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60 Hope St (Bistro)

60 Hope St, Liverpool L1. Tel: 0151 707 6060

A recent work related lunch took me to 60 Hope St, a relative newcomer on the Liverpool dining scene. The business consists of a bistro bar located in the basement, where we were eating, and a restaurant located upstairs. I was excited at the prospect of eating here, as a previous visit about a year ago had been marred by the most rude and impatient waitress service I had ever encountered. Would there be any improvement, I wondered? A good experience downstairs would doubtless demand a return visit to the restaurant.

The bistro entrance is at basement level, down a flight of steps from the street. Passing through the huge, bright blue door brought us into the bistro area. Bright lighting, pale walls and a pale wooden floor produce a bright, airy feel, doubtless what the designers desired. Spaciously laid out tables help with this effect. Someone informs me this was a venue for several scenes of the television drama 'Liverpool One'. I couldn't say whether or not this is correct, but I find it of little importance. My mind wandered, to consider the quality of what may be coming from the kitchens today.

Service was, I am glad to say, both polite and efficient, at least initially. We settled in, and perused the menu and wine list over drinks. The wine list was interesting, to say the least. It was reasonable well laid out, with lots of useful information - most of the wines listed gave producer, appellation and vintage, all you need to make an informed choice. One or two were less descriptive, eg. "Gevrey-Chambertin, 1995". Whose Gevrey-Chambertin, please? Nevertheless, a few bottles here would normally have tempted me. Champagnes include Roederer Cristal in two vintages (1990 at well over £200, and the 1994 at considerably less), Dom Perignon 1992 and Krug. Other producers include Jean Durup et Fils, Hugel, Willi Opitz, De Bortoli, Silver Oak and quite a few more. I opted for a glass of house red, more of which later.

To start I had humus with warm bread. The humus, I'm sorry to say, was characterless and rather dry. The bread was an acceptable onion bread. Others opted for pumpkin soup, which they reported was very good. The following course was a steak sandwich, listed as being served with mustard. It arrived with a side serving of horseradish. This wasn't quite as unusual as the salmon ordered at the far end of the table, which arrived as kebabed chicken. The diner most graciously, in my opinion, accepted the chicken. The staff shirked their responsibilities and offered no recompense for this error. To continue with my sandwich, it was quite tasty, although it was heavily overloaded with plump, watery mushrooms. The accompanying chips were good, at least. Other dishes at our table included a frittata, which was reported as 'quite nice', and prawns, which were apparently quite good.

So, back to that house red. I have no idea of its origins, and nor do I care to find out. A fairly pale red colour, with a nose of estery blackberry fruit, and dreadful volatile acidity. The palate is dominated by harsh acetic acid. To put it simply, undrinkable. I suspect this has been languishing in a poorly sealed, half used bottle overnight, but even without this bad treatment I don't think this wine would have been up to much.

Prices: £15 (two courses) per head including a few drinks. Good selection of overpriced wines.

60 Hope St (Bistro)

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