The MICHELIN-recognised restaurants nearby that you need to recce this year
Sometimes it’s nice to have a chippy tea on the couch but other times, it’s nice to get your best bib ’n’ tucker on and dine out on something spectacular. Nothing says ‘spectacular’ quite like a recommendation from the 19 French judges behind the prestigious MICHELIN Guide. This accolade has the power to change the course of destiny for any chef or restaurant and there’s a handful of ‘em in Liverpool that have been illustriously bestowed.
So, when you’re feeling more gastronome than garden gnome and you’ve got an appetite for something extra special, look no further. Here, we round up the “best restaurants and talent” in Liverpool and the surrounding areas according to the iconic dining guide gospel.
Fraiche - One Michelin Star
Say what you want about the Wirral but Fraiche is one of the only establishments around this neck of the woods with its very own MICHELIN Star. With owner and acclaimed chef, Marc Wilkinson having mastered his craft in a family-run French restaurant in Yorkshire, it comes as no surprise that the enigmatic menu here also has French flair. The Oxton restaurant, in an old Victorian village, is decorated with one MICHELIN Star, which, according to the powers that be, denotes ‘high-quality cooking, worth a stop!’. You can expect avant-garde amuse-bouche, Modernist mains and Salvador Dalí-style desserts across a menu of many courses, complete with skilled wine pairings. It’s an intimate affair here so don’t be surprised if you find yourself on the waiting list or joining the people in Chef Wilkinson’s Instagram comments campaigning desperately for a reservation.
Fraiche, 11 Rose Mount, Oxton, Wirral CH43 5SG
Moor Hall - Two Michelin Stars and one Green Michelin Star
Hungry for multiple MICHELIN Stars? Drive 40 minutes outside of Liverpool city centre to the rural market town of Ormskirk and navigate your way to Moor Hall ‘restaurant with rooms’. This place has bragging rights to two MICHELIN Stars as well a green MICHELIN Star awarded for its dedication to sustainability. Whatever you do, don’t roll up without a reservation because this fine dining experience in a 16th Century manor house is coveted, to say the least. A Scandic-style interior (think blown glass and blond wood) meets a contemporary menu championing classic and obscure English ingredients. Chef Patron Mark Birchall is renowned for his wizardry with lesser-known plants and herbs, blending flavours, textures and temperatures. Dishes have been curated alongside a wine list that MICHELIN critiques say “will have oenophiles in raptures”.
Moor Hall, Moor Hall, Prescot Road, Aughton, Ormskirk L39 6RT
The Barn - One Michelin Star
If Moor Hall is the older sibling who graduated with a PhD and made the family proper proud, this is its younger sister, zealously following in its illustrious footsteps. Recently awarded its first Michelin Star, The Barn neighbours Moor Hall, sharing the same sprawling grounds. The lovingly restored barn is home to a rustic restaurant oozing charm, offering a more accessible and family-friendly approach to fine dining. Children’s and grown-up’s menus are both centred around seasonal ingredients either nurtured in the surrounding five-acre grounds or sourced from local suppliers. Chef Patron Mark Birchall also promises “the best Sunday lunch you’ll ever try” here—but you can be the judge of that, right?
The Barn, Moor Hall, Prescot Road, Aughton, Ormskirk L39 6RT
Manifest
Manifest opened in March 2022 and by July 2022 was bestowed with a gushing MICHELIN recommendation. Not bad for less than 6 months service. Manifest offers ‘seasonal plates and famous Liverpool hospitality’ in an industrial-style converted warehouse in the Baltic Triangle. The Modern British menu takes inspiration from the city’s shipping trade heritage, focusing on seasonal produce and local suppliers to create textures and flavours for the curious gastronome. Owner and chef, Paul Duran prides himself on “regularly changing menus with wine firmly in mind”, having made every bottle from the extensive wine list available by the glass. Sit on the main restaurant floor or snag yourself a counter seat for an unmissable vantage point.
Manifest, 5 Watkinson Street, Liverpool L1 0AG
Barnacle
If you’re looking to eat like a MICHELIN judge, retrace their steps with a trip to Barnacle. Based on the mezzanine of Duke Street Market, this brasserie-style restaurant with Scouse charm was described by a Michelin inspector as being “located above the food stalls but also a level above when it comes to its cooking”. In fact, it was named in five of the judges’ most highly-rated restaurants. You can’t argue with that. Whether it’s an express lunch menu or the whole hog, expect ingredients you know and love but elevated and reframed the Barnacle way. Modern dishes showcase local producers, farmers, suppliers and artisans and pay homage to Liverpool’s port trade heritage.
Barnacle, The Mezzanine, Duke Street Market, 46 Duke Street, Liverpool L1 5AS
Röski
From the brilliant brains of Masterchef: The Professionals winner, Anton Piotrowski, Röski is the kind of place you can guarantee you’re going to get a meal to remember. The small, elegant restaurant is home to some of the biggest flavours and most mighty culinary inventions in the city, including Piotrowski’s own interpretation of a traditional Scouse recipe. Modern decor matches contemporary cuisine curated into a series of tasting menus, alchemic flavour combinations, innovating techniques and textures that push past boundaries. Presentation is never overlooked here as an instrumental part of the whole multi-sensory experience—every plate’s a piece of art. Not one to be missed and the MICHELIN glitterati clearly concurs.
Röski, 16 Rodney Street, Liverpool L1 2TE
The Art School
Anybody who knows anything about fine dining in Liverpool will be sure to chew your ear off about The Art School—a sophisticated restaurant nestled along Hope Street in the gorgeous Georgian Quarter. MICHELIN critiques describe the menu as a “bewildering array of ambitious modern dishes full of colour and contrasts”, available as tasting menus or prix fixe offerings to cater to both the curious and the cautious. Local produce features heavily on the Modern British plates, served on Persil-white tablecloths that contrast starkly against The Art School’s signature pillar box-red dining chairs. Chef Patron Paul Askew is at the helm—a celebrated figure on the Liverpool food and drink scene, instrumental in the city’s evolving gastronomic reputation and the nurturing of the next generation of culinary talent.
The Art School, 1 Sugnall Street, Liverpool L7 7EB
Belzan
Stroll along Smithdown Road and this unsuspecting modern bistro might not even catch your eye if you’re in a rush or scrolling TikTok as you go. However, we recommend adding a reservation here to your to-do list to get a taste of what MICHELIN judges describe as “well-judged, interesting combinations, with flavours that are as generous as they are flavoursome”. You won’t be leaving Belzan hungry, that’s for sure but you will be left wanting more. The menu brings a taste of the owners’ worldly travels to South Liverpool in a cosy, intimate interior. It’s cool, calm and laidback with a community vibe but still delivers an elevated dining experience every time.
Belzan, 371 Smithdown Road, Liverpool L15 3JJ
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