Name: The London Carriage Works
Telephone: 0151 705 2222
Price range: £30 - £49
Rating: 7

SquareMeal Review of The London Carriage Works

Bronze Award

Since consolidating and dove-tailing its fine-dining restaurant and brasserie, the smart-casual London Carriage Works feels like a more focused operation. Situated within the Hope Street Hotel in central Liverpool, the 19th-Century building was once the warehouse of a coach and carriage builders – a fact that’s clearly influenced the décor. The restaurant’s pared-back interior has an easy-going, contemporary feel with its sweeping glass frontage, exposed brickwork, chunky oak flooring and well-spaced tables.

This resolutely understated approach carries through to the pleasant but laid-back service and the modern British menus. Well-judged dishes on the evening might range from pork terrine with toffee apple, celeriac remoulade and pork scratchings to duck breast with confit leg pastille, pak choi, daikon, plum and soy or a rich black onion seed gnocchi. Otherwise, sharing platters from the garden, sea and land, along with cheeseboards, suit lighter appetites.

The team at The London Carriage Works is dedicated to sourcing fresh, seasonal and local ingredients wherever possible. The variety of the farm produce in the North West and the freshness of the seafood help to inspire the menus, so whichever dish you choose, it’s sure to be interesting and seasonal.

The London Carriage Works also serves breakfast, which is open to everyone, not just hotel guests. Diners can help themselves to a continental buffet before choosing from a list of classic breakfast dishes, including a ‘Liverpool Breakfast’ (which can also be made vegetarian), eggs any style, and organic granola. Both the prix fixe lunch and early evening menu, and the Sunday roast menus offer good value, with three courses for under £30, as does the afternoon tea menu, which is just £17.50 per person and can be made gluten-free or vegan.

In all, this is a confident operation and prices are very reasonable for this level of cooking. The spacious room works well for larger groups.

Good to know

Average Price

££££ - £30 - £49

Cuisines

British

Ambience

Cosy, Fine dining, Romantic

Food Occasions

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Sunday roast

Special Features

Gluten-free options, Vegetarian options

Perfect for

Group dining [8+]

Food Hygiene Rating

About

Indulge in contemporary British cuisine at The London Carriage Works, where dishes are wonderfully crafted using local, fresh, and seasonal produce. Since its opening in 2003, TLCW (as it’s known to friends) has swiftly risen to become one of the most loved restaurants in Liverpool, earning accolades and critical acclaim. The London Carriage Works holds 2 AA Rosettes and an AA Notable Wine award, the restaurant offers an extensive wine list for lovers to enjoy. Housed in a building dating back to the 1860s, once a warehouse for coach and carriage builders, TLCW keeps its historical charm with decor that resembles a Venetian palazzo.

The a la carte menu begins with pre dinner nibbles of pumpkin compression with sweet tea and tabasco along with 16-hour braised short rib with Roscoff, Marmite and sherry. Starters include cured code with clam chowder, lardons, sprouts and yeast, along with a partridge dish that contains haggis, turnip, gooseberry, honey and whiskey. Also on the starter menu are dishes revolving around mushrooms, artichokes, salmon and venison.

Mains include a curried cauliflower dish with charcoal, quince and bhajis, along with salt-baked carrots, pickled carrots, kale and hazelnut pesto, and a delicious dish of a lamb rump shepherd's pie with minestrone, mint and puffed potato. There are plenty of delicious sides to enjoy, too, including the beef dripping triple cooked chips, winter greens with preserved lemon and nori, and bitter leaves with pressed pear, pickled walnut and Blackstick's blue cheese. For dessert, try the cheesecake made with brie, hazelnut, pumpkin seed granola crackers and spiced fig, or the apple and cinnamon doughnut with sesame caramel with a rich and creamy brown butter ice cream.

FAQs

Are there gluten-free options on the menu?

Yes

Helpful? 0

Is there a dress code?

There is no specific dress code but we suggest smart casual

Helpful? 0

Location

Hope Street Hotel, 40 Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 9DA

0151 705 2222 0151 705 2222

Website

Get directions to The London Carriage Works

Opening Times

All day

Mon 11:00-22:00

Tue 11:00-22:00

Wed 11:00-22:00

Thu 11:00-22:00

Fri 11:00-22:00

Sat Closed

Sun 11:00-21:00

Reviews

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3 Reviews

Food/Drink

Service

Atmosphere

Value

Niamh H

24 April 2012

Food & Drink 4

Service 4

Atmosphere 3.5

Value 4.5

My husband and I had lunch here on Saturday afternoon. It was fairly quiet in the dining room but the kitchen was clearly on top form. The set lunch here is really good value. Usually a set lunch means smaller portions of the a la carte menu for a pro-rata price, not here. Grilled Hallomi, tomatoes and tapenade – a really lovely warm slad to start proceddings. Loin of pork was delightful – handsome portions of meat and veg – so no sides required. The smoked haddock risotto from the a la carte was rich, comforting and cuddly – like a good risotto should. We ordered a bottle of pink fizz and when the waiter didnt return after 10 minutes we began to worry. He emerged from the bar apologising profusely – he had gone to the cellar convinced there was more pink fizz when he finished his shift yesterday. ‘Must be a few hens staying in the hotel’ he said 'we've no rose left'. He promptly produced a cold bottle of the brut and all was forgotten. Panacotta to finish a really good dining experience and so pleased to see local staff being employeed. Toilets were clean and well kept. Staff were friendly and helpful. Bill was very good. £80 including tip for champagne lunch for two, or perhaps I've been in London too long?

Guilherme B

11 October 2010

Food & Drink 3.5

Service 2.5

Atmosphere 3.5

Value 4

My wife and I shared three meals here, Friday night dinner and two breakfasts. The refurbishment of the fabric of the building has worked very well indeed (we liked our room too, for that reason), there is bare brick and there is exposed wood, but there is also a likeable openness and vibrancy about the place which is pleasing. By comparison with London, the food prices are very fair though the margin on the wines offered must (in my view) be large – which is not to decry the wines, rather the prices at which they are sold. We had a beetroot carpacio which my wife enjoyed, though she found it slightly sweeter than she would have preferred, followed by a risotto which she really did enjoy. I had started to wonder when our food would come after we'd been sitting for 45 minutes, at which point the two starters arrived with the explanation that the chef did not like the seared tuna nicoise he had first produced (as he felt he had overdone the tuna) and had started again, hence the delay plus apologies. It was worth the wait, as the version produced to me at the table was just right, both in cooking and flavour. Well done, chef ! The Tuna was was not only perfectly seared, but the portion was generous. This was followed in my case by a delicious piece of haddock, fresh and neither too small nor too generous, in the most delicicously light batter. The chunky chips were SUPER, crunchy outside, soft and melt in your mouth inside. Where this restaurant, like the Hotel, lets itself down is attention to detail. In the hotel, that meant me reporting a non-funtioning blind and that receiving no atendion at all, an the towels in the bathroom being badly (BADLY) frayed. In the restaurant, both breakfasts were horribly understaffed, which led to tables being left dirty and unmade for new guests, unacceptable waits and every single cup I saw coming out of the washer with coffee grounds visible inside. The buffet was really quite sad -and expensive – so we gave that a miss. My wife asked for the multi-grain toast on the menu, but was given sad, standard brown toast. When she pointed out that there had been available the previous evening a wonderful, chewy, seed bread, our server immediately obtained a slice of that and toasted it – again, well done. Both mornings, I ordered a wonderful eggs florentine which was served hot, with eggs that retained runny yolks and which at £6.50 represented outstanding value. One other piece of praise, the young male manager in the evening showed genuine good will and enthusiasm, and was therefore a good person to have front of house. So there you have it, great setting, good food, expensive wine and a bit chaotic !

Brenda K

09 February 2009

Food & Drink 3.5

Service 1

Atmosphere 1

Value 2.5

When dining at a £50 per head restaurant one does not expect several things. High amongst theses things is paying £3.50 for “seasonal vegetables” which consist of a floret or two of broccolli, ditto sugarsnaps & the remainder of the dish being made up of starch viz. POTATOES and dried BUTTERBEANS. What one really expects is to speak to the manager on a Saturday night when resisting the attempts of the staff to shift you from your booked table after 1 1/2 hours. One wonders when the manager does work in this restaurant if not on a busy Saturday night. No mention was made of this double booking policy when the table was being booked nor on the second telephone call when trying to reschedule the booking. When we pointed this out our waitress said we were not told because we “didn't ask”. A novel approach to blame shifting. The food was unexceptional for the price range. Customer service was non-existant.

The London Carriage Works