W
L
WRECKFISH
by Carl Housbey
By the time you read this, it will be nearly a year to the day since
tickets went on sale for a pop-up restaurant in a derelict building
in Liverpool. A building that at the time had no electricity, gas,
or running water, but despite this fact those tickets sold out
in less than 10 minutes. You might be thinking that sounds
completely mad, especially when I tell you that the man whose
idea it was, Chef and restaurateur Gary Usher, was also hoping
to raise £200,000 on Kickstarter to help turn the building into a
permanent restaurant.
No one had ever raised anywhere near this amount for a restaurant
via crowdfunding before, so it was going to be a monumental
task. However, after everyone watched Gary bare his soul on the
amazing campaign video produced by Dan Burns from Natural
Selection Design, both the money and offers of help from many of
the UK’s top Chefs came flooding in.
Fast forward to the present day, and that derelict building is now a
vibrant Bistro called Wreckfish, where you will find excellent food,
delivered with the usual superb level of friendly yet slick service
that we have come to associate with Gary’s restaurants. They
are open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with an
extended lunch service on Sunday for those that like to have a lie
in after a night on the town.
I haven’t managed to make it in for breakfast yet, but the next
time I’m in Liverpool for an early meeting I definitely will, as the
menu looks incredibly tempting with a great choice from healthy
options such as porridge with damson jam and cinnamon, or
Greek yoghurt, banana, honey, and granola, right through to a full
English with a mug of Tradesman’s tea.
38 wirrallife.com
The Dinner menu offers something for everyone, whether you’re
vegetarian, pescatarian, or an omnivore like myself. To start
I can highly recommend the DIY steak tartare where all the
components come separately, so you can make it anywhere from
calm to hotter than hell spicy to suit your personal taste. Mrs
Gastro Grazer would probably choose the grilled octopus, with
romesco and charred baby gem, as the octopus is always succulent,
tender and absolutely delicious.
My main course is very often the braised featherblade of beef with
caramelised onion purée, as I love the way the slow cooking makes
the beef so rich and sticky. At other times, I might go for steamed
cod, with red cabbage and cider sauce, but one thing is for certain,
I will always choose a side of Parmesan and truffle chips because
they are impossible to resist.
One of my favourite desserts is the salted caramel tart, which has
the perfect balance of salt and sweetness, and is a very popular
choice, so popular in fact that on a recent visit they’d completely
sold out. However, my second choice of warm marmalade sponge
with vanilla ice cream was just as delicious and satisfying.
I can guarantee that whatever you choose when you visit it will be
absolutely superb, try looking at Dan’s fantastic photos without
drooling if you don’t believe me.
Wreckfish is at 60 Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BE, and you can
make a reservation by clicking on www.wreckfish.co or by
telephone on 0151 707 1960
To see what else I get up to, why not follow me on Twitter
@carlhousbey