Nova Scotia Liverpool Restaurant Review

I was recently invited to review Nova Scotia on the Liverpool Waterfront and I was delighted to accept. Nova Scotia is an independent bar & eatery that serves breakfasts, small plates, lunches, main meals and desserts. Dishes include burgers, Dockside hotdogs, full English breakfasts, sandwiches, salads and traditional UK meals like Scouse and fish and chips. For drinks, Nova Scotia offers Signature Serves including Sea Brow Iced Tea, Jamaica Street, NS Old Fashioned and French Martini cocktails. They do serve mocktails too, which was very pleasing as I don't really drink alcohol. There is a selection of beers and wines too, so there is something for everyone. The menu includes veggie and vegan options, as well as clearly indicating allergens including eggs, dairy, gluten, mustard, nuts, fish, soya and more. This is great as it makes it nice and easy to see what is suitable. They are open 9am to 9pm 7 days a week so they should be open at a time suitable for everyone.

I knew I wanted a mocktail as soon as I was told they could make one and it had raspberry purée, lemon and pineapple in it, topped with a strawberry and a piece of orange. Andy chose an ice-cold San Miguel which was lovely to have on a warm but rainy summer's day. He said it was a nice refreshing beer to accompany the meal. There is a good selection of drinks at the bar so there should be one for everyone.

To start, we had the Halloumi Popcorn (£7, Vegetarian), which were beer battered halloumi nuggets which came with a roasted red pepper mayo. There was a fair amount of these given they were only a small plate item and were so light and delicious. The batter was crispy and the halloumi was soft and cooked perfectly, with the mayo pairing well to give a nice additional flavour. We also had the Salt N Pepper Fries (£5, Vegan) which was a plate full of homemade fries with salt n pepper seasoning, fried onions and red peppers throughout and topped with red chillies and salad onions. I was so impressed with these fries, so much so I would say they are one of the best we've ever had. If they ever got in a plant-based 'chicken' burger they would be so perfect together. Salt and pepper seasoning is most definitely one of my favourite flavours and these fries are perfect. 

For our main meals, they asked if we would like them brought over not long after we had started our small plates, which we said yes to which was kind of them. I had the Mauretania (£12, Vegan if you choose the plant-based hotdog), which had salt n pepper seasoning, onions and peppers. I'm not normally one to choose hot dogs, but the salt n pepper flavour swayed me and I really enjoyed it. Andy had the Marco Polo (£14, Vegetarian), which is a Moving Mountains burger topped with cheese, house burger sauce and beer battered onion rings. This was a really tasty burger, and the onion rings worked well and gave a little added crunch and flavour. Both meals came with a generous portion of the Nova Scotia seasoned fries which were homemade skin-on fries and were the right mixture of crispy and soft.

Nova Scotia is located in the Mann Island building, right next to the World Museum and the Three Graces right on the waterfront. At the end of the 19th Century, the Mann Island area was actually a shanty-town called Nova Scotia and the dock served Canada and the lumber trade. It twinned with Nova Scotia in Canada, and there is also a Liverpool in Canada along with a Mersey River and a Mann Island over there too. Check out the video at the bottom of the post that showcases the creation of a composite 19th Century map of Liverpool’s waterfront and city centre, focused on the Nova Scotia dockland area.

The restaurant had a great atmosphere, with lots of plants and beautiful green and white tiles. It has a nice casual feel but in the best way possible. It's perfect to have a catch-up with friends and family, or a few drinks outside when it's sunny. It was open and airy and had a good view out to the Liverpool Museum and docks area. They have a selection of seating, including raised stools, booths and standard chairs. There is a small curb outside of the restaurant but after this, the restaurant is step-free (apart from a couple of small steps to the regular toilets) although there is an accessible disabled toilet down a small ramp as well. There is space within the restaurant to use a wheelchair where you could wheel up to a table.

The only criticism I have for the menu, is that it would be great if Nova Scotia could add the option to upgrade your Seasoned Fries to Salt N Pepper Fries with your meal, potentially for an extra few pounds. If an upgrade to the fries was available, I highly recommend getting the Salt N Pepper Fries with a main, but if you really want to try them you could get a few small plates to share as the Salt N Pepper Fries easily serves two people. The staff were really friendly and helpful and contributed to a really enjoyable and relaxing visit. I'm definitely going to be returning at some point soon and would recommend making a visit if you enjoy great food and drinks.

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Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill Chester Review

As part of my stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Spa Chester, I was able to test out the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill. The restaurant is attached to and accessible through the hotel so is perfect for when you are staying at the Hilton. It's also open to the public so if you are ever in Chester then you can go and enjoy drinks and a meal. I found it to be cosy, being in a booth we were able to look out into the restaurant. It has a number of different sections which split it up nicely and meant you weren't just in a large open room that became too noisy. You can also enjoy impressive views of the grounds of the hotel which adds to the overall enjoyable experience.

For starters, we both actually ended up going for the Classic French Onion Soup (£6.75) which had croutons and Gruyére cheese on top to add some texture. I've not had this type of soup for years and really enjoyed it. It had plenty of flavour and the portion size was just about right, without enough to enjoy without filling you up too much before your main. For the second course we both looked at different parts of the menu. Andy loves a good steak and it was the perfect place to have a few to choose from. He went for the Grilled 35 Day Aged Sirloin 10oz Steak (£25.95) that was served with pommes frites and was complemented by the Classic peppercorn and brandy sauce and on the vine tomatoes. Having it medium well-done, it had plenty of flavour without being too dry, and you could tell it was a higher quality meat. I don't eat steak myself so went for the Classic Macaroni Cheese (£13.95) that came with poached egg, wild mushrooms and herbs. The meal was nice and quite filling so couldn't end up finishing it. I think it may have been better without the egg due to the very similar silky textures and there were a lot of mushrooms, though it was still enjoyable.

As part of our meal, we enjoyed a bottle of Californian Vendange White Zinfandel Rose Wine (£22.50) which was nice to enjoy with our meal. For dessert, we ended up both fancying the Mr Coulson's Sticky Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce (£5.95). It was a lovely end to the meal and worked particularly well with the sauce. I found our experience at the restaurant really nice, the food was great and came out in good time, and we had a lovely blonde who served us and made sure we had everything we need to make our visit run smoothly. The interior was different, with dark blue walls with matching velvet-like fabric chairs which is exactly what I'd choose if I was selecting the theme of the restaurant. I'd come again for sure and would try to pick out some other options from the menu.

Complimentary meal in return for a review.

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Evening Meal Deal at Jamie's Italian

Last week, myself and Andy were invited down to Jamie's Italian, Liverpool, to review their new Evening Meal Deal. You may not know, but we have been going to various Jamie's Italian restaurants over the past three years a hell of a lot. It's our go to place to go, for birthdays, celebrations or a light lunch. We both have the loyalty card called the Gold Card and we know that every time we go it will be completely worth the money. We've been to the Liverpool, York and Newcastle branches and all have exceptional service and beautifully seasoned food, so when we were asked to come to review we headed straight to the website to look up what the menu had to offer.

Our host that seated us ensured we had a comfortable booth to sit in and was absolutely lovely. Our waitress then came over and explained everything in detail making sure we were looked after and it started the evening off on such a good note. I started with the Passionfruit Royale which was just as I imagined; fruity, easy to drink and topped with Jamie's Prosecco. It was that good that I had another straight after I'd finished it. Andy went for the Moretti beer that he has every time that he comes whilst we looked over the Evening Menu. It's available from 6pm Monday-Thursday and is £18.95 for three courses which in my opinion is a steal.

As we had a Gold Card, every month you get a free taster and this month's was the Italian Nachos which is fried ravioli filled with mozzarella, ricotta and bello lodi served with a spicy tomato sauce. We get this as a full starter every single time we visit as it's extraordinary. We usually split this with the Polenta Chips too as they're like comfort food to me.

For the starter Andy ordered the Cured Meat Plank which was a selection of meats including fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto & schiacciata piccante with mini buffalo mozzarella, pecorino and chilli jam and a selection of olives and pickles. For the portion size I'd say this was fairly large for a starter so to be included in the Evening Meal Deal was pleasing.  I went for the Tomato and Ricotta Bruschetta which consisted of slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, whipped buffalo ricotta with basil and extra virgin olive oil. It tasted almost like a really healthy pizza which I'd be keen to try out at home too. I have one of Jamie's recipe books already and this starter has encouraged me to try more of his recipes out. It was clear that fresh ingredients were made and that's what made it really special.

Andy noticed that the steak was on the meal deal, which is £15.95 normally so if you chose this you're definitely getting your money's worth. He's had the steak before and really enjoyed so was happy to try it again. It's flash-grilled prime beef steak with a herby heirloom tomato salsa, rocket, aged parmesan and spiced fries. They recommended it served pink so this is what he went for, not that I can really put an opinion forward as I don't eat steak. I went for the Spicy Sausage Casarece Pasta which was a free-range pork and fennel sausage ragu with British Cobble Lane 'nduja served with breadcrumbs and shaved parmesan to your taste. It was an incredibly generous portion and whilst I ate what I could, I only managed about half. I wouldn't say it was particularly spicy for my standards but I enjoy spicy food so for someone not used to it, it might bring a little kick.

For dessert we opted to order two and split them as we normally both get the Chocolate Brownie from the usual menu. First we tried the Baked White Chocolate Cheesecake which was the tastiest cheesecake I've ever tried aside from those in The Cheesecake Factory in America. The ratio of biscuit to filling was perfect and the coulis that it was paired with was impeccable. The second dessert we tried was the Molten Chocolate Praline Pudding which was a warm chocolate lava cake filled with a praline centre served with vanilla ice cream and crushed praline on top. Again this was a course that tasted like it was made fresh and the praline centre was something else. It was intense and rich and I don't think I could have eaten a full one even if I tried. 
Jamie's Italian never let me down and in this case they exceeded my expectations. The Evening Meal Deal is amazing value for money with decent portion sizes and packed full of flavour. 

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