Trattoria 51 has three branches in the Merseyside region including two in Liverpool city centre, this branch is located close to Liverpool One, Queens Square and Lime Street and is over multiple floors on Whitechapel, this is their newest restauraunt which opened in October 2019.
I decided to order from their Express Menu which is a well-priced set menu with two courses for £9.95, I mean come on at that price it's just value for money especially considering I've been to countless Italians and pizzerias which charge more than that just for a pizza, while this place isn't exactly fine dining and seems very casual and in the middle, they do have rather loud music playing too which seems a little off-putting especially if you are coming in to set down for a meal, the worst part wasn't how most of the songs came from around 2012 but it was the fact they didn't even bother to pay for it - after every two or three songs like clockwork you'd hear advertisements "Swipe up now for Spotify Premium" and of that nature. I mean come on, how ridiculous and embarrassing is that? If you're running a bar and restauraunt and plan to play music in it all the time, surely paying the £9.99 a month would be better than blasting customers with adverts for Spotify Premium? It was annoying and frankly cringe-worthy.
The restauraunt did seem quiet in terms of customers, there only appeared to be one staff member on the shop floor, he did seem friendly however he wasn't too attentive and I did have to ask for extra things such as a refill on my water, as they'd only given me a small glass anyway. He was checking his phone multiple times while walking around which I didn't really like.
For my starter, I ordered the beef meatballs. I was really impressed to see on the menu that most of their dishes could be adapted to be made gluten-free and my server did talk me through this, one thing which also didn't impress me was how minimal and basic the menu was, for example, it never seemed to describe the dishes and ingredients and flavours used which could even be the type of pasta, I was left a little interested in what to expect as it just was too brief on the main menu, the set menu was a little better in terms of explanations however but I do feel more could be done, especially in confirming what is/isn't gluten-free, if they have so many options why don't they have a separate gluten-free menu as obviously being talked through the whole menu is nice, but it's easy to forget.
My meatballs were pretty tasty, I was upset however to have only got three and the bread was a little hard, it wasn't too filling overall and I would say there was slightly too much sauce for the number of meatballs.
For my main course, I opted for the pizza option which the set menu said it'd be a gluten-free margarita pizza with two toppings, I just opted for pepperoni. The pizza looked like one of the ones you sit there and make with a kid, it didn't look fresh or authentic as one would expect from an Italian and the same shown in the taste, unlike the meatballs the pizza did seem cheap and did match the price-tag with a mediocre yet edible base, worsened by a lack of flavours/seasoning and the cheese being hard and chewy.
This place does have potential and I did enjoy my meatballs, but so many parts of the restauraunt do disappoint. It would be somewhere I would consider visiting again in what would hopefully be a better experience as I try other dishes, and for the value, it is still good. but it just feels far from fresh, authentic Italian cuisine I'm sorry to report. I do feel that the tables seemed worn and dirty too, which considering they've only been open for around three months makes little sense. Did they even bother to get new furniture in this branch or did they just buy it on the cheap from perhaps the previous unit owners? 2* read more