Kwizeen

Kwizeen
49 King Street
Blackpool
http://www.kwizeen.co.uk/

This restaurant is an amazing little place, serving food you wouldn’t neccessarily expect. Forget all images of seaside greasy spoon cafes, this place is a gem.

Location and Interior: 4/5

Well of course with this restaurant being roughly an hour and a bit away from my house it was never going to get top marks for location, even so it is certainly worth the travel. It is hidden away in the streets away from the hustle and bustle of the sea-front, but that does mean this restaurant is missing out on a lot of potential custom. My personal belief is that this place would easily make a killing in Liverpool, but it does seem to do perfectly well in it’s current location.

Atmosphere and Service: 5/5

This place is small and intimate and the waiting staff never forget about you. The owner and the chef came to speak to us to check that all was ok with the food, and it was all perfectly charming.

Menu and Food: 5/5

If I could have given more than 5/5 I would have done. The menu changes depending upon seasonality and they always have a good selection. Most of their food is sourced locally. I went with my family to Kwizeen, and we each ordered a different dish so we’d have a selection to try from, and none of us could say that anyone dish was the least favourite. They were all fantastic, from the ostrich in chocolate and chilli sauce to the crab souffle with Morecambe Bay garlic shrimp, to the pheasant, to the suckling pig. We struggled to go with dessert but in the end two were ordered, and they were again superb.

Value for Money: 5/5

Yes Kwizeen is more expensive than an average restaurant, but for food this good it’s definitely worth the price. To be honest with the food they have, I’d have expected them to be charging a lot more.

Website: 5/5

Great design on the website, displaying the current menu, information about the restaurant and details of awards it has won. It would be nice, as I know they have a Christmas party menu and a New Years Eve menu for those to be displayed on the site as well.

Special Offers: 3/5

Kwizeen doesn’t appear to have any special offers on it’s website, nor does it appear to be listed fully on Sugarvine.com. However, having picked up a copy of the Christmas party menu, £16.50 for four courses, that’s one hell of an offer.

Total Score: 5/5

Worth more than a few visits. In fact I’m ordering you all to go. This restaurant, along with Il Forno, gets the Campaign for Good Restaurant Food’s seal of approval.

Il Forno

Il Forno
132 Duke Street,
East Village
Liverpool L1 5AG
http://www.ilforno.co.uk/

This charming restaurant is one of the newer places to spring up along Duke Street. With good, hearty, fresh Italian fare, you’re on to a winner with this place.

Location and interior: 4/5

The restaurant is fairly easy to find, and is only a short walk from Liverpool’s famous China Town arch. Inside, the decor is lovely and modern. There are plenty of windows to gaze out of, and the only authentic pizza oven in the city is clearly visible from certain areas of the restaurant, unfortunately from where we were sitting we couldn’t see it, but we did have a good view of the small fountain around the rear of the restaurant.

Atmosphere and Service: 4/5

I must admit, despite being seated in a small, out of the way place, we were not forgotten about and the service was very prompt. A lot of the waiting staff appeared to be Italian as well which was nice. I felt it lacked the charm of a smaller, cozy Italian restaurant, but that doesn’t really matter when you are getting good food and service.

Menu and Food: 5/5

Luckily enough, I had the chance to look at the online menu before visiting so I had narrowed my choice of food down to pizza at least. Even so, I still spent a while dithering over which one to have as there is such a large selection. I only wished that they’d have such a wide selection with their calzones, as they are a favourite of mine. My dining companion opted for the carbonara, and loved it. I sneaked a quick bite of his pasta and I’m not a fan of carbonara, but this was lovely, not too much sauce, but not too dry either. The restaurant clearly uses fresh herbs and ingredients, and the pizza I opted for in the end was fabulous. I don’t usually like stone baked pizzas, but the ones at Il Forno are definitely something to try.

As for the dessert, I was feeling rather full so I went for a simple peach melba. The peaches were fresh and not out of a can, the cream was real whipped cream too. I was a little disappointed that the vanilla ice cream wasn’t the type with vanilla pods, but I still enjoyed it. My dining partner in crime chose the tiramisu (well that was a no-brainer, as he adores this dessert) and he was impressed. The table next to us seemed quite fond of it too, as four plates of it were very quickly demolished.

They also have Italian lager, which was lovely and refreshing.

Value for Money: 4/5

Some student types may balk at the idea of spending over a tenner for a meat dish here, but there are plenty of reasonably priced alternatives. The pizza was large enough to satisfy even my appetite, and prices for those start at around £6.50, hardly an expensive meal, and well worth the price.

Website: 5/5

Well designed and giving you all the information you need including menus, and the chance to book online.

Special offers: 2/5

Currently there doesn’t seem to be any special offers, but the prices are reasonable anyway.

Total score: 4/5

Definitely worth a visit, or two, or three, I feel this place will become one of my regular haunts. The score is only brought down to 4/5 because of the lack of special offers, but even so it gets the Campaign for Real Food in the UK seal of approval