London Carriageworks Hope Street Liverpool - 4th December 2015

London Carriageworks is part of Hope Street Hotel and I had some really positive contact with their Head Chef on Twitter, about catering for my vegan diet, who confirmed it would be no problem.

My husband and I arranged to meet friends in Liverpool, for a pre-Christmas meal, staying over at Hope Street Hotel and dining from the Christmas menu at London Carriageworks.   The menu was priced at £59.00 per person, so expectations were high, especially mine.

We had drinks in the bar and were shown to our table and offered the Merry Berry Bellinis which kicked off the menu, but as we still had the drinks we brought to the table, we left the Bellinis to end the meal.

There was a little confusion, as to whether the bread rolls were vegan, or whether I had gluten free needs rather than vegan, but this was quickly resolved, with some toasted bread and basil oil brought for me.

Starter was king oyster mushroom "scallops" served with textures of caramelised onion and black truffle.   I was starving so forgot to take a photo, but was most underwhelmed with this dish, as were two others in our party, who also chose it.

Mains was roasted cauliflower and hazelnut with freshly grated truffle, confit shallots, grilled pear and winter greens.   I thought my taste buds had gone on strike, the sauce underneath the cauliflower was tasteless, I could not fathom out what it was supposed to be.   The dish, in comparison to the cauliflower dish I had the previous night at Delifonseca, was a major disappointment, the best part being the sides of roast potatoes and vegetables.

Some redemption came in the form of dessert, three sorbets, raspberry, strawberry and orange with crushed pistachios, which were excellent.

Finally to my petit fours, whoever made these should be very proud of this creation, as you can see from the photo, beautifully presented and so delicious.   I could have eaten this dish as dessert, with some of the sorbets I was served.   Dessert and petit fours somewhat made up for the first two courses, but at £59.00 it was not value for money, especially when I paid as much as others, who had venison, pigeon and turkey.

To accompany our meal we chose two wines, a delicious Cotes de Provence Rose and a Tabali Chilean Syrah, both were vegan, which I had found after a little internet research, prior to our visit.

Service throughout was friendly and professional and when our plates were cleared I was asked about the main course, most of which I left, so I expressed my disappointment.   I would go so far as to say that I was surprised, that the dish made it out of the kitchen.   Chef caught me on the way out and I mentioned the cauliflower dish, for which he apologised, fair play to him as I really do like the guy, it was nice to meet him, as we had some really friendly chat on Twitter and I was so hoping to love it.   I appreciate there can be problems in the kitchen, but having a few months notice I expected so much more.   Would I go back, very sadly based on this experience, definitely not.