My girlfriend and I were craving a Sunday roast. For some reason, these aren't advertised as extensively as they are in London, and reviews are surprisingly hard to come by. We decided on a rare trip outside Liverpool central to the lovely Lark Lane neighborhood, and took a leap of faith when we saw a sign outside Bistro Noir advertising just what we wanted. We're glad we did.
The roasts came with a starter; both of us chose the pate, which came with a relish and some salad greens. The combination of the sweet relish and the subtly salty pate made for an appetizing and promising first impression. Both of us also chose the beef roast, which was colorful and well-presented, though the gravy was missing something and table salt did not fill the void. I had a large, excellent glass of merlot.
Where this place decidedly shone was in the desserts department. We've both had apple strudel in Austria, so I was cynical when the ladyfriend ordered the apple pie, but it came with what seemed like a kind of caramel layer that was positively delightful; my amazing Bailey's cheesecake was almost as good. I'm not even a dessert fan normally, but the after-dinner sweets here alone warrant a return visit.
The service was friendly but seemed overwhelmed by the early dinner traffic. We waited a long time for the bill, and after noticing an error waited even longer for a replacement. Thankfully we were not in a particular hurry, and the memory of those fabulous desserts negated whatever other disappointments we might have had. We will certainly return for these - and soon, I hope. read more