A new Liverpool restaurant is serving up roast dinners that are so big, it's almost a struggle to finish them.
Hawksmoor is famed for its dry aged steak and the team’s Brunswick Street venue has been hugely well received since opening just a few weeks ago in November. Having ranked number one in the 2022 World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants list, for many people a trip to Hawksmoor is all about getting stuck into its red meat. Now its Liverpool venue, in the beautiful India Buildings, is serving up giant roast dinners in addition to its usual menu and they’re going down a storm.
Last weekend, I tucked into one myself and it was one of the best roast dinners I’ve had. Before we get onto the food, let’s talk about the venue, because if you haven’t been yet you’re in for a real treat.
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Having worked carefully around the Grade II* listed building’s original features, the Hawksmoor team has created a restaurant that manages to feel glamorous and cosy at the same time. The huge arched windows make it feel bright and lofty and the tables are squished together but not so much so that you feel like you’re sitting with strangers.
The interior is inspired by the ‘grand optimism of the roaring twenties’, with lots of stylish teal and dark green leather seating, warm timber floors and wood topped tables that are apparently reclaimed from chemistry labs. The service is swift, smiley and thorough. You can speak to a sommelier to help you decide on wine and the cocktail menu is full of details so you can understand the inspiration behind each drink.
Being there to tuck into a Sunday roast (£23.50) we didn’t have to spend too long looking at the food menu. The waitress explained that the Hawksmoor roast is a slow roast native breed rump, served with plenty of ‘trimmings’ including beef dripping roast potatoes, carrots, seasonal greens, a giant Yorkshire pudding, roasted shallot and half a roasted garlic bulb “to squeeze on top”, plus bone marrow gravy.
She said if we didn’t want beef, we could have another choice of meat from the menu and it would be served with the roast dinner trimmings. Beef was good for my husband and I, so we ordered away and for our starters we chose Roasted scallops in white port and garlic (£17.50) and Fillet carpaccio with pickled mushrooms and Parmesan (£14.50).
You get three scallops, served in shells with a wedge of lemon on top. They were meaty, perfectly cooked and melted in the mouth, leaving you wanting twice as much. The Fillet carpaccio was devoured just as readily, with the ribbon thin beef so soft and tender, and the contrasting flavours of pickle and rich cheese making each mouthful absolute perfection.
Both were the perfect choice to get our taste buds warmed up for the main event, while still leaving plenty of room for the huge roast that was about to be placed in front of us. Two giant, thick cut slices of pink rump took up most of the plate and sat loftily on top of the greens and carrots, meaning the juice from the beef seeped beautifully into the veg, elevating their flavour. Roast beef traditionalists might scoff at the addition of shallot and roasted garlic, but I found they added a deliciously sweet element in amongst all that rich beef.
I’d been asked how I wanted the beef cooked and it did indeed come very pink in the centre, so bear that in mind if you prefer your red meat a bit more well done. For me, it was cooked perfectly, with the well done crust adding texture and creating a moreish contrast to the juicy pink, deliciously seasoned meat. There was just so much of it, it took me a long time to get through it all, but I was determined not to leave any on my plate.
What did defeat me in the end were the perfectly golden, crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle, roast potatoes. And, shamefully, the Yorkshire pudding. I almost feel a bit sad now that I couldn’t manage it all, because both were sensational, but this lot don’t mess around with their portion sizes.
Despite me not managing to quite finish my roast - I tried my best, I really did - my husband polished off every last bit of his. The restaurant also gets bonus points for giving each person their own pot of thick, glossy bone marrow gravy. I don’t mind sharing food, but if there’s not enough gravy to go on my roast, it’s going to ruin the whole experience, frankly.
Stuffed and satisfied, we finished off with after dinner cocktails - a Pecan Godfather (£11), mixed with Maker’s Mark bourbon, Pecan butter, Oloroso sherry and Amaretto, which lived up to its description as ‘pecan pie in boozy liquid form’, and an Espresso Scorretto (£11), with Havana Club 7YO, Creature Coffee Espresso, Porter and Cherry, which was a sweeter take on the perfect pick me up martini that’s become so popular in recent years.
As well as enjoying the perfect Sunday lunch, what also added to the overall experience was to see how bustling the restaurant was. Considering it was a week before payday and January, the venue was thriving and it was great to see so many people out supporting a new restaurant that’s clearly making its mark on Liverpool’s expanding food and drink scene.
Hawksmoor Liverpool is at 8 Brunswick St, Liverpool L2 0PL and you can book a table here.
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