The Restaurant Bar and Grill, Halifax House, Brunswick Street _320
Emma Johnson and friends head for a spot of lunch at the Restaurant Bar and Grill
THERE is a popular misconception in our business that the features department of a newspaper is a cocktail lounge. Naturally, we laugh off such a jibe.
Yes, we are regularly surrounded by oceans-worth of perfumes and enough moisturiser to smooth a herd of elephants, but long lunches and afternoons spent at the spa are a figment of (usually male) colleagues’ imaginations.
In fact, opportunities for the whole department to go out to lunch together are extremely few and far between – on some ludicrously busy days, food itself is a luxury – so when we do, you want a pretty much guaranteed good experience.
So when a recent window came up in the middle of the day for four of us to leave the office at once and dine, the Restaurant Bar and Grill, on Liver- pool’s Brunswick Street, seemed the obvious choice for a number of reasons.
Firstly – it is very close to the office, secondly it does a mean prawn risotto, and thirdly just over a year since it opened, so we were interested to see if it is still one of the most stunning restaurants in the city.
That last issue was answered imm- ediately. Set inside the Halifax House building, the Restaurant Bar and Grill looks every bit as swanky and swish as it did when it opened its doors.
Being a Friday lunch time, the business district-based restaurant was naturally busy, and we found ourselves outnumbered by important-looking men in suits.
As there were only four of us, getting seated in one of the big round booths seemed out of the question and we were ushered to the front of the restaurant immediately.
After a debate over Semillon versus unoaked, we ordered a bottle of Italian Chardonnay (Terraze Della Luna £18.20) to share and, environmentally-aware as we are, asked for a jug of tap water over bottled and some bread and olives (although no olives materialised).
I knew I would be having the spicy shrimp risotto (£9.75) and decided to pair it with another favourite of mine, the crispy duck spring rolls (£6.50). After much talking, laughing and enjoying ourselves, my three dining partners also made some decisions about their lunches.
Laura ordered smoked haddock hash brown with a lightly poached free range egg and chive butter sauce to start (£6.50), followed by baked summer squash and goats cheese cannelloni (£11.95); for Alpa, it was the baked mushrooms with goat’s cheese and caponata (£6.50), and Emma picked the Thai prawn fish cakes with chilli dip (£5.95).
The wine was going down nicely and we were deep into a discussion about the pros and cons of having a photographic memory when the starters arrived.
My spring rolls were excellent, really meaty and not at all greasy, Alpa described her mushrooms as very satisfying, and Emma said her prawn patties, bursting as they were with ingredients, were among the best she had tasted.
Laura’s hash brown was nigh on perfect, the egg cooked just a bit runny and it was such a generous portion it could easily have been a main.
We were nearing the bottom of the Chardonnay and knowing that, with an afternoon’s work ahead of us we could not order another, when the main courses arrived.
My risotto was excellent, nice and spicy but not tongue-numbingly so and packed with prawns. I do have one complaint, though – it came with crispy seaweed garnish on top. I hate seaweed and there was no mention of it on the menu. Had I remembered this finishing touch, I would have asked for it to be removed. But it didn’t ruin the dish.
Emma’s fish and chips was a winner. The fish was enormous, the batter crispy and light, the cod done to perfection and she only wished there had been more of the minted peas.
Alpa’s risotto was not quite the hit mine was. The portion was good, with nicely sized prawns, but it was over-salty and distinctly lacking in peas. In fact, there were none at all, although she had long since tucked in before any of us realised.
Unfortunately, the best thing about Laura’s baked summer squash and goat’s cheese cannelloni was the toasted pine nuts on the top. The goat’s cheese, which came as a sauce rather than inside the cannelloni, was nice to start with but soon became too much, and the squash seemed under-prepared.
As the main courses were cleared away, we realised there was just not going to be time for puddings, so settled for a round of coffees to perk us up, two cappuccinos (£2.30) and an espresso (£1.95).
And then it was back to the grind- stone. Who knows . . . we might get out for lunch again before Christmas.
Notes
Location: The Restaurant Bar and Grill, Halifax House, Brunswick Street, Liverpool, L2 OUU
Tel: 0151 236 6703
Service: Friendly but sometimes a little pushy over the side orders.
Interior: Fabulous, expensive-looking and stylish.
Disabled access: Separate entrance and toilets.
Bill: £97 with tip.
Value: Not the cheapest, but the food and presentation is high quality.
