Review @ Hanover Street Social

As I live in the city centre it’s a real opportunity to dine out and try a wide range of different restaurants and cuisine. Last Saturday we decided to check out ‘Hanover Street Social’ right on the outskirts of the shopping area of town. I hadn’t heard much about the restaurant, other than it’s next to a real favourite restaurant of mine, The Hub.

Anna thought it would be a good idea to book the table, especially as it was for Saturday night and the only availability was for either 6:30pm or 9:30pm. In a way it was a good sign as people know what they like and the restaurant should be booked up for Saturday evening. We went with the 6:30pm option, knowing we’d be back in time for a bit of X Factor!

As we arrived, we were immediately greeted by the host and informed that our table was almost ready. On a side note, whenever I go to new restaurants and even those I’ve been to before, I can’t help but have an invisible ‘points’ system going on in my head regarding the service itself.

We were well looked after though, particularly from having a specified waitress. I always prefer it when the service looks after specific tables rather than getting a number of different people marking their ‘zone’. With just the one person you almost have a mini-rapport going, they know where you’re up to and personally, I feel as though things flow a lot smoother.

The food ordering was almost a repeat of The Olive Restaurant from a few months back. Calamari to start, followed by Sirloin Steak for myself. Anna certainly preferred the Calamari here as there were no tentacles in sight, making the eating process much less scary! They were served with a beautiful Mango Chilli Relish, although I wasn’t 100% sure if the relish part was made from scratch and perhaps the mango could have been diced a little more.

One thing I also appreciated about this menu was that the steak came with a choice of either Bearnaise or Peppercorn sauce. Many restaurants try to milk as much money as they can out of you by charging a huge markup for what’s actually ridiculously cheap to make, but thankfully some common sense prevailed.

Anna ordered the Duck and was asked whether she’d like it medium or well-done. I cannot understand why a chef would allow such a good piece of meat (poultry) to be overcooked when it should always be served pink. It really was cooked perfectly for her though, potentially the best duck that she’s had in a long time.

This was a pleasing restaurant experience. The food, the ambience, the level of service were all of a high quality and there was very little to complain about. We felt looked after throughout whilst at the same time were left alone to enjoy this delicious food. So if you do find yourself in Liverpool, definitely check this place out.

Adam Warren