My second restaurant in Liverpool, 8 by Andy Sheridan. One that I wouldn't be surprised if they get a star next week – it probably won't but it wouldn't surprise me.
You start in the lounge for drinks and the initial snacks, then downstairs into the main restaurant. Each "kitchen" has seating for 8, dishes are all finished in front of you, served by one of the chefs. They were very approachable and willing to discuss anything to do with the menu and food in general.
Tasting menu was £120 per person
Apple/Horseradish/Verjus
Light and fresh with a nice horseradish bite
Roscoff onion
Nicely balanced cheese and onion flavour. Really good snack, crisp cone, slightly smokey and salty.
Tuna/Iberico Chorizo/Avocado
Another cracker. Tuna comes through, nice smoke from the roe, creamy avocado and hit of spice from the chorizo
Bread
Parkerhouse roll, with a nice sweetness from the honey and a touch of spice
Cod/Lobster/Hazlenut
Great cooking on the cod, balanced with Tonka and white chocolate nicely
Monkfish/Peanut sauce
Monkfish still had texture, was perfectly cooked. A, nice spice and balanced sauce, good depth of flavour
Beetroot
A nice pallet cleanser between the fairly spiced monkfish and the rich duck.
Duck/Celeriac
Rich tender duck, lovely puree, great sauce and cracking savoury croissant bread with wild garlic.
S.T.P.
Their take on a cheese course, and probably the stand out dish for me. Deeply rich toffee pudding, offset with the stilton ice creamand vinegar. Worked really really well
Rhubarb/Yoghurt
Light and refreshing, lovely rhubarb flavour
Tea and toast
Caramelized milk and biscuits flavoured set cream. A nice tea and bergamot flavour, and I don't normally like tea
Petit fours
Sesame oil Madelines. Nice sesame flavour, interesting in a sweet
Yoghurt and Tonka bean fudge. Yoghurt was initially sharp and a bit off putting, but balanced with the sweet fudge
Great value, good experience and a lovely dinner. Everything was cooked exactly as you'd want, and there were some interesting twists – the stilton ice cream and black garlic croissant were stand outs.
by TheYorkshireSaint