Harley Young sits on Albert Dock and admires the view with a lovely slice of cake
Albert Dock truly is one of Liverpool’s prettiest city centre locations. With its rich maritime history, cultural hubs in the form of galleries and museums galore, and plethora of hospitality venues (both chain and independent), it's no surprise hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to it each year.
Walking around Albert Dock you’ll find a number of quaint, tucked away businesses like Roly’s Fudge Pantry, Rough Hand Made bakery (where you’ll find the best croissants in town), and the sweetly named Peaberry Coffee House & Kitchen where Alanya and I decided to stop off for a spot of lunch.
I’d happily come back just for a piece of this cake alone.
Built into the brick archways that make up the impressive area of Liverpool’s waterfront, Peaberry is adorned with leafy artwork and hanging plants that add character to the space. There’s also outdoor seating for those warm days that call for a spot of fresh air. We were in luck and, despite a few grey clouds overhead, the weather was on our side and we got to dine alfresco.
With a busy day ahead, we both decided on a refreshing and fruity drink to fuel us - a strawberry and banana smoothie for Alanya and a lemon iced tea for myself. The smoothie was served tall and thick, perfect for a warm day like this one, while the iced tea was served short and, paired with the accompanying surroundings, helped me trick my brain into thinking I was enjoying a cheeky Manhattan on New York Harbor.
To start, we ordered a portion of the bang bang popcorn chicken which arrived in a cone with actual salted popcorn on it - a fun addition but it didn’t really elevate the flavour much. The well seasoned chicken bites with a crispy coating didn’t need it and carried themselves well.
Moving onto mains, we shared the chicken, bacon and avocado garlic flatbread served with gem lettuce, caesar dressing and parmesan cheese. This dish came heaped with plenty on the plate - enough for one very hungry diner or multiple people to pick at as a sort of sharer.
The chicken was grilled nicely and well seasoned, as was the bacon which had a slight crisp to it (crispy bacon always wins). The flatbreads were lightly toasted and useful for mopping up the sauce and juices left behind by the rashers of bacon. They weren’t skinny with the avocado either. All in all a pleasant and welcome item on the lunch menu.
We finished strong with something sweet; a slice of hummingbird cake which was moist, sweet and spicy with plenty of banana and pineapple marbled through and a few chunks of walnut for good measure. Topped with a centimetre-thick layer of buttercream and some delicate edible flowers this beautiful looking cake topped off the meal for me.
It treaded the fine line between sweet and savoury well and wasn’t overly sickly. I’d happily come back just for a piece of this cake alone.
Peaberry Coffee House & Kitchen is a perfectly situated spot for soaking in the wonderful space that is Liverpool’s Albert Dock. It has everything you could want from a waterside cafe; good drinks, great cake, and even better views.
Peaberry Coffee House & Kitchen, Units 1, Albert Dock, 2A The Colonnades, Liverpool L3 4AA
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Peaberry Coffee House & Kitchen is on Confidential Guides
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
Popcorn chicken 7, chicken, bacon and avocado flatbread 7 hummingbird cake 8
- Ambience
- Service
