PANORAMIC 34
by Si Hall & Nicky Rigby-Smith
Panoramic 34 based in City Centre, Liverpool, is one of the UK’s highest
restaurants overlooking the fabulous Liverpool skyline and with views
across to the Wirral. Located in West Tower, Panoramic 34 is now in its
11th year and is still as popular as ever. We went along to try out the
new lunch menu.
Greeted by our host, Daria, we were seated at a pristinely set table with
a fabulous vista and savoured a fine glass of chilled Champagne. The
restaurant oozes elegance and a wonderful ambience from the moment
you enter. A great start to our dining experience.
To start we sampled a selection of starters:
A delicious Prawn Katsu Curry, with sticky jasmine rice, prawn cracker and
coriander. This dish was full of wonderful flavours. The prawn was huge,
juicy and so fresh – delicious! We paired with a great tasting Slovakian
Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is very different to some of the run of the mill
Sauvignon's – Fresh on the palate, crisp and the perfect accompaniment
with the curry. We definitely need to find out where to buy this beauty!
This was followed by a Summer soy vegetable broth with English pea, pearl
barley, mint and cucumber. This is one of the healthiest dishes on the menu
and was divine… very moreish! We paired with a Romanian Pinot noir –
deliciously juicy with delicate aromas of strawberries and cherries, with a
soft velvety finish and long lingering notes.
Next up was the Braised Pork Cheek Terrine with pancetta, silverskin
onions and crisp quail egg. The pork cheek was sumptuous, meaty and
melted in your mouth. The onions added even more great flavour and
texture to this gorgeous starter. The dish was served with homemade
treacle bread – great idea! We paired the pork with a light to medium
bodied Argentinian Rioja, which worked brilliantly.
With such impressive starters, we couldn’t wait for the mains. We sampled:
Barley glazed Beef Picanha Steak with carrot puree, new season leek and
Salsa verde. The steak was served pink – cooked perfectly. Super juicy,
tender and buttery soft - such a wonderful cut of meat which was married
perfectly with the rest the fabulous ingredients. We paired the steak with
an excellent Argentinian Malbec.
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Next was the Chicken Kiev with garlic, black onion seed, green bean, set
pea, chicken skin crumb, and liver parfait. Wow! This dish is a very clever
twist on the Chicken Kiev most of us are used to. The flavours were divine
and left us wanting more! We paired the chicken with a crisp French rose
which was an amazing vibrant salmon pink in colour. Fresh on the palate,
round and well balanced in the mouth. A winner.
The vegetarian dish, the English Asparagus with turnip, ranch dressing,
fennel, Chive pastry and cream cheese foam was outstanding. This was
one of our favourites – everything about the dish was excellent from the
wonderful ingredients to the great flavours, textures and presentation – it
was fabulous! It could actually convince us to go vegetarian! We paired the
asparagus with an Australian Sauvignon Blanc which had beautiful creamy
and buttery notes – most definitely the wine of choice for this superb dish!
Feeling satisfyingly full, we couldn’t however, resist the desserts and
'conservatively' ordered:
The British Isle & French Cheese Selection with pickle, preserve, walnut
and Miller's biscuits – Again, beautifully presented with a great selection
of cheeses including: Montgomery’s Cheddar, Baby Burt’s Blue, Fougerus,
and Affineur Walo Aged Emmental. Naturally we just had to pair this with
a Port Wine - fruity, mature and perfect.
And finally, the Salted Chocolate Mousse with mint, coffee, warmed
chocolate soup – Wow! Wow! Wow! Immaculately and so artfully
presented. Chocolate heaven! We paired with a San Emilio Pedro Ximenez
which is dark mahogany to almost black in colour. Velvety smooth and
pronounced, with notes of raisins and chocolate… yum!
Overall our dining experience was fantastic. The lunch menu is exceptional
value at £30 for two courses and £35 for three courses. All credit to Hugh
& Cathy Frost – they have maintained the high standards of service and
quality of food, which is why this restaurant is still so successful and will
continue to be. The Chef and all the Panoramic 34 team are so committed
to delivering a first class experience. Highly recommended.
Booking essential.
Tel: 0151 236 5534