Seaforth Restaurant at The Municipal Hotel

Since opening in 2023, The Municipal Hotel has become a byword for elegance in Liverpool, showcasing neck-craning ceilings, beautiful decor, plus a bar to match. Naturally, such a stunning venue needs the equivalent cuisine, so it’s no surprise to hear that acclaimed chef Andrew Green has taken the reins at Seaforth, the venue’s in-house restaurant. 

Tonight we’re sampling a selection of dishes from his new menu, accompanied by the city’s great and good. Keen food-watchers will be aware that Green cut his teeth at The River Restaurant in Manchester’s 5-star Lowry Hotel, another grand location with a reputation for exceptional food. 

Similarly, here, the ingredients are sourced as locally as possible and the menu is dotted with clever nods to Liverpool and the surrounding areas. 

Tonight’s menu kicks off with something unexpectedly wonderful: a watercress velouté containing a goat’s cheese bonbon and a dash of sorrel oil. Watercress isn’t the most inspiring of leaves, but Green makes something rich, buttery and delightfully fun from it – the earthy, creamy bonbon is just the savoury cherry on top. 

Also from the starter section, impressively thick slices of North Atlantic salmon, cured with red rum, grenadine, pink pepper and orange zest. It’s surrounded by some citrus gel, a light mousse, flavour-packed cucumber spheres, and a slender granary crisp. The plate is a riot of colour and texture, with flavours that don’t just pop, they practically sizzle. A dish worth visiting for.  

For mains, scouse – but this is far, far removed from the meaty, vegetable stew that seems to be sweeping the Liverpool restaurant scene lately. This is best described as a deconstructed take on the city’s traditional dish, featuring a showstopping piece of braised shoulder of beef that couldn’t cram any more flavour in if it tried. 

Then there’s the cannon of Herdwick lamb, pink in the middle and covered with a gloriously rich lamb jus. This is very much for meat lovers, although the vegetable element shouldn’t be ignored – it comes in the innovative form of miniature orbs made from carrot, potato and swede. Again, another restaurant-defining dish. 

Poached strawberries for dessert, topped with a pleasingly thick swirl of Chantilly cream and a honey tuille adding extra height. It’s a dish as lofty as the venue, and has an almost 18th-century feel to it, thanks to the time-honoured ingredients. Special marks in particular to those enormous strawberries, although a trifle-style jelly might have been a better fit than the light, tangy syrup.

Green’s forté is traditional food transformed into high-end dishes, and that’s exactly why his style of cooking works so well at a venue like Seaforth. Much like the Municipal Hotel, every element is dazzling and memorable – this is a destination venue on every level.