Food Review: Revolution, Cavern Quarter Liverpool

Image: www.themancphotographer.co.uk

Chain bars. The pillar-stone of reliability or a rule of predictability, the one thing that you can always rely on them delivering is a modicum of consistency. They're a familiar presence across high streets around the land and a fail safe way to get, usually at least, exactly what you expect. 

Revolution is one of the nation's most well known and successful examples, the destination for suicidal games of Vodka Roulette with nefariously hidden shots of chilli vodka, and, in Liverpool at least, a variety of differentiation from the Chain's main premise across its various venues.

There's a glitzy cocktail destination du jour on the Albert Dock, a club space in the city's Ropewalks district in St Peter's Square, a standardised evening bar format just aside from the scouse leery mecca Concert Square on Wood St, and, Skiddle have known of but never ventured to previously, one in the tourist epicentre Cavern Quarter near Matthew Street. 

That location information is in itself enough to narrow down the appeal to a certain type of drinker, but an invitation to experience their shiny new refurb, menu and overall jazzing up of the venue to the cost of a cool fifth of a million quid isn't one to be sniffed at. So we did just that.

Whilst the Revolution brand is well known across the country, it's clear this particular branch has benefited from an interior which aims to distinguish it not just from its fellow bars but the establishments it neighbours. The result is a surprisingly homey boozer that lurks somewhere between pub, restaurant and night starting bar – the perfect destination for Friday afterdrinks.

Which is convenient, as that’s the time we pick to indulge the venue for food. Settling into our seats as a soundtrack from one of the city’s best bar DJs Mina (swap David Guetta for A Tribe Called Quest - smart move), it's obvious straight away that this isn't your conventional experience of this particular corner of Liverpool. It's deliberately a long way from the 'cheap shots' Ibizan West End aping experience you normally get in these parts, and all the better for it.

The food in itself is pretty much as good as it gets for bar grub. We went in big, sharing a gargantuan Revolution Platter between us alongside a burger each. The result was far too much, meaning there was a semblance of scraps left over from our pigging out, but not much.

Picture two rotund apes trying to cram as much of the generous stacks of side orders as they could, scooping the chilli beef up with the nachos, messily lacquering the chicken strips and onion rings with the mayo and coleslaw and using the chips for both. The neanderthal groan when the mains arrived ensured a slight pause, but not for long.

The choices we ran with were the Peppercorn and the Ranch, the former seeing the patty bolstered appetisingly by cheese, creamy sauce and onion rings with the latter drenched in bacon, American cheese and a mixture of Chipotle Sauce and mayonnaise. Both the worst idea after a massive round of starters, both violently disposed of in record time.

Elsewhere on the menu there was pizzas, traditional pub mains such as Fish & Chips and Grilled Rump Steak, and an ensemble of small mains/starters including Chicken Satay Skewers, Chicken and Sweetcorn Chowder and Garlic Flatbreads. There's quite a lot of variety actually considering this is a bar serving food rather than a restaurant, but we both wanted the classic pig out after work experience rather than any culinary detours. Which is exactly what we got.

Overall our experience of Revs, as scousers have a penchant for calling it, was great. It's a lot nicer than you think a bar in Matthew St is gonna be, and the food was just as you wish for a smash and grab cholesterol fest, tasty and reassuringly unhealthy. And as we mentioned above, there are other options there that divert from our Alpha Male pursuit, if that's your thing.

And if it's not then you need to make Liverpool's Cavern Quarter Revolution the next environ to stuff your face (or the Albert Dock and Williamson Square ports that offer the same. We'll probably even see you there.