The Courtyard

19 Dale St, Liverpool L1. Tel: 0151 236 5556

Yes, it does have a courtyard. A delightful courtyard, in fact, the existence of which I was previously unaware, set back from Dale Street in the 'business and finance' end of the city centre. With plenty of tables and sunshades I'm sure this place does a roaring lunchtime trade on a warm summer's day. Inside the restaurant looks terribly familiar - because there isn't anything here that you haven't seen before. The building is a renovated auction house, and the walls have been taken back to the original, cleaned-up brickwork. The ceiling is a pale and neutral hue, the floors are old, original, polished wood. The beams are huge and impressive and the overall feel is one of warmth, but otherwise it's all very safe and wholly unoriginal.

There is enthusiasm and interest here, although a remarkable lack of knowledge of the dishes on the menu. This is a failing, but otherwise the staff cannot be faulted; they were attentive and helpful indeed. The same cannot be said of the wine list, which is dull, dull, dull. It smacks of a list put together with convenience in mind, sourced from a single merchant rather than the wines themselves being of any real merit. The list is dominated by the usual unrecognisable on-trade labels, stretching up to £22 per bottle for whites, and £23 for reds. Then there is a huge void before the fine wine choices, of which there are just eight bottles, starting at £50. Where is the middle ground? And where are the half bottles? Where is the interest in wine at all? Answer; there is none. This is the only list that has encouraged me to spend down rather than up, the 'fine wine' bottles being outlandishly overpriced (quickly escalating to three figures from that initial £50), especially considering I was the only one drinking on the night in question. In the end I settled on the following:

Bodegas Senetiner 'Santa Isabel' Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina) 2003: Oh dear - it's a little pale for South American Malbec. Not a lot on the nose. The palate offers some candied fruit with little texture and harsh, unintegrated tannins. Did the restaurateur actually taste this before listing it? 11/20. (18/8/04)

To make things even less enjoyable the wine glasses employed here have a terrible globular shape, curving right away from the lip at the rim, which is most unusual. In addition the glass has the thickness of your average tea mug; as a result these glasses distract considerably from the wine.

So what can be said of the food at The Courtyard? Firstly, a Soup du Jour, which happened to be vegetable on my visit, was excellent - absolutely packed with flavour and a great, thick texture too. A foie gras terrine with Cains beer jelly was interesting to say the least. The terrine itself was good, a combination of meaty ham with soft, melting foie gras. But the beer jelly tasted of, well, beer, and it didn't work. I cast my mind back to the last time I tasted foie gras, just a few weeks ago in Le Grand Vatel in Vouvray, where it was accompanied by a jelly of Vouvray Moelleux; certainly a more appetising combination. Also, the accompanying salad leaves looked distinctly tired.

The main courses that followed had some more treats in store. A tiny piece of Cumbrian fell-bred lamb was somewhat overdone considering I asked for pink, but it had good flavour, as did an accompanying faggot of lamb and a lamb's liver. The lumpy mashed potato, which supported the liver, was just fine, and a tomato stuffed with finely chopped vegetables had great flavour and gave a real lift to the dish. Accompanying spinach was gritty. Meanwhile, breast of corn-fed chicken was quite acceptable, although accompanying raw asparagus (it was, as far as I am aware, meant to be cooked) had a gout de terroir (not a compliment) which I last tasted when I ate some muddy, river-caught eel from the Loire. Oh dear. I did enjoy, however, a side-order of plum tomato and rocket salad. There were no errors in how this was cooked!

As an almost final comment I am bemused by the presence of the gigantic black pepper grinder that has somehow found its way into The Courtyard, despite this looking like a fine dining establishment. Such an accoutrement might be fine in a cheap-and-cheerful pizza house, but here it seems plain silly. What is it doing here? Is the chef not sufficiently confident to season the dishes himself?

Puddings and coffee? No comment, I'm afraid. I didn't stay that long. From that, I feel you may draw your own conclusions about The Courtyard.

Prices: Wines as discussed above. Two courses each plus a salad amounted to £46, not including bar sundries and wine.

The Courtyard

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