Food & drink/ UK

Bacaro Liverpool | Restaurant review

Writer’s block hell has consumed me for months; each time I pull myself out of the inferno, it surges forward and drags me back into its depths. Stored away in my whirling brain are travel stories untold, whispers of city breaks and sunnier days that I’m doing my utmost to dredge back into life.

But as much as my fingers itched to write, the blank page has defeated me over and over. It’s still defeating me now as I write this pretentious AF introduction – told you it wasn’t going well. In an attempt to break the impasse, I’m turning to my other favourite topic; food.

A sunny corner of Castle Street has played home to Bacaro for almost six years now, a stalwart of the ultra-cool road compared to some of the newer restaurants in town. Despite that, I’d never stepped through its doors until the first week of 2020 and now all those years feel like time wasted.

The team behind Bacaro are small-plate specialists – they also own Salt House Tapas and Hanover Street Social in Liverpool – but Bacaro has a distinctly Italian twist compared to the other venues.

Lining our stomachs before a tasting experience at the Liverpool Gin Distillery, conveniently located just across the road, I was searching for all the carbs and Bacaro delivered. Alongside the meat and fish options, I was impressed to see a decent range of vegetarian options and a whole host of delightful starter options too.

After dithering for a while, I opted for crispy fried gnocchi with basil pesto from the ‘spuntini’ section (£3.95), roasted tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil pizzette (£5.75) and, for my larger option, trofiette pasta, pea, lemon and thyme butter (£5.95).

Cooked simply in olive oil, the lemon flavours of the pasta were divine but the gnocchi stole its way in at the last minute to become my favourite dish. With a touch of crunch from being fried, the addition of delicious pesto made each mouthful sing with flavour. A side of cheese-topped garlic bread to share among our group completed the unbelievable meal and left us full but not unbearably so.

In summary, Bacaro is one of those places where you finish your meal and instantly want to return to try even more from the varied menu. Plus, the atmosphere was great too; we visited on a Saturday lunchtime and the whole restaurant was full and buzzing within no time at all. I can imagine it’d be a great place to spend an evening with friends or even a date night so whether you live in Liverpool or are simply visiting, I’d highly recommend making time for a visit to Bacaro during your time here.

To book your table, visit the Bacaro website here.

Laura x