Leaf restaurant (Liverpool) review

It’s a place imbued with an undeniable charm old Liverpool, but owing to its relatively small sized city centre it’s not addled with an abundance of delightful streets. One of the few that is resolutely in that capacity is Bold Street, a cobbled walkway that acts as an entrance point into the hustle and bustle of the main section of the city centre, a path of boutique stores, eateries and the odd chain which begins with St Luke’s - the ‘bombed out Church’ which remains an iconic part of the city.

In amongst all these is LEAF, a multi-purpose venue which has the air of a rather posh café around it, and an inexplicably large selection of teas, hence the name. The venue had previously been nestled in Toxteth before relocation, and now sits as the nerve centre of an operation that also boasts two extra gaffes. But the Bold St location remains the focal point, serving a number of purposes since opening, with the upstairs section used for everything from clubnights to craft fairs.

We arrived to tuck into the food however, and with a pretty handy selection on offer (head here for further details) we decided to go in big and delve right into a Greek mezze platter. It may have been shorn of meat but it more than made up for in quantity, with a smorgasbord of options which included some luscious falafel, marinated artichokes, a selection of juicy olives, feta parcels and two stonking piles of humus and tzatziki.

There was also some pitta slices to wash it down with but the real delight was the accompanying feta salad, a deliciously moreish ensemble of rocket, a balsamic dressing and the cheese nestling in between it all. How often do you order a starter platter and the salad is the best bit, particularly when the whole thing is extremely filling? Well, you do at LEAF. Whether making this a component of a meal out or sharing over a few beers we can’t extoll the virtues of this one enough, and can’t wait to pair it up with a meat laden sharing platter in the future.

After being surprised by the intensity and depth of the starter, it was with a little luck that the mains that followed were considerably lighter. The Thai marinated Steak salad came first, blending that distinctive rocket from earlier with roasted plums, an ensemble of Thai vegetables and a deliciously sweet and aromatic red wine and honey sauce. The steak was pink as well which delighted the carnivore in us, and the combination of them and the sweetness of the sauce made for a great dipping option for the one piece of pitta we hadn’t ransacked the platter with.

The second main was just as good, a spiced Salmon fillet with Bombay Potatoes and an Asian Salad. A little more substantial than the Steak Salad, the offering constituted a hearty and flavoursome main course and continued what we’ve been thinking for quite some time now; Salmon is by far the most superior fish. Although we think that Skiddle’s accompaniment that evening would have preferred us not to indulge quite so readily in their order of it.

We eschewed dessert due to being genuinely full, but we did allow ourselves one little treat, tucking into the famed tea options. Rather than go for our standard tradition of ending an evening meal out, a coffee liquor, we decided to go for a much more effective night cap, the deliciously exotic Oolong and the slightly plainer Chamomile.

Both were great (again, we like to share here at Skiddle) and wrapped up a great meal in fitting fashion. The laidback nature of the venue and the great combination of the informal and the unique make LEAF a great location for an oscillating level of culinary options, light bites to three course feats and everything in between. And they do a bloody good cuppa.