Hawksmoor Liverpool — Restaurant in Liverpool

Shared a wonderful evening here with my Wife for a birthday celebration (mine!) Being rather particular about my steaks, the Hawksmoor has been on my radar since opening its doors last year, and I must say I was very much taken in by the whole experience.

Situated in the Former Lloyds Bank, part of India Buildings on the corner of Fenwick and Brunswick streets - the location alone means there is a reputation to live up to - the stunning art-deco architecture is complimented by individual design decisions that provide a warm and classy environment. I anticipated a very quiet and reserved atmosphere, yet what I found was in complete contrast, was a busy, vibrant and quite loud venue, not in a bad way, just with air of excitement about the place. Although probably not a restaurant for a "quiet meal out"

We were served by the lovely Cerys who was attentive, polite and very knowledgeable about the menu. She assisted us with our choices and was sure to return regularly to check everything was ok. For starters, my Wife ordered the Hawksmoor Caesar salad and I ordered the Fillet Carpaccio - the Caesar was about large enough to be a main, really too big for a starter tbh however, it was fresh with a well balanced dressing, though a few more anchovies wouldn't go a miss. The Carpaccio was delicious, delicate and flavoursome and beautifully presented. For the Main Course I ordered a Chateaubriand (450g) (blue) and my Wife ordered a Fillet (medium) - My Steak was perfect, deliciously seasoned and with a nice sear, so many chefs struggle with blue steak but mine was an absolute dream. My wife's steak however, was more medium/well - airing towards well done - fortunately Cerys was on hand and swiftly, without any fuss, apologised, reassured my wife that a replacement would come promptly, without charge, and that we may still keep the well done fillet if we wished. Having clearly intercepted another table's order, my wife's medium fillet arrived in minutes and was an absolute revelation, succulent and perfectly cooked, she was delighted. I polished off the well done fillet as would be rude not too, though preferring blue steaks myself it was challenging. Though the delights of the dessert menu were very appealing, we conceded that coffee was preferable (which in consideration of my veritable appetite shows the portions were generous). As I admitted to Cerys, had I not been driving I would almost certainly have sampled something from the spirits selection, and to my complete surprise on my return from the men's room, I was presented with an "Old Fashioned" made with Woodford Reserve in a little corked bottle to take home with me, and a hand written card wishing me a Happy Birthday. This was the very thoughtful, personal touch that made the entire night an absolutely sensational experience. The Hawksmoor has the most professional, attentive and kind service of any restaurant I have ever visited, the food was phenomenal, the spectacular surroundings are a feast for the eyes, and the memory of the evening forever will remain thanks to Cerys, who has ensured that we will undoubtedly ourselves return, but also recommend to everyone we know and meet, that The Hawksmoor is the only restaurant in Liverpool you will ever need to visit....

Arrival. Very welcoming, friendly members of staff who escorted us to our table.

Food & Drink. We started with a cocktail and a 'sharpener' - Negroni and Ranch Water. Both were good. Appetisers we had three scotch bonnet oysters, bone marrow with onions, scallops. I cannot fault any of them, all were to a high standard. The scallops are some of the best I've ever tasted, extremely fresh and packed full of flavour. The bone marrow was incredibly tasty, the onions elevated the dish to another level. Oysters were fresh and the spice from the peppers complimented them perfectly. The main course we ordered a 700g Chateaubriand, unfortunately this was a major disappointment. When paying £16 per 100g, expectations are obviously to a high standard. We requested for it to be cooked medium rare, you could argue that the closer to the middle of the steak we got it may have been medium rare, but the majority was medium well and shockingly well done. A Chateaubriand should be tender, velvety, melt in the mouth texture that a knife should glide through. However, it was incredibly difficult to eat, extremely tough, rubber textured which took an entirety to chew. It was more to the consistency of roast beef than an actual steak, it was just a very bad cut of meat. I try not to exaggerate when I say I've had steaks from supermarkets and even Weatherspoons that have been more tender. Sides consisted of creamed spinach and beef dripping fries, whilst the latter didn't really have a wow factor the spinach was very very good. Wine: we took a Chilean blend, medium bodied called Grus de Alcohauz which went down well. Huge selection of wine which is great and good that you have an in-house sommelier in case of any directions you may need in choosing a wine.

Service recovery I cannot fault the staff, each person who tended to us was professional, polite and worked with a smile on their face. When following up with us during our Chateaubriand course, I gave my feedback to the waitress and showed her my concerns with the steak. She agreeded that it wasn't medium rare and offered to replace. However, I chose not accept that offer as we had already begun, we had already ate perhaps 25% of the overall steak and didn't feel the desire to want to stop and then continue again with a new steak and sides later. I was pleasently surprised to be told that the entire steak would be taken off the bill which I was grateful for. The fact that the staff member could see my feedback I'm sure beneficial to the overall decision to remove from the bill.

Overall I had been wanting to come to Hawksmoor for a long time but left feeling disappointed. Whilst I had fantastic items from the menu such as the scallops and the bone marrow, they were ultimately not what I came to Hawksmoor for. The star of the show should have been the steak but it fell so far short that it takes away from the rest.

Would I return or recommend? I would like to give it the benefit of the doubt and come again, but this time perhaps I would order a regular individual steak rather than one of the premium sharing options only then could I recommend it.

Thanks for...

Poor😤 I will update this when iv slept on it as I could say how un impressed I am!!! Well iv left it over a week to finish this review as I felt I could be very negative But I still feel the same now As for the food we chose from the very misleading menu so knew the cost When the food came I was so disappointed as you can see it’s a very sad looking plate Not even a lil garnish to make the plate look a bit more pleasant The £41 steak was a very poor cut for that price The cookery wasn’t what I expected from somewhere that is said to be a specialty An extremely over seasoned but after a week of taking to other people we’ve all come to the conclusion that the taste comes from a dirty grill As a friend had an over powering taste of garlic But had no garlic eliminates with his meal An with the chips being an added cost you would have thought they might have put some effort in to making them worth the cost I wouldn’t have them again even if they were free Not even any seasoning!! As for the pepper corn sauce That has to be the poorest sauce iv ever had An it was an extra charge I would rather of had one of those packet mixes from Tesco We also ordered 2 fried eggs! They were the crapest eggs I’d ever seen We sent them back an they bought us some more that looked exactly the same So we asked if they could do us some better ones an were told they would be exactly the same So not being able to fry an egg but cooking the supposed best steaks just baffled me. So when you see what you get for your money that you have had to work very hard hard to earn I’m not rich by any means So this was supposed to be a special treat When you see what you’ve got for your £150 it’s a massive let down An really didn’t enjoy the meal or the whole experience The staff only did the minimum of what they could So the large service charge was another disappointment The atmosphere of the restaurant was flat!!! So all in all I won’t be going again This week we went to miller and carter An that experience was 2/3 the price...