Review by Amelia Heathman
When it was announced that the team behind Beef and Pudding in Manchester, the New Moon Co, was opening a brand new restaurant in Liverpool, I was excited to see what the hype was about behind the gastro-pubs. After visiting the restaurant however, I’m not sure The Old Blind School has hit the nail on the head when it comes to the food.
The converted old School for the Blind is a truly impressive building. As we walked through the double fronted doors on Hardman Street and into the building, it was clear that the New Moon Co had really invested in the venue. Beautiful Victorian tiles adorned the floor, perfect for Instagram potential, and intricate artwork was featured on the ceilings.
My friend and I went upstairs to the restaurant, though there is a bar downstairs serving cocktails, and would later have a pianist playing to guests. The cocktail menu is brilliant,
featuring the classics and some revamped favourites. I tried the Hardman Street Spritz (£7.95), a delightful concoction of Aperol, grapefruit, rose Prosecco, lemon and passion fruit, perfect for summer evenings, though I was definitely eyeing up the TOBS Collins
(£7.95) (Beefeater gin with rhubarb, lemon and rose soda) too.
To start with, my friend and I shared the potato skins and dips, (£6.50 for seven), and the smoked garlic bread (£3.50). The potato skins were crusted with black pepper, and served with sour cream, sunset garlic mayo and the house salsa. The skins were really tasty and the black pepper crust added a sufficient crunch, making them more interesting than standard potato skins. The garlic bread was OK, almost like a small brioche loaf with
garlic baked in the middle, though a little lacking on the garlic.
For mains, the menu is really big and it was quite hard to decide what to choose. The gastro-pub menu didn’t really fit in with the decoration of the restaurant, it seemed too fancy to have just a burger, normally my go-to dish. The ‘Boss’ burger featuring stock
pot gravy and onion rings, did sound really good, but instead I went for the British short beef ribs (£19.95) brushed with smoked paprika honey and béarnaise and corn slaw, with ‘proper’ chips.
The ribs were tender, with the meat basically falling off the bone, and the corn slaw
was a light alternative to standard coleslaw, filled with baby sweetcorn and sautéed
peppers. However, the chips were quite disappointing. They were somewhat greasy
and very light in colour, almost as if they had barely been cooked. When I think
of ‘proper chips’, I think of something more substantial.
My friend tried the stripped chicken enchilada (£14.95, pictured), which was served with sweet potato fries and an extremely hot sauce in a syringe, which she chose not to try out of fear. It was a decent sized portion, with sufficiently crunchy sweet potato fries, but the enchilada was not brilliant.
The ratio of chicken in the enchilada seemed really small and it was swimming in cheese, in a way that could be quite off-putting.
On the plus side, portions were sufficiently larger, leaving no room for dessert so we just enjoyed the restaurant atmosphere before leaving. Overall, the food was not perfect, and it just didn’t feel like it fit with the feel of the building.
I would definitely return for drinks with friends, particularly as the pianist playing on the Wednesday evening was lovely, but the New Moon Co did not really have me convinced.
