filling of succulent slices of king scallops with al dante pieces of fresh green asparagus spears

This gets a two thumbs up from FoodManChan!!!!

Home Grown Food

2008-01-20T08:04:00.000Z

Well not exactly home grown, and not even homemade, except for the chicken pieces, but rather a bit of an assembly job but a very tasty one indeed -

Noodles and Soup Courtesy of NongShim
Gobo Sui Kau - Prawn Dumplings
Brenda's Pork Wontons
Chicken Pieces marinated with garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine and black pepper
Chinese Leaf Cabbage
Malaysian Chilli Sauce

Delicious, filling and simple and quick to prepare.

Breakfast Bacino

2008-01-19T10:05:00.000Z

Il Bacino - Brunswick Way, Liverpool, Tel: 0151 708 5005 - Il Bacino

If you want more details about the place about see the earlier entry. This will deal with the breakfast I had there. The breakfast menu tries to be quiet sophisticated and despite serving all the ingredients that you would normally find in a full English breakfast - it did not actually serve one as such. You could have a toasted ciabatta sandwich with a choice of fillings that included bacon, sausage and black pudding, other dishes had beans, mushrooms and egg and you could order toast but when I enquired about why no Full English at the end of the meal - I was told by the waitress it was because the chef wanted to do a something a little bit different - bizarre.

The question is - was the something a little bit different any good. Well- here is what we had:-

Smoked Haddock Fishcake with chunks of smoked haddock, topped with a poached egg and coated in Hollandaise sauce

A potato tosti topped with a slice of ham, wilted spinach and poached egg served with a small ramekin of hollandaise

Well they say good things come in small packages and these two breakfast dishes were certainly good and just a little different from the breakfast fayre usually available - the only place that comes close is Neighbourhood in Woolton - but the portion size could have been a bit more generous, espeically as the price tag was not exactly cheap at about £6.50 per dish with tea and superb toast seperately charged -

Intersting - tea is served in Illy coffee cups

The toast served was very good, the bread they used was responsible for this - a plain batard loaf but curiously it came pre-buttered but with a tray of jaam pots and butter as well.

Breakfast came to £20 for two which is not exactly cheap and given that here are places doing a plate of sausage, egg, bacon, beans, fried bread, hash brown and two slices of toast for £2 - it makes you think but on balance I would breakfast/brunch at Il Bacino again because quality costs and sometings its nice to hafve so,mething a little bit different.

Bulka Z Makiem

2008-01-19T09:52:00.000Z

No - you have not strayed into an alternative language blog but rather this entry is just to highlight the growing phenmenon that is now part of Liverpool culture - the Polish and the spread of Polish shops that offer a who new cuisine for the trying. I settled down to a mug of mint tea and a Bulka Z Makiem - a poppy seed pastry that was moist and soft and sweet but just a slightly bitter edge from the seeds that made the taste and texture sensation all the more interesting

Purchased from the Polish Srore - 270 Picton Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, Merseyside, L15 4LP, Tel: 0151 280 4330

The Chung Ku - Liverpool

2008-01-06T22:45:00.001Z

Chung Ku - Columbus Quay, Riverside Drive, Liverpool Tel: 0151 726 8191 - Chung Ku

Great Location, Great Building and Great Food but a somewhat chequered history in recent years but in the last 12 months it has gradually comeback on form and is now producing some of the best proper Chinese food in the city.

Dim Sum today was very good and some recent meals have yielded some very good stuff indeed.

Superb Suckling Pig with Shredded Jelly Fish - this was really rather good and at £15 a portion it was much better value than the one I had in Glamorous on Boxing day which was the same price but less than half as much suckling pig and jelly fish.

Nam Yue Jue Sow Tong Mean - Stewed Pigs Trotters in a Noodle Soup - not quite cooked long enough as the trotters could have been abit more tneder.

Jiew Pai Chow Ho - Special Fried Rice Stick Noodles with roast duck, squid, king prawns, scallops, chicken, pork, bak choi - very very moreish

Jung - sticky rice parcels filled with meat and salted egg yolk

On a Sunday the Chung Ku does some very good selection of Chinese Bakery goods but only on a Sunday

A recent dinner yielded some superb steamed Scallops in blackbean and garlic with vermicelli

Stunning whole poached boneless bowling fowl in supreme stock with chinese broccoli

Gwat Heung Long Lai - Stir frired fillets of Dover Sole on bed of its a deep fried bones

Weekend in Stockholm

2008-01-03T22:06:00.000Z

Piccolinos - All I know is thats its near to the Old Town and the Waterfront and when I was there in late November there was an ice rink just opposite Piccolinos.

After Narges and Laura had finished ice skating - a sit down and a warm up was the order of the afternoon

Piccolinos - all that glass is great for the view but hellish expensive to keep warm in the winter

Seafood soup was the equivalent of £10 a bowl - very pricey but very good soup made with a great tomato based fish stock with chunks of salmon and prawns topped witha blob of yoghurt.

A very welcome hot chocolate topped with whjipped cream and swedish style hot dog at the Old Town Christmas Market - certainly helped to warm things up when temperaure was about -5c.

Diiner of Pork Fillet with Spiced Apple, Potatoe Wedges and Cabbage in a cvream and bacon sauce - had this at the Scandic Alvik Hotel restaurant where we stayed that night

Breakfast was a fabulous buffet of cold meats, breads, cheese, yoghurts, cooked items and even a chinese food counter that consisted on fried noodles, spring rolls, rice porridge and pickled vegetables

Stockholm Skavsta airport yeilded this rather fine spot of dining before our flight home - fried trout in butter sauce with mashed potatoes and salad.

Il Bacino - Liverpool

2008-01-03T20:57:00.000Z

Il Bacino - Brunswick Way, Liverpool, Tel: 0151 708 5005 - Il Bacino

Tucked away close to Brunswick Dock on the site of the old Harry Ramsdens and next to the newly opened My Spa and a Travel Lodge - Il Bacino is a sort of upmarket deli with Italian aspirations and a simple bistro/brasserie attached. The food is a bit of all things to all men with breakfast, lunch and dinner menus and none of it overtly Italian. Opened in Sept 07 it is a pleasent spot for a coffee and a mid afternoon snack, a relaxing weekend breakfast/brunch venue that is a cut above the average greasy spoon and a in the evening its a nice place to go for bite to eat where simplicity is more important than pomp and circumstance. However prices can be a little bit on the steep side if you are not careful.

On the night I was there, they were in transition menu wise and apart from a small blackboard menu of specials, the lunctime menu was also being made available in the evening

Nearly £7 for a bowl of Soup!!! This is getting close to Stockholm prices where soup was about a tenner a bowl - but this is Liverpool not Scandanavia.

The main course specials sounded nice if a little limited in choice and a tad pricey.

The bread basket with butter was surprisingly good with decent butter and bread cut from a fresh baguette that was warm with a crisp crust.

My friend and I decided to have some simpler fayre from the lunch time menu - lets hope when the new menus are sorted out, dishes such as there will be availabe in the evening - prices were about £9 per dish with some rather classy sounding crepes coming in at about £7 each.

My dining companion had the Seafood Pasta - penne pasta served with salmon, prawns and fresh mussels all bound together in a Parmesan flavoured cream sauce - delicious

I had the Bangers and Mash with Rich Onion Gravy - three links of freshly cooked Cumberland sausage on a bed of buttery mash surrounded by a pool of rich gravy and silky soft onions - I was impressed

Il Bacino appears to be pretty good and I look forward to trying it again soon. The deli is also well worth a visit - you can get proper mortadella there

Dining @ Leo's - Liverpool

2008-01-03T16:59:00.000Z

Leo Casino - Queens Dock, Liverpool, 0151 709 8878 - Leo's

Every one knows that the Chinese like to gamble and casinos all over the world provide incentives to attract people to their gaming tables. In the UK many of the Casinos provide free or subsidised Chinese food to attract the Chinese. I am not one of life's gamblers - my money is hard earned and I don't like to give it away, but I do like the sound of free food and whilst generally Chinese food - free or oterwise is not available till after 11:30pm, on certain high days and holidays such as Boxing day evening this year, they serve a proper Chinese menu from 7:30pm. The format is that each person pays £4 and for this they get to choose one dish from the menu of about 10 different dishes and the £4 includes a Lai Tong, Rice and a Tong Sui at the end. Best value dish for £4 is the steamed seabass, whcih we did not have this time but we had vouchers for 4 people so did not have to pay anything at all.

A very acceptable pork bone and chinese dried herb and pulses Lai Tong

Mui Choi Kau Yuk, Stewed Belly Pork Slices with Preseved Cabbage - very tasty pork and the cabbage was nice and sweet, like it should be

Bak Churk Ka Wai Ha - Poached King Prawns with a soy and chili dip - simple and delicious

Siew Aap - Cantonese Roast Duck

Yeung Sheung Bow - Stuffed Two Treasures (tofu and peppers stuffed with prawn meat) in a garlic and blackbean sauce

Please forgive the slightly naff photos as they were taken with my camera phone - Casino's are not the place to go brandishing a digital camera - discretion is the byword here.

All in all a very acceptable meal, especially given the price you would have paid and even more so uf like me - it was free - gratis.

Pizza Zara - Liverpool

2008-01-03T13:12:00.000Z

Pizza Zara - 61 Lawrence Road, L15 0EE, 0151 7338889.

The Pizza's are fine but the best things about this place - apart from the charming service are their kebabs - my favourite is the lamb shish closely followed by the mixed kebab of lamb shish and donner.

Nothing comes closed to this wonderful combination of warm pitta bread lined with a selection of salad,topped with tender and tasty pieces of freshly grilled lamb that has been drizzled with tahini and mild chilli sauce

Glamorous @ Christmas and other times - Manchester

2008-01-03T12:15:00.000Z

Glamorous - Wing Yip Business Centre, Oldham Road, Manchester, M4 5UH Telephone: 0871 2071635 - Glamorous Link

A firm favourite in recent months - I was at the Glamorous for dim sum on Boxing Day and the following Sunday. The atmosphere is as about as close as you can get to being in Hong Kong when you have dim sum on a busy Sunday lunchtime or on a Bank Holiday when the 800 seat restaurant is full and people are queuing. Its big, its brash and the food is to die for at times.

There is no need for any half price dim sum gimmicks here - the quality and variety of the food is second to none and the one thing that draws my family back again and again is the Jue Gerk Geung - Stewed Pigs Trotters with Ginger in Sweet Vinegar served with a boiled egg.

Here are some recent dim sum that I have eaten at the Glamorous - unfortunately Liverpool just cannot compete at this level.

Deep fried Squid Tenticles served with a Sweet and Sour Dip

Gow Choi Gow - Garlic Chive, Pork and Prawn Dumpling

Ha Gau Wong - King Prawn Dumplings - these were massive and filled to bursting point with king prawn pieces

Di Gie Gow - Scallop Dumplings - these were to die for - a combination of scallops and prawns

Huk Jiew Dai Cheung - Steamed Pigs Intestine Slices in a Spicy Black Pepper Sauce

Lo Mai Hoi Jit - Shredded Jelly Fish with spiced pigs trotters, duck tonges, and duck wings

This amazing cold meat platter with jelly fish is off the chinese set dinner menu - it contains - soy chicken, roast duck, char siu, siu yuk and fun tui

A Platter of Steamed Scallops with Garlic and Vermicelli dressed with soy and hot oil

The infamous - Jue Gerk Geung - Stewed Pigs Trotters with Ginger in Sweet Vinegar served with a boiled egg

Deep fried Cuttlefish Balls with Shredded Jelly Fish

Eating - Family Style

2008-01-03T07:42:00.000Z

Its New Years Day evening and I am lucky enough to be at my friends house and was invited to stay for a bit of dinner - Chinese family style. The food was homely and delicious

Bak Jamp Gai - Whole Poached Chicken - tender and very tasty

Before

After - Sheun Yung Jing Dai Ha - Steamed King Prawns with Garlic - a truely stunning dish

Fried Fillet of Salmon drizzled with Lemon Juice - a bit of funsion style cooking creeping in here

Stir Fried Mange Toute with Baby Squid Tubes and King Scallops with their Coral still attached

This was a great example of a family style meal where utilitarian eating is combined with superb produce cooked in a simple yet delicious way

Harbour City, Liverpool

2008-01-02T13:07:00.000Z

Harbour City, 27-35 Berry St, Liverpool, L1 9DF 0151-708 5999

Previously the premisies for the Far East - one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Liverpool - the Harbour City is not just a new name but completely new ownership and staff. It even open till 4am in the morning now to attract the post clubbing and shift worker clientel - there is 30% off the food bill after 11pm.

Anyway went to try the lunch time dim sum on New Years Day - only three of us were dining so it was a fairly modest spread but initial indications are that the Harbour City is worth closer inspection as the quality of the food and service was generally very good.

Gaozhi Wong - bolied pork dumplings with a ginger and vinegar dip

Choi Dam Ngau Yuk Chow Haw - Rice Stick Noodles Stir Fried with Beef and Kai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) - very well executed - the beef was nice and tender

Woo Kok - Yam Croquettes - these were very good indeed

Ngau Yuk Cheung Fun - bit of a strange one this - nice taste and texture but strangely lukewarm in part as if it had been reheated

Lor Bak Go - turnip cake - light fluffy texture and decent tasty bits in the filling

Teng Jai Juk - Mixed Seafood/Meat Congee - would have been nicer if we got a dough stick with it.

All in all I was quite impressed and will certainly be back.

Had previously been there for their Chinese set meal for 4 which is £65 and includes lobster and scallops

The Lai Tong - tofu, yuk peen and kai choi - was very good

Steamed Scallops with garlic and vermicelli was of a standard

Lobster with Ginger and Spring Onion was pretty good - very meaty lobster but I suspect it wasn't a fresh lobster

We had Pai Pa Tofu on a bed of Al Dante Stir Fried Broccoli

The Geung Jup Kai Lan - Kai Lan with Ginger was to die for

The Jing Lo Yu - Steamed Seabass was done just right with a nice and meaty fish that was not over cooked though the soy and hot oil dressing was a little bit salty for my liking

Have yet to try the roast meats and the hot pots of which I have heard good reports - will definitely be back again soon

Lunch with the Tajfar Family

2008-01-02T12:47:00.000Z

It was the weekend before Xmas and I had not seen Kamran and Maria for a while but had arranged to go round on the Sunday to do a Xmas family portrait with them and their children Kamyar and Illa. They treated me to a memorable Persian meal.This consisted of the following:-

Traditional pickled vegetables

Yoghurt with fresh garlic and spinach

A bowl of fresh herbs to munch on - coriander, mint and parsley

The fabulous crusted basnati rice - the crust made froma mixture of butter and olive oil - truely one of the great rice dishes of the world

Persian style baked fillet of lamb marinated in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and saffron

Roasted Vine Tomatoes

A lunch to remember

I shall look forward to more Persian cooking the near future I hope.

Eat to Live or Live to Eat?

2008-01-01T15:22:00.000Z

Real Chinese food is now readily available in the uk - not something that could be said quite so effortlessly 15 years ago. The standard of restaurants generally has improved but for the Chinese it is now possible to eat certain tyes of Cantonese food that is the equal of what you could get in Hong Kong and in a few instances even better.

This superb dish of Gwat Heung Loong Lai (stir fried fillets of dover sole on a bed made from it its bones deep fried so crisp so that it could be eaten) was had at the Chung Ku in Liverpool.

This plate of Chinese bakery items - Dan Tart, Kai Mei Bau and Char Siu Soo came from the excellent New Star in Liverpool.

Eel Rice Box from Wasabi in Manchester

Now thats what I call a Rib of Beef - eaten on Christmas Day 2007 at my sisters house

We also had a boneless duck stuffed with fillets of pork and a fresh cranberry stuffing.

Eating out or in is something we all do - be it at home, friends houses, cafes where we just want a snack or restaurants where a more complete meal may be had.

This blog will contain a record of meals, past, present and future - I hope you will enjoy the photographs of the food.