IT seems like the whole country has been enjoying a taste of Cream this week.

Thanks to the Creamfields weekender, the Scouse superclub has been everywhere. Even if you weren’t there, muddying it up with tens of thousands of others, it’s been impossible to avoid it either on radio or 10th anniversary CD.

But what do you do if you fancy a flavour of Cream without the full-on overdose?

Head to babycream, that’s what.

The Albert Dock restaurant has had its own little birthday celebration lately, feeling the love with legendary vocalist Alison Limerick as it turned five earlier in the summer. The interior decor remains the same, stylish if now a little party-weary, but it has revamped its menus.

When we headed there at around 7.30pm midweek, it was – not surprisingly – hardly busy. But, while the downstairs bar was quiet, upstairs in the restaurant there were already a few filled tables.

Given the lull, the service was predictably attentive but our waiter didn’t seem to mind being sent away empty handed on several occasions while we chatted rather than decided.

One of the most attractive elements of babycream’s starter selection is its ‘mini bites’, all priced £1.75 each, which are a perfect sociable introduction to a solo main course.

On this occasion we chose to share a tapas plate (£5.95) and added a black olive tapenade and crostinis from the mini options just to be on the safe side.

It turned out to be a wise move. The tapas plate had plenty to choose from: slices of Serrano ham, a big chunk of Manchego cheese, plus little dishes of green olives, capers, houmous and slices of pitta bread. The houmous in particular was a tasty hit so it was just as well there was plenty to go around and lots of pitta bread with which to dispatch it. The addition of the black olive tapenade, good and robust – unlike its smooth, pasty counterparts, meant we got off to an excellent start.

There’s an interesting selection of mains on babycream’s new menu, with seafood, grills, hot sandwiches and a handful of specialities.

Having been at the restaurant on its birthday night, we both took the safe route and ordered what we’d had then:I chose the teriyaki glazed red snapper with stir fried noodles and picked vegetables (£14.95) , while Emma selected the black duck with crushed thyme, mangetout and black cherry glaze (£15.95).

We did consider sides, which are all a reasonable £2.95 each, but in the end decided that to add a portion of chunky chips or even the skinny French fries when we already had vegetables included would be erring on the side of plain greedy.

By now a few more tables were occupied, but the service didn’t suffer and our waiter had adapted to our laid-back decision-making approach. Having finally chosen, our orders were taken and the food arrived with a smile within around 20 minutes.

My red snapper was enormous. Now I know you shouldn’t complain about getting too much of anything, but in this case I have to confess it was just a little off-putting. Sitting on a bed of lovely tangy noodles, the fish was around five inches square and easily over an inch thick which – given red snapper’s already meaty texture – made it slightly hard going.

I couldn’t criticise the cooking, that was fine, and the flavours worked well but its sheer scale left me struggling. Maybe I’m just a wimp.

Over the table, the duck was proving no problem at all. A generous splay of tender pink slices was augmented with plenty of sweet fruity sauce and declared "fantastic" as it disappeared rapidly.

All the while we worked our way through a very decent house white, a Hidden Falls Columbard Chardonnay (£15.25), with our waiter returning to offer regular refills.

By now we were starting to seriously stall and we couldn’t succumb to the temptation of desserts (although a raspberry creme brûlée very nearly tipped the balance).

Instead we settled for another glass of wine and drank to Liverpool’s biggest club brand and its fun-loving outdoor sibling, without a muddy wellie in sight.

Foodie facts

Venue: babycream, Atlantic Pavilion, Albert Dock, Liverpool

Tel: 0151-709 7097

Web: www.babycream.co.uk

Service: Friendly and obliging

Value: Good, there’s also a set menu for 10 people or more at £22.95 for three courses.