Slims Pork Chop Express, Liverpool

Slims Pork Chop Express is an offshoot of the popular watering hole, Salt Dog Slims. Conveniently situated next door on Seel Street on the site of an ex sex shop. The exterior retains an alluring black painted frontage with a pink neon sign. Occupying two floors we were led to the upstairs dining area also where the kitchen is housed.

The menu is split between brunch and evening with a strong emphasis on American style fare. Being a large group we took the opportunity to order an array of smoked meats to share. I think we over ordered but it was only clear to what extent when the food arrived! 

On two large trays we tried beef short ribs, 7 hour hickory smoked beef ribs, peppered house rub and slaw. Two great hunking pieces of beef, the first of which was slightly tough and dry on top but the rest of it was sensationally moist with fatty goodness running through the meat.

The 5 hour hickory smoked spare ribs, 16 hour smoked pork with bone marrow butter, and beef brisket hit the spot without hitting the heights of the short rib.

For a bit of meat variety we also ordered some chicken dishes. Chicken and waffles, buttermilk fired chicken with light malted waffle, served sweet. Slightly over fried but somehow the texture of the chicken was fine. The sweet waffle ended up being dessert when everyone gave up on the meat from being too stuffed. Chicken wings in hot and original flavours were average.

For carbs we opted for the Coach Bombay fries, confit duck, duck gravy, fired duck egg, topped with montery jack and chilli cheese fries, homemade chilli with cheese sauce. To top off the meal we also tried the XXX mac and cheese, a deep fried mac and cheese burger.

A good addition to the city centre with some interesting brunch options for next time. Be prepared and go hungry would be our advice, or alternatively don’t be greedy like us and order the smaller sizes for the smoked meats. One of our party had one final query and rightly so, where are the pork chop options on the menu?

Per Se, New York

Per Se was one of our highlight meals during our trip to New York. Needing no introduction this 3 Michelin starred juggernaut has consistency sat amongst the top restaurants of the Big Apple, as well as holding fort in the world’s top 50 restaurants at number 30 in the latest list. Located within the Time Warner building a dedicated escalator transports patrons to the entrance with the famed big blue doors. We visited on a mild Sunday evening, liberated from the usual Sunday night doom of an impending Monday in work.

After a short wait in the Salon bar area we were led to our table on the higher level of the split level dining room. A big fireplace with a roaring fire dominated the dimly lit room. Service is slick as one would expect and presented with a choice of vegetarian or the normal tasting menu there was only going to be one winner. The normal menu includes optional supplements for some dishes which soon pushes the price upwards from the standard tasting menu price of $310 per person.

The first of the amuse bouches were Gruyere cheese gougeres followed by a sensational salmon cornet with red onion creme-fraich.

The first course was oysters & pearls - "Sabayon" of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and Sterling White sturgeon caviar.

For the next course I stuck with the standard melon "gazpacho" - Eckerton Hill Farm’s tomatoes, Aji Dulce peppers, yellow squash and flowering basil whilst Mrs Nom had the supplement dish of "Terrine " of Hudson Valley moulard duck foie gras - yogurt "gelée," Granny Smith apples, petite radishes, candied walnuts and huckleberry coulis served with toasted brioche. The melon gazpacho was packed full of flavour incorporating a kick from the pepper and basil. The foie gras was served with a variety of salts to enhance the flavour along with a delectable brioche that was replenished a couple of times.

Crispy skin Mediterranean lubina - "Tabouleh," pearl barley, black Cerignola olives, Persian cucumbers and toasted sesame za’atar.

Maine Sea scallops - "ragoût" of corn kernels, bok choy, fairy tale eggplant, black trumpet mushrooms, mizuna and yuzu moromi.

Four Story Hill Farm’s Porchetta - bean salad, "gribiche" and whole grain mustard sauce.

Elysian Fields Farm’s Carre D’Agneau  - "Chou-Fleur Rôti en Cocotte," Autumn royal grapes, endive, mâche and ruby beet butter. The final meat course and a new to us but likeable combination of exquisitely cooked lamb and beet sauce.

Maplebrook Farms "Burratini " - Hadley Orchards’ medjool dates, French Laundry Garden fennel, Acacia honey and aged sherry vinegar. By now we were struggling with this cheese course but we knew we had a whole medley of desserts to come.

The first of a trio of desserts was a berry parfait followed by a take on S’mores and a chocolate tart. By now we were in a food coma and cannot recall the full details.

The rest of the desserts flowed quickly with the signature coffee and donuts, cinnamon sugared brioche doughnuts with cappuccino semifreddo. An enticing box full of whote, milk and dark chocolates were presented as each one of the numerous selection was described in depth. We settled for a few before the final petit fours were presented in a large round tin containing nougats, macaroons and truffles.

There was no way we could fit it all in and ended up taking the chocolates and petit fours away with us, all neatly packed away with bows and all. An additional gift of chocolate shortbreads was also in our goodie bag to go which made for a sweet breakfast the next morning, some of the finest shortbread we have had.

A meal full of highlights but not all courses delivered the same punch such as the lubina and the dessert courses were surprisingly simple but still enjoyable. For a fine dining experience in New York we can see why Per Se is so highly regarded.

Meat And Liquor, Liverpool

When Meat and Liquor were announced on the Lark Lane dining scene there was uproar in the capital over the perceived plagiarism of one of its favourite sons, Meat Liquor. It humoured me that the Twitterati were out in force calling the restaurant all sorts of names that you would only bestow to your worst enemies.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or is it just outright infringement? To be fair I don’t give a damn what a restaurants called or how it looks as long as its clean and serves up good food. If someone opened up in Liverpool called Fat Ducks or The Frenchie with identical logos and décor as the more illustrious inspired originals I would be along in a flash if the food was up to scratch without batting an eyelid.

Meat and Liquor only have a Twitter presence it seems with no website but they seem to have built up a loyal following with a constant stream of punters during our visit. No doubt aided by its name at first but to be fair they could probably ditch it now and still continue as they are. The menu is the expected typical American fare. Judging by the tables with logos of unmistakeable American companies such as Harley Davidson and Coca Cola along with a huge Brooklyn Brewery sign on one of the walls.

There are a small range of burgers, fries, hot dogs and specials along with an equally compact drinks menu. The retweets from the restaurant seem to contain endless mentions for its duck fries from the specials board so they were a must and sounded the most appealing to be fair among naked and bacon fries. Topped with duck meat fried, cucumber and spring onions they were simply a joy. The fries were just average but with the toppings it just worked, like duck pancakes but with fries instead of the pancakes, winner winner!!!

From the burger menu I couldn’t look past the Brooklyn Big Ass which was packed with bacon, jack cheese, pulled pork, onion strings, slaw and house sauce. The burger was made from minced rump and cooked through, this gave it good beef flavour rather than trying to serve pink and being bland which I found at Free State Kitchen. Served on a brioche bun which could of been slightly toasted, the burger overall was enjoyable but not did not wow as theres so much choice on the market these days.

Mrs Nom, being anti beef on this day plumped for the Louisiana chicken. Fried chicken in a bun being a pretty accurate description, the chicken was moist and did its job I was told.

All washed down with a Brooklyn beer this was ideal for a quick bite. The Lark Lane area appears pretty run down since my last visit but Meat And Liquor fits right in with the vibe in the area.

Dogs n Dough, Manchester

Feeling slightly peckish after some Christmas sales shopping with Mrs Nom, we fancied something fast and easy so decided on Dogs n Dough for a quick bite. We were the only ones in late afternoon on Boxing day.

Mrs Nom chose the ADB hotdog, or ‘All Day Breakfast' in long form. Along with a meaty frankfurter it came with bacon, baked beans, and a poached egg on top. It was a messy business, especially with the runny yolk and the beans falling out the toasted bun.

I settled on The New Yorker with pastrami, big fat gherkin, jalapenos and swiss cheese. It was certainly the easier to eat and I was glad I chose this and not the other way around. A horseradish mayo brought all of the flavours together.

We also ordered a portion of naked fries to go with the dogs. Unfortunately due to how quiet it was we imagine, the frankfurter hot dogs tasted like they had sat for a while and Mrs Nom found them a challenge to bite through, although they were satisfyingly beefy and meaty.

For a quick bite the dogs at Dogs n Dough are a reliable option. We also attended the launch night and tried the Hawaiian dog which we remember was awesome. With a lunchtime special of £4 a dog or pizza til the end of January its well worth checking out.

All Star Lanes, Manchester

When it comes to bowling alleys, this brings back memories of fun and arcade machines with monochrome blue pac man style graphics from the television screens displaying the scores. Balls and pins would regularly get stuck requiring someone to retrieve errant balls and lodged pins.  Food and drink were simple affairs yet satisfying to the young like slush puppies and hot dogs and fries.  

How things have changes since the good old days.  Technology has moved on and punters expectations have risen exponentially.  Despite only being in my twenties I still found the razzmatazz of the Manchester branch of All Star Lanes took some getting used to for this 80s child.  Flat screens with cartoon animations now replace the big chunky blue screens of the past with Catchphrase type graphics of turkeys following a series of strikes.  One thing that hasn’t changed though is that I’m still awful at bowling, starting off with three gutters and with only one strike all game.

Growing out of hush puppies one of the good points of All Star Lanes is its drinks menu with a variety of cocktails, beers, shakes and other non-alcoholic beverages on offer.  Recent Halloween cocktails such as midnight margaritas and Dracula jars were on offer at £5 a pop so didn’t break the bank either.  After a few drinks we moved on the shakes/non-alcoholic menu with a bacon Elvis and banana colada.

After working up an appetite the restaurant offers up an American menu.   For starters we ordered buffalo wings and popcorn squid.  The chicken wings were some of the smallest we have seen, and plumper ones would be much more satisfying, not too hot either.  The popcorn squid is served in a small oriental takeaway type box with some unnecessary chopsticks.  It’s a shame that they were dripping oil otherwise they would have fared quite favourably.

Moving on to mains which were much better, the full rack of BBQ baby back ribs looked like it came from a dinosaur, it was humongous   I was glad I refused to order a side of chips when I saw how big it was, anyhow it come with a small dollop of obligatory veg in the form of coleslaw on the side.  I struggled to finish the whole rack but the meat was tender and moist coming off the bone with ease. Blackened salmon was also a generous portion of two fillets with nice crispy skin, served with crush Cajun sweet potato which was different and welcome.  

We were glad we chose to bowl before eating as we weren’t able to move after, not helped by washing down our food with shakes. Whilst the prices are reasonable for drinks, coupled with food and bowling the cost soon mounts up, it is easy to rack up a bill of nearly £50 each for a game of bowling, a couple of drinks and a two course meal.  Good for a night out for a group but expensive to kill a couple of hours for two.

Free State Kitchen, Liverpool

Free State Kitchen is the newcomer of the year to the Liverpool dining scene according to Liverpool Food & Drink awards.  Serving American classics it has gone down a treat in the city with many rave reviews.

Our first visit however was a little disappointing, on arrival we were told that they had sold out of burgers which was my first choice so we settled on The Clam Sam and The Scooch.  The Clam Sam is billed as seasoned fried clams and seafood in a soft white roll with a kicking Tiger Sauce, crisp lettuce, tomato and fresh onion.  The Scooch featured Italian deli meats, Prima Donna cheese, hot sweet peppers, roasted red pepper, olive oil and balsamic on a griddled ciabbata roll.  However the Clam Sam was lacking clams with very few for the price charged and the Scooch was rather dry and lacking flavour which was surprising given the ingredients.

Maybe we had caught them on a bad night after a busy afternoon we thought but first impressions were not good.  Since the first visit we sampled a delicious Boston clam chowder from their stall at the Liverpool Food & Drink Festival last month and this made us want to return for the burgers.

On return last week it was nearly full when we arrived.  I was tempted to order a portion of the clam chowder from the specials board but the Ultimate Double Bacon and Cheese Burger at the top caught my eye and there was no going back.  We also ordered a large portion of Buffalo hot wings.  The kitchen struggled to keep pace with the orders and there quite a lengthy wait for our food.  With us near starving this built up the anticipation further as we watched others being served their food.

The Buffalo hot wings were marinated in buttermilk and served with a blue cheese dip.  The chicken was nice and moist due to the buttermilk but I didn’t find them hot enough.  They were good but need a bigger kick in my opinion.  The burger scared me when it arrived; it was humongous and dripping with coronary failing inducing cheese.  I knew what I signed up for and what was delivered was as described but the sheer volume of cheese was too much.  The two 5oz patties and bacon rashers looked more appealing.

The patties were cooked medium rare but more on the rare side than medium.  So much so that I felt they were lacking a deep beefy flavour generally accompanying top notch burgers.  I’m not sure if the kitchen were pushing orders out so rapidly to keep pace but a tad more grilling would have been perfect.  The same with the bacon, they could have done with being crispier and were only just about cooked.  The fries were dripping oil and lacking seasoning, I suspect they were fried at too low a temperature. 

I really wanted to enjoy it but in the end it felt like a chore finishing the meal rather than enjoyment.  The saving grace were the Buffalo wings which I could have a bucket of by myself. The drinks on offer also take me back to childhood favourites such as Vanilla Coke and Coke Floats.  There is much to like but maybe we were unlucky on both visits and not experiencing the same that others have.  The style and presentation of the dishes remind me of Honest burgers in London, of which I enjoyed very much a couple months back, the burger just seemed to pack the right flavours and the rosemary fries were fried and seasoned just right.  Free State Kitchen is not up to them levels yet for me but as a newcomer they can certainly get there with some tweaking and consistency.