Dinner in Liverpool tonight: seven tables and the dish to order at each

The Cape-Malay duck breast at Barnacle costs £27, and it is the plate that earned Paul and Harry Askew’s brasserie 16.5 out of 20 from Confidentials’ critic in August. It is a fair place to start a dinner list that sits a step below the city’s seven Michelin restaurants and a step above the lunch deals.

How we chose: a critic’s score, a national list place or award from the last 18 months, priced from each restaurant’s own menu, plus one 50-year institution.

Barnacle

Go for the pastry and the bread, which the August review singled out, then the tomato festa (£12) and the duck. The Askews run it in the Grade II listed former School for the Blind on Hardman Street, a few minutes from their other restaurant. Lunch is Wednesday to Friday by advance booking; on Sunday the roast beef is the order.

Hardman Street · duck breast £27 (Aug 2026) · closed Mon–Tue · book

Little Clove Kitchen

A Thai restaurant of about ten tables on Aigburth Road entered the Good Food Guide’s first ranked 100 Best Local Restaurants this summer at number 30, the only Merseyside name on the list. Isaret Pongop and Sipapar Lekdee cook regional dishes: order the charcoal-grilled chicken Kari curry (£18), the chicken skewers with southern sauce (£8.50) and a paratha (£3) to mop up. Walk-ins are welcome but it is usually full, so book; there’s a £5 no-show charge.

Aigburth Road, near Lark Lane · chicken Kari curry £18 (Aug 2026) · Wed–Sun 4–10pm · book · dogs welcome

Queens Wine Bar and Bistro

Down Queen Avenue, a listed passage off Castle Street, Queens has cooked bistro plates since 2019 and holds one AA Rosette. The spring menu ran from cured mackerel (£12) to chalk stream trout (£28), duck breast (£29) and an 8oz sirloin (£35), and the Barnsley lamb chop with Swiss chard and aioli is the dish its guide listing names. It sat ninth in the Confidential Guides readers’ Hot 20 in September.

Queen Avenue, off Castle Street · mains from £23 (May 2026) · book

Sister Ray

New this week: the bar ranked 34th in the UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars for 2026 started serving dinner on 6 October. The menu is short and cheap for the setting. Lindisfarne oysters are £3.50 each, the house burger with Lyonnaise onions and Comté is £15, and an 8oz bavette with bone marrow sauce is £19. Chris Edwards opened the art deco room in May 2024.

Wolstenholme Square · bavette £19 · food Tue–Sat 5–10pm · walk-in

Daffodil

On a deck over Canning Dock, Daffodil opened in December 2024 and was New Tourism Business of the Year at the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards in March. The menu updated in July has pan-fried monkfish at £28 and braised lamb with rarebit at £12 as a starter; start with the focaccia and Japanese milk loaf (£7). Signature cocktails are £14. Come before dark for the water.

Salthouse Quay, Royal Albert Dock · monkfish £28 (Jul 2026) · Wed–Sun · book

The Italian Club

Rosaria Crolla and Maurizio Pellegrini opened this Bold Street trattoria in 2007, with family roots in Picinisco, and Time Out put it in its Liverpool top ten last year. The lasagne al forno (£18.95) is the order; a margherita is £10.95 if you’re feeding children, and the bombolini finish it.

Bold Street · lasagne £18.95 (May 2026) · book

Casa Italia

Fifty years old last month, Casa Italia opened on Stanley Street in 1976, and the family that runs it says it was the city’s first Italian restaurant. Mario Campolucci-Bordi took it over in 1985; his grandson Arran runs it now, and the longest-serving waiter, Rudy, has been there about 35 years. Order the pollo al forno, the oven-baked chicken dish the house created for English diners. For the anniversary the family promised one unannounced day at 1976 prices, which means a £1.80 pizza.

Stanley Street, near Victoria Street · pizza and pasta · book for groups

Checked October 2026.