‘A little easier on the sauce and you’re onto a winner’: Bone & Block, Duke Street Market, reviewed

I may well have been reviewing dishes for Confidentials.com for just shy of two years (time flies when you’re eating your bodyweight in plates week-in, week-out), but that doesn’t stop me from making the occasional rookie error. Which is exactly what I did when I thought I’d bagged a walk-in spot at a restaurant on a Wednesday lunchtime during the run up to Christmas.

“Sorry - the next table for two we have is at seven,” I was told. 

I looked at my phone. It had just turned 12:30pm. 

“Ah, really? Ok, no problem. Thanks anyways,” I said with a very awkward, very British smile as I headed for the door. What I really wanted to say was “I’m a knob and should know better than to cross my fingers and hope in the month of December. A thousand apologies and best of luck with these next two weeks of hospitality hell.”  

Back out on the street, I reassessed my surroundings. Being mere minutes away from a not-so-old faithful that never lets me down when I’m in a funk and can’t decide on what to eat, or have poorly timed my trains and need somewhere with a pleasant and buzzy atmosphere to wait for the next one, I marched Dave and I over to Duke Street Market. 

Kitted out in all its glory, the foodhall was dressed with hanging festive foliage and large, red ribbons that hung beautifully from the mezzanine level over the communal dining tables. No in-your-face, cringeworthy Christmas decs - just tasteful, traditional-looking nods to the holiday season that seem to compliment the 100-year-old warehouse’s heritage. Even the biggest scrooge would have a hard time denying its appeal. 

With six individual food concepts to choose from, we settled on a couple of plates from Bone & Block; the steakhouse kitchen offering dry-aged meat butchered themselves to create the likes of posh burgers and steak sarnies. Which is just what we ordered; the ‘aged’ burger (£13.75), a BBQ beef brisket sandwich (£14.50) and a portion of beef dripping fries (£5.75) for good measure.

All three plates arrived within 10 to 15 minutes and were brought over by a member of the floor team who had the most infectious smile on her face. She asked if we needed anything else, condiments or napkins, and left us to it. 

I went to pick up the burger to cut it in half so Dave could have a try but the unruly amount of sauce and pickles had created a bit of a slip-and-slide effect, causing the lightly grilled burger to escape its way out of the buns and out onto the plate. I reassembled it and managed to get it to hold its integrity long enough to take a decent-sized bite. Plenty of flavour and smokiness coming through, but the patty could have done with just a few moments longer on the grill to suit my liking (I love a nice crispy edge to seal in those fatty flavours), which would have also helped it retain its heat as it cooled very quickly. 

Dave's BBQ brisket sandwich was equally as saucy, if not more-so, to the point he had to go in with a knife and fork. The bun was light and fluffy while the slaw and crispy onions added enough texture to keep things exciting, but ultimately the sweet barbecue sauce overpowered the flavour of the brisket a bit, causing the sandwich to get sickly very quickly. A little easier on the sauce with this one and they're onto a winner. 

The beef dripping chips really stepped things up a notch. Perfectly salted and crisped with a fluffy centre, these little starchy gems made the ones from your favourite chippy blush. You know a chip is good when it needs no assistance from a bottle of ketchup - just saying. 

It's no secret that the team at Bone & Block know a good cut of meat when they see one, having butchered it themselves, but I think using 50% less of the sauces and dressings and letting the meat speak for itself would do wonders for this menu. The quality is there and it deserves to be shouted about. 

Bone & Block, Duke Street Market, 46 Duke Street, Liverpool, UK