The Tavern Co., which won the UK's best breakfast at the Farmhouse Awards in 2014 and again in 2015, has opened a second site in Liverpool's city centre. A recent visit suggests the food still lives up to its award-winning reputation, even if the trophy has not returned in more than a decade.
A new site in the historic New Zealand building
The business was set up by Keith Gurney, who moved to Liverpool in 1986 from the USA. He first travelled to Europe with university friends who were on football scholarships from Liverpool. The restaurant opened on Smithdown Road in 1990, at the time consisting of just the bar area where customers now wait to be seated.
Over the last three decades, it has developed into an award-winning restaurant highly regarded by many in the city. In September, the business expanded with a second site, taking on the historic New Zealand building on Water Street.
Breakfast menu and first impressions
The venue features a sleek, contemporary interior anchored by an expansive main bar, complete with more than 10 TVs positioned throughout the premises. Guests can enjoy the company's famous breakfast menu before switching to tapas, pizza, pasta and bar staples in the evening.
The menu offers an impressively extensive breakfast selection, served from 8am until 1pm. Classic fry-ups and vegan alternatives sit alongside omelettes with your choice of fillings. Eggs warrant a section of their own, featuring royales, Florentines and Benedicts (or bennys) - the latter being my personal favourite.
For something a little more unusual, there's an interesting Mexican-inspired selection featuring huevos rancheros (sautéed peppers, onions, potatoes, eggs and cheese served in tortillas with sauce), breakfast tacos, a chorizo skillet and breakfast quesadillas.
The American griddle and the star of the show
I ordered the American griddle: two rashers of back bacon, home fries, two fried eggs cooked to order, toasted sourdough bread, baked beans and a pancake drizzled with Canadian maple syrup. The home fries arrived as gold little tater tots, with warm fluffy potatoes encased in a slightly crunchy coat. Bacon rashers were rather soft instead of burnt to a crisp.
The sourdough occupied the lion's share of the plate, pairing well with the butter sample and a generous slathering of beans. The eggs were fried without the golden, crispy layer that a neglected pan often offers. The whites were firm, while the yolk spilled at the slightest poke.
But the inarguable star of the show was the thick, soft fluffy pancake sitting solo as if under a spotlight of its own. Dusted with light sugar power and swimming in sweet maple syrup, it was equally filling and delicious.
Still one of the best breakfasts
Nothing was left and I made sure of it. If this is the standard of breakfast the critics sampled back in 2014 and 2015, then it absolutely deserved the awards. I may not have sampled every breakfast across the UK, but compared with those I have, it's certainly one of the best.
As for why it hasn't won the award again since, I couldn't say, but I'd certainly agree with Tavern Co. winning another.
