Reviews in Liverpool City Centre

Been going here for 25 years, it's the best Indian Restaurant in Liverpool. All my family and extended family go now aswell. Brilliant staff, food and prices. Love it! Donna

Oh no! Two years ago we had the most fantastic meal here and returned for my birthday on 28 December as a special treat - it's a difficult time of year to celebrate, falling as it does midway between Christmas and New Year and we wanted to be sure of a good experience. Sadly, it was disappointing. As you still say on Sugarvine, it used to be a brasserie and separate restaurant - it is now all combined so, having dressed up (a bit!) and thinking we had booked the smart, more formal side it was a bit disappointing when a very casual group arrived at the next table, hot foot from the sales with many bags and coats (no coats were taken by the waiting staff by the way) for a bowl of soup and bottle of water... But, to the service and the food: we opted for the standard lunch and so it was - standard. The soup was good and flavoursome, the smoked salmon - well, smoked salmon. The main course of brill was mixed - the brill was perfectly cooked but the barley on which it sat was excessively salty and frankly the scatter of salad leaves on top would have been more at home in a gastropub. It was also a rather small portion. We were not asked if we enjoyed it and made a point of saying it was very salty: there was no response at all from the waitress, not even a ‘sorry’. The two waitresses who served us were by turns friendly and taciturn but neither seemed especially well trained, it was certainly not silver service. Our pre-lunch kir turned up in tumblers with ice and a straw - we sent it back for a more traditional treatment. The fact that we were charged £7.50 (or was it £7.90? can’t remember) each for these did not help our post prandial mood. When we queried the charge the waitress said ‘Yes, they are expensive’. We eschewed the bottle of wine and had a glass each as we were beginning to realise this was not the festive, utterly superb, reliable experience we had hoped for, based on our previous meal. In fact, we were not offered a wine list though Sugarvine says there are over 300 to choose from, there was a selection in the back of our menu which we can only assume is now the sum total of the wine on offer. This is not a place to go for a great lunch and it is far from cheap. Overall, service mediocre to poor, food OK but certainly not worth the price paid even for the set luncheon. Maybe we should have gone for dinner - but surely a place with a reputation like this should take more care of it?

Having lived in Northern Spain for 8 years I feel I am in a great position to recommend this superb restaurant. I have visited the restaurant on many occasions and never been disappointed-I had to wait an hour to be seated once after pre booking, but it was a very busy Saturday night and Liverpools Spanish international Xabi Alonso was not given a table before me, He had to wait his turn. This is not a problem only a minor criticism in La Vina because the ambience is fantastic. I have tried every Spanish/Tapas restaurant in Liverpool and if you want authentic, regional Spanish cuisine this is the best in Liverpool bar none. I would recommend diners to concentrate on the tapas above the paella and be conservative with orders...a little goes a long way! The green beans and choritzo is the best reminder of my life in Spain since I actually returned there on holiday! Simple, beautiful flavors. The red table wine is strong and dark, perfect for this type of food. Overall this restaurant is my favourite in Liverpool despite a plethora of newer, more elaborate and expensive less satisfying restaurants. Try this place or miss out on one Liverpools hidden gems!!!! Superb!

we must have been very unlucky to visit Alma de Cuba this Christmas Eve as the chef's must have been at home waiting for Santa and left the ghosts (said to haunt the place) to cook the meals.......I returned my stone cold, watery, grey coloured pumpkin and cumin soup and another returned their sardines on a piece of rock hard crusty bread....worse to come was the dry cardboard effect turkey!!I can't begin to describe the Christmas pudding ..it had been moulded in a batter baking tray and looked like a mini frizzby and tasted of pure grease....thankfully a few bottles of wine helped.......£155 quid down the drain we won't be going there for food anymore....maybe just drinks as the building is still worth a look.

We thought we would give this place a try - as the usual (U.N.I.) was shut. Firstly there was a hair in one of our starters and the salad was old and brown. The main courses were horrible, the rice had a funny smell to it the curry was bland. The only spicy thing we had was the pickle chutney. Would not recommend this place.

Visited Savina at the weekend with 7 friends and we all had a great time, the food was delicious & the service was good too, particularly as it was one of the busiest weekends before Christmas. I would highly recommend Savina to anyone.

I love this place! It's not a place to go for a fancy sit down meal but a it's great for a quick, relaxed and easy meal. The portions are big and the food is cheap, but delicious. Always full of fresh veg and loads of flavour, never have any complaints. Free green tea and the fantastic portions of seaweed are my favourite.

Hi i have recently had a delicious meal at the monro 8th December 2007. Really enjoyed our Christmas meal not too crowded, as i thought it would be, even though its booked up. As usual the monro does not let you down. For starters goats cheese spring rolls, lovely! I had seabass and my friend had cod for mains. And a lovely chocolate mousse to end. For a whole £20.00 per head. Best value in town. I would always book in advance if you want specific dates as this place is always popular!!

My wife and I looked forward to our first visit to Ziba having received a glowing recommendation from a friend. However we were to be disappointed. The restaurant itself was very pleasant but lacked something. It's hard to put my finger on it but it was something to do with the atmosphere. It wasn't particularly warm and friendly. We were led to a table and it seemed a long time before we were tended to. On to the menu. For me a good is one that offers at least three items from each course that I would wish to order and this one delivered. For the starters there was breast of partridge with a beetroot salad, cured beef with a salad, pumpkin soup to name a few. For mains there was a roast ribeye of beef, pheasant, game sausage, roast cod. I chose the partridge followed by the pheasant and my wife wanted beef for both courses. On seeking clarification of what the beef starter consisted of we were told by the waitress that it was strips of beef with salad and it was, in her words, "very nice". Descriptive eh? After placing our order I wished to get some guidance with the wine list and the waitress asked if I wanted red or white! I chose a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon my myself (not sure if it was the right choice but it was fine). When our starters arrived my wife gave me 'that look', the look that means 'I didn't expect it to look like that!'. Frankly neither did I. The beef resembled salami; quite fatty. I would have expected something more along the lines of pastrami. It may well have been 'very nice' but I'm not sure my wife enjoyed it. My partridge, on the other hand, looked a lot more appealing although it didn't live up to its appearance. The small breasts were very tough and dry and lacked any distinct flavour yet they were overpowered by the accompanying beetroot, parsnip and fruity jus. On to the main course. My wife was pleased with the appearance and taste of her main course beef and it made up for the disappointing first course. Nevertheless she said that whilst she enjoyed it it was no more special than something I would cook her at home (not sure whether that's a compliment or not!). My pheasant, in contrast, was very disappointing. Once again, dry and lacking in any distinct flavour. Unfortunately we did the very British thing of saying everything was fine when asked by the waiting staff. I like a meal of that type to be a pleasure from beginning to end. I like every mouthful to deliver new exciting flavours. I like to be able to say to my wife "have a taste of that, it's gorgeous". Unfortunately Ziba didn't do it for us. We even passed on desserts and coffee. Not like us at all. I'm afraid we won't be back.

I have been here quite a few times as i used to live over the road!! I went again the other night, the first time since the smoking ban! So much nicer! It used to be sooooo smokey in there as its small. Gorge food and lovely people. Bit pricey but yummy!

nice ambiance, starters lovely but the pizzas were a huge let down. Typical Roman style Pizza with no seasoning, no flavour, and olive oil on the base instead of tomato salsa. If I go again i'll try something else from the menu.

Called in for lunch on spec recently and really enjoyed our lunch. The plush red leather booths are the best seats in the house and would recommend asking for one if you have a party of 4. Altogether very enjoyable. Fresh pasta was delicious and the wine superb. All in all a great stylish venue -we'll be returning soon.

I Really like the shangra-la but since it has been taken over by new management the food has changed, I would still go back but it is no were near as nice as it was, my favourite was the chicken spring rolls and they have changed these, BRING BACK THE OLD FOOD! Would still recommend it...

not since I lived in London have I found Indian food of this high standard. Service efficient and friendly. Would definitely recommend it.

I am so glad that I have found this gem! My husband and I stumbled upon bistro jacques by accident on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. After seeing the menu we had to check with the waiter to make sure that we were reading it right, all of this food for £6.95? When the food came it was delicious. It's not very often that you can find 3 courses for £6.95 these days, and if you do its probably pre-packed rubbish, but here the quality of the food was amazing. I can't wait to tell all of my friends. You must go!

it is a very calm and clean environment the food is extremely tasty and each time gets better the price is also very good

I have been to this restaurant before and was not impressed but decided to give it another go. Unfortunately it was even worse the second time. The meal started off well with a fabulous starter, the bruschetta was really nice. However, no sooner had the waiter taken away the plates from our starter and the main course arrived straight away. This made us feel like we were being rushed and the waiter continually hassling us did not help. The main course was disgusting. I ordered the pan fried chicken in breadcrumbs which I would strongly advise to avoid at all costs. The chicken was dry and salty and looked like it had come fresh from a Bernard Matthews box in the freezer and the spaghetti could have easily been emptied from a Heinz tin straight on to my plate. In a word, the food and service was dire!

We had a party of 10 from University go to this place, and it was fantastic, cheap food, large portions, excellent service. We will definitely be going back! Not sure about the booths, shady deals a-plenty but the restaurant is first rate