‘All aboard’: Floating Grace, Royal Albert Dock, reviewed

When seeking spots to review in the city, it's easy to fall into the trap of choosing the same kind of restaurants every time. Before you know it, your taste buds are begging for a change of scenery, so to speak. 

And what better change of scenery than dinner on a barge that serves up traditional favourites as you cruise your way around Liverpool’s eight docks over a two-hour period? That’s sure to wake up something inside even the most discerning diner. 

The Floating Grace, a sweetly named vessel and Liverpool’s only floating restaurant and bar (for now…), takes guests on a sight-seeing journey through Liverpool’s rich maritime history, via the docks that make up the city’s beautiful waterfront. 

As well as evening dinner cruises that run Wednesday to Saturday each week, The Floating Grace hosts mid-morning cruises, Sunday lunches and afternoon teas. It’s also available for private hire and corporate events, in case you fancy your next work Christmas do ‘off land’. 

To book your seat on The Floating Grace, you have to prepay for your meal ahead of time via the website or by calling up. This means the indecisive amongst you had better make up your mind and stick to your guns when choosing your main and dessert. Thankfully, there’s only five or six options for mains and just three for dessert so, for those really struggling, the old ‘ip-dip-doo’ tactic should sort you out. 

At £38 per adult (£12 for under 12s), this two-course dinner with on-board bar (additional cost) and two-hour round sailing trip was an absolute steal. I eagerly typed my card details in and clicked to confirm the booking. Bon voyage.

Rooting around on the page, I glanced over the ‘details’ section, which read: Our evening dinner cruises provide a special and atmospheric dining experience, perfect for a relaxed evening with friends and family or a romantic dinner with a significant other. Board the boat at the Albert Dock. Our staff will then serve your two-course dinner as you peacefully cruise through Liverpool’s historic docks. Vegan options available!

I opted for the ‘relaxed evening with friends’ approach as opposed to the ‘romantic dinner with a significant other’ option, bringing my honorary-Liverpudlian pal and very own Grace, Lowri Grace, along in tow. Although, the wording of ‘a significant other’ did make me chuckle. One of many significant others? Which significant other would you choose? Perhaps there’s too many to choose from.

We arrived at Salthouse Quay on Salthouse Dock a few minutes before boarding, peering down the gangway at The Floating Grace - her security guard, a crazy golf-esque pirate statue staring back at us.

We familiarised ourselves with our new surroundings for the next few hours; white tablecloths, nautical curtains and fairy lights - a bit on the nose, but warm and inoffensive. The Floating Grace is a wide-berth vessel (I hope she doesn’t mind me saying that) and can accommodate up to 50 guests. On this particular evening, she was half full with a variety of guests; young families, middle-aged to older couples celebrating anniversaries, and friends enjoying a change of scene for their regular catch-up like me and Lowri.

At around 7:30pm - or perhaps that should be ‘nineteen-hundred-hours’, I feel all nautical now - we set sail, weaving our way through the Albert Dock; an iconic part of Liverpool’s rich tapestry which opened in 1846. 

Our Skipper, Ben, mic'd up and started the tour off with a few laughs, introducing the rest of the queue and asking chef Jane to say hello to the group. “She doesn’t need a mic, you can hear her from the other end of the boat,” he said in jest, adding “She’ll be making your jam sandwiches.”

Shortly after departure, we received our pre-ordered mains. I chose the lamb shank and Lowri opted for the chicken with stilton in a mushroom sauce. Both were served with rough-cut potatoes, a generous helping of carrots and a floret of broccoli - mine with minted peas and gravy.

The lamb shank was nicely cooked and the meat fell off the bone when gently prodded with my fork (as all good lamb should). I was weary of the potatoes being slightly undercooked as they were sizable hunks, but no, they were fluffy throughout without turning to mush when I went to pick them up. The gravy could have done with being a bit thicker, but then again, I’m a Yorkshire lass with the mantra that gravy can never be too thick.  

Lowri’s dish was another generous portion - the chicken breast was moist thanks to the lashings of sauce atop of it, however lacked the punch you’d expect from a dish with stilton in it. Still, pretty decent to say it was made in the tiniest kitchen you’ve ever seen on the back of a barge. Props to Jane for pulling that off. 

We continued our cruise and our charming Skipper Ben continued to crack jokes during the voyage whilst telling us all about the docks and their history, as well as some modern elements too. He pointed out the various architectural easter eggs, hotels and Airbnbs along the water’s edge, including the rather unusual 007 ‘botel’, and asked us all to say hello to one of the lady’s who waves at the boat from her balcony six times a day. It was all very sweet and wholesome.  

Once our mains had settled, dessert was served. Lowri picked the chocolate fudge cake which seemed to go down a treat. I opted for the more traditional and warming dish of apple pie and custard - just what was needed on this cold and miserable August evening (where on earth has summer gone?). 

After finishing her dinner duties, Jane came around to each table and asked whether there were any special occasions to celebrate before taking to the front of the boat and announcing them one by one. We all cheered for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries before the music was ramped up to 11 with Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. Now the party has started. 

At one point, Ben was talking into his mic, sharing his knowledge of the docks whilst Tina Turner's rendition of Rollin’ on the River blared through the speakers and the fairy lights flashed in unison. It was a bit sensory overload, like being at a family party past 11pm when everyone’s well on their way to being sufficiently sozzled, making song requests to the DJ, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

As well as being incredible value for money, a voyage on The Floating Grace is a good laugh and great alternative to your typical night out. There’s genuinely something for everyone, whether you want to learn of Liverpool’s maritime past and present, you fancy an affordable meal, a boogie, or you’re in need of a cheering up courtesy of Ben and his cracking Scouse humour. 

The Floating Grace, Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, 1 Salthouse Quay, L3 4AA

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