Last month, I received a VERY interesting
invitation to a brand, swanking new establishment that was opening its doors in
Liverpool city centre and last week it was FINALLY time to check it out. Barton Rouge has already fully
established itself in Chester and Heswall in Cheshire, so I was very excited to
go and try out some amazing grub at their new restaurant in the swanky Exchange
Street in town. I dragged my friend Emily along for the ride (although,
considering everything we’d heard about the restaurant, I’m not sure she was
complaining about trying out the menu!)
After giving my name and being handed Liverpool
themed wristbands that entitled us to complimentary food and drinks, we were
shown to a lovely table right in the centre of the restaurant. There was a bit
of confusion tracking down the drinks we ordered (gin and tonic for me, wine
for Emily) but that was all resolved incredibly quickly and the staff were
nothing but perfectly hospitable for the entire evening.
When we had our drinks and had settled down, servers
started offering different canapés to us to nibble on. We tried one that was
made up of potatoes in teensy weensy
little poppadoms, which were little bites of happiness. They reminded me of
the Chat Bombs you can get at Mowgli, which is NEVER a bad thing. We
were also offered chicken tikka bites
and the MOST phenomenal battered prawns
that I have ever had the fortune of eating. I am still dreaming about those prawns. Eventually, a server brought us over a
selection of different main dishes to feast on. I’m a bit funny about trying
things that I’m not sure I’ll DEFINITELY like, but I was pleasantly surprised
to find that I actually loved both of the dishes offered and I’d probably order
them for myself if I went back independently. Neither of the dishes was too
spicy for my very mild palette, which was a relief – one being chicken based, a
butter chicken curry, and the other a fried cheese curry, made up of paneer cheese. The cheese curry was phenomenal
and definitely wouldn’t have been something that I’d personally have chosen to
order. This was all coupled with basmati rice and naan bread perfectly fluffed
and ready for sauce mopping.
The restaurant itself was an absolute delight.
I loved the beautiful, stylistic decorations that adorned the place- it looked
sophisticated and fit in perfectly with the surrounding Exchange restaurants (Fazenda
and Stevie G’s own The Vincent just round the corner, I’ll have you know!) The
service was fantastic, everyone was incredibly attentive and staff checked on
us enough that we knew they cared but not so much that we were talking to them
through a mouthful of curry. I’ll definitely be going back at some point to try
out the rest of their menu, which I’ve heard is an absolute treat.
You can find Barton Rouge at 26 Exchange Street East, Liverpool, L2 3PH.
