Harley Young eats brunch surrounded by pretty flowers and foliage
A restaurant’s first opportunity to win you over is by catching your eye from the outside with pretty signing or a fancy façade. Luckily for Emily’s on Brows Lane, it’s got both.
Even those who aren’t overly fussed about florals and pretty things must admit that it's stunning to look at. I’m more a fan of dark and macabre back alley bars myself - different strokes for different folks I guess. And with fans of the ‘botanical hideaway’ leaving comments on social media like "Just nearly crashed my car looking at this. It’s gorgeous", I had to see if the food was as blooming great as the exterior.
Myself and Alanya popped into the restaurant at around 11:15am and the venue was already bustling, friends catching up and making the most of the good weather whilst families were out celebrating the first few days of the summer holidays with a stack of pancakes.
We were told that the next table would be available at 11:45am, so we took a half an hour walk up and down the high street until it was our time to experience what Emily’s had to offer. A good sign indeed if a place has a waiting list for breakfast.
We arrived back right on time and were taken through the beautifully decorated restaurant, past the bar area and towards the back where the conservatory was. Waltzing through Emily’s is like exploring the Amazon rainforest; every corner you looked there was bunches and bushels of flowers, organised in jaw-dropping arrangements in huge vases or hung from the ceilings to form a sort of veil, none of which looked out of place or tacky. It’s over the top, but tastefully so. I can see this being a popular spot for Mother’s Day celebrations or a girls’ day out.
The seating follows on with the jungle-esque theme, with brightly coloured scatter cushions in snakeskin and zebra prints neatly arranged across the banquettes. It truly is an Instagram-lover’s dream.
Brunch is served until 5pm, so we ordered from that - a lovely summer's day called for a pair of smoothies (£5.95 each) along with Emily's steak and eggs (£15) for myself, and Emily’s breakfast burger (£12) for Alanya.
The smoothies arrived within ten minutes of ordering and added an extra pop of colour to the already bountifully bright room. I went for the Dragon Passion; a bright fuchsia pink concoction made with passionfruit, pineapple, mango, dragon fruit and agave - an incredibly sweet, but incredibly moreish drink that could have benefitted from being just a tad more tart (perhaps a squeeze of lemon?).
Alanya chose the Mango Tango; strawberries, mango and orange juice which looked (and tasted a bit like) a liquid Solero - very welcome on a day like this one.
A few short moments later our dishes arrived, both well presented and Instagram-worthy.
Alanya’s breakfast burger came stacked high, complete with a sausage patty, back bacon rashers, and scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and tomato relish all squeezed into a brioche bun with a pair of seasoned hash browns on the side for good measure. I was envious. She said all of the flavours melded together nicely and polished off the lot, so I can only assume Emily’s have nailed the perfect sauce-to-filling ratio with this one.
My steak and eggs were very visually pleasing indeed, served on a bed of cubed potato hash with a drizzle of chimichurri dressing and Tajin seasoning. I chose poached eggs, which were perfectly cooked and runny in the middle. My steak was ordered medium and sliced into manageable pieces to make eating a little more elegant.
The steak was succulent and mopped up the chimichurri dressing well, but unfortunately the drizzle had seeped into the potatoes making them rather oily so I only had a handful. I was mainly here for the steak and eggs and that did just the job of filling me up.
This Formby restaurant has all the visual appeal of somewhere like The Ivy, with plenty of the photo opportunities, style and grace you’d wish for when celebrating a special occasion or simply treating yourself to somewhere out of the ordinary.
If you’re looking for an independent alternative to your favourite show-stopping chain, with a well-varied menu of both food and drinks, and servers who take pride in making you feel right at home, give Emily’s a try.
Emily's, 25 Brows Lane, Formby, Liverpool L37 4HS
The scores
All scored reviews are unannounced, impartial, and ALWAYS paid for by Confidentials.com and completely independent of any commercial relationship. They are a first-person account of one visit by one, knowledgeable restaurant reviewer and don't represent the company as a whole.
If you want to see the receipt as proof this magazine paid for the meal then a copy will be available upon request. Or maybe ask the restaurant.
Venues are rated against the best examples of their type. What we mean by this is a restaurant which aspires to be fine dining is measured against other fine dining restaurants, a mid-range restaurant against other mid-range restaurants, a pizzeria against other pizzerias, a teashop against other teashops, a KFC against the contents of your bin. You get the message.
Given the above, this is how we score: 1-5: saw your leg off and eat it, 6-9: sigh and shake your head, 10-11: if you’re passing, 12-13: good, 14-15: very good, 16-17: excellent, 18-19: pure class, 20: nothing's that good is it?
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Food
Steak and eggs 7, breakfast bun 7, dragon passion smoothie 7, mango tango smoothie 8.5
- Ambience
- Service
