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Livebait

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MichaelJM
MichaelJM
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
3
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Editor Pick

Livebait

  • November 28, 2007
  • Rated 3 of 5 by MichaelJM from Nottingham, England
Livebait

It wasn't even close to Christmas food but I’d spotted the Livebait restaurant on an earlier visit to the City Centre and as I was in the mood for a fishy meal I opted to try it out. Livebait is a swish looking restaurant just off Albert Square in the shadow of the Town Hall. It’s got a classical feel to the place with a large room divided by various levels and waist height rails. The tables were simply laid but there was a sense of class about it and the waiters were smartly attired in black and white.

They offer a two course meal for £12.95 and despite the waiter’s attempt to seduce me into buying one of the specials I stuck to my inclination to go with the set meal. The menu isn’t large but each of the dishes sounded tasty and “interesting”.

They sell Boddington’s on draught (a locally brewed ale which is popularly sold throughout the U.K.) and in the absence of any alternative I ordered a pint. It turned out not to be the cheapest of pints – indeed at over £3 a pint I could have ordered a couple of pints in the nearby hostelry for the same price.

The waiter was somewhat sycophantic, or perhaps he was just over attentive, and was constantly checking that everything was OK. After a time that really annoys me but I smiled courageously and suffered his attention. I began with a goat’s cheese starter (although whilst waiting for it to arrive I munched on some bread and a nicely flavoured fish spread) and the presentation of the dish was real nice. A couple of rounds of cheese were balanced on toast and surrounded a very tasty salad of lettuce and red onions garnished with a few portions of dissected grapes. The combination of flavours was great and I felt quite chuffed with my choice.

For my main course I’d picked a traditional fish and chips with a side dish of mushy peas. There wasn’t a great gap between the two courses (not a problem for a lone diner) and I was soon greedily tucking into the meal. To begin with I thought it was exceptionally tasty, but after a while I decided that the batter was somewhat soggy and the chips a little bland. Indeed I couldn’t be sure but I reckon the chips were probably frozen. I didn’t enjoy the tartar sauce and the mushy peas were verging on the tasteless. Initially I thought it was my taste-buds recovering from a recent cold, but after I’d paid I noticed a couple of other tables hadn’t eaten all their fish and chips either.

Normally I would have made some comment or other but I was somewhat thrown by the price of the meal. The charges were perfectly correct but at almost £20 it was horrendously overpriced and I am absolutely sure that I won’t be returning to this place for another meal.

From journal It's Christmas!

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