YEA, yea, there are too many Italian-themed places in the city centre, everyone knows it. At Confidential we've even come up with an expression for the relentless rise of the Pasta Boys: YAFI, Yet Another (excuse the language) Fucking Italian.
I need to come out over this. I love peas. All of them. I can even snack on Birds Eye frozen peas straight from freezer and straight from the bag still covered in ice. Very refreshing on hot summer days.
Liquorice, offering Italian/Mediterranean food, on Pall Mall, off King Street, was formerly Destinos. The name change came about when the proprietors decided to transform Liquorice into a neighbourhood bar for the business district of food, fine cocktails, spirits and wines. The design of the space suits the latter idea, it's smart, understated, comfortable.
Liquorice
The menu has dips, skewers, pizzas, pasta, 'hand-rolled' meatballs, dough balls, salads. The sort of fast and easy food that a small kitchen can deliver without too many people stabbing each other because they can't manoeuvre.
Doughballs and mad garlic butter
I had penne pasta (£7.45 - main picture at the top of the page) with salmon, spinach, peas and a creamy sauce. It was delicious. This was a trim hymn to juicy, lusty elements in a double-fist sized portion. The bitter punch of the spinach made friends with the soft salmon and the peas were an addition that lifted the whole.
Future pea delivery vehicleI need to come out over this.
I love peas. All varieties of them. I can even snack on Birds Eye frozen peas straight from the freezer and straight from the bag and still covered in ice. Very refreshing on hot summer days.
Are there any venture capitalists out there who want to open a pea-based restaurant?
In the Liquorice dish the peas not only brought flavour but gave variety to the texture. I'm fairly sure they weren't Birds Eye. In a weird way they made the dish.
The pizza was almost as good. The sweet chilli chicken on a proper wafer-thin base was full-on; laden with chicken, mozzarella, spring onion, pesto infusions and a very decent fiery sauce and cost £7.95.
If you like pizzas try this place out it's as good as anywhere in the city.
Sweet chilli chicken pizza
The dough balls maintained the fun with garlic butter so strong one sneeze would destroy all the characters in Twilight, Dracula and Count Duckula. It worked a treat. The strength of the mix, its oral viciousness, might have lifted off the back of your skull but felt invigorating.
Liquorice
A glass of cool and sharp Sauvignon Blancs - Vina Edmara from Chile, £7.20 per £2.50ml glass - complemented the food. If I'd gone for the £3.95 house offering then I might even have scraped in under the tenner mark and thus shoe-horned Liquorice into our forthcoming Cheap Eats article.
Given the buzz about the place on a lunchtime, appreciation seems to be building. I liked Liquorice, found it a happy little space with food that doesn't break the bank but delivers in skill and flavour.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter here@JonathSchofield or connect via Google+
ALL SCORED CONFIDENTIAL REVIEWS ARE IMPARTIAL AND PAID FOR BY THE MAGAZINE.
Liquorice Bar, 50 Pall Mall, Off King Street, City. M2 1AQ
Rating: 14.5/20
Food: 7.5/10 (salmon pasta 8, pizza 7.5, dough balls, garlic butter 7)
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5
