It is no secret that I absolutely love Salthouse Bacaro – the cosy-chic Castle Street eatery which brings a taste of Venice to Liverpool with an array of excellent small plates.
It’s always there, on the very tip of my tongue, ready to recommend to literally anybody who so much as hints they might be looking for great places to eat in Liverpool. In fact, it has already featured on my blog not once but twice so I’m expecting my superfan badge to arrive in the post any day now.
The brains behind Bacaro also own a few other restaurants in the city, including the fabulous Hanover Street Social – home of the Malteser Crème Brulee that will no doubt make my Instagram 2019 ‘most popular’ edit.
Swipe right…
Just last month, they welcomed an exciting new edible venture to the family and I am well and truly gassed about it. Gassed not only because of the incredible harissa green beans I ate while I was there but gassed also because I’m chuffed to see these guys taking the city by storm.
Forgive me though, I haven’t even introduced her properly yet…
She goes by the name of Rocket & Ruby and she sits on the curved edge of Castle Street, in the centre of Liverpool, just an olive’s throwaway from her sister, Salthouse Bacaro.
Rocket & Ruby is around-the-clock type of gaff with a breakfast menu that is equally as drool-worthy as its main offering. It even comes complete with a street-facing hatch which opens up to serve the city slicker of Liverpool their morning dose of caffeine and patisserie on their way from A to B.
It’s an intimate venue which definitely has its own little identity. Rich navy walls and low lighting give it the same hygge vibe as has become synonymous with this restaurant group and a sizeable open kitchen only enhances the hospitable atmos.
It’s beautifully rustic with its chunky farmhouse furniture and vases of fresh blooms dotted about the place but uber cool and sophisticated nonetheless – a very, very pleasant patchwork if you ask me.
To be honest whenever I go to Salthouse Bacaro, I typically tend to put the drinks menu to one side in favour of squeezing in an extra small plate or leaving just enough room for dessert. Habitually, I presumed I would do the same here until I laid eyes on the White Chocolate &Violet cocktail (£7.50).
The unusual concoction of vanilla vodka, milk, cream and violet liqueur led my curiosity to get the better of me –one of those Marmite kinds of decisions I thought I was either going to regret or relish.
Thankfully it was the latter and the indulgent pastel pick short transpired to be a complete and utter dream with an edible flower on top.
A lot like a Palma Violet flavoured yoghurt, my White Chocolate & Violet was a prime example of how these guys like to stand out from the humdrum melee of Pornstar Martinis and Daiquiris.
I do love a rebel, especially when it comes to shaking up a good cocktail.
It goes without saying that the food menu at Rocket & Ruby was a sheer delight – I would never have expected anything less.
It follows the same theme of Bacaro’s small plates which come as-and-when and usually call for 2-3 to fill your average diner or 4/5 to fill a particularly hungry camper.
We picked a selection from the list which is split into nibbles, salads, vegetarian, fish and meat dishes and just went about sharing the lot because, well, that’s our favourite way of doing things.
Highlights for us had to be the Flatiron Steak with Shoestring Fries & Chimichurri (£8.95), Roast Chicken with Smoked Almond Aioli (£7.50), Black Sesame Onion Hummus with Herbed Flatbread (£5.95) and the aforementioned Green Beans with Shallot, Harissa & Salted Ricotta (£4.50).
That said, every morsel we ate from the menu was perfectly seasoned, absolutely loaded with flavour and presented with meticulous finesse.
The chefs here almost push the limits when it comes to power of flavour but I really respect that lack of restraint when it comes to serving up memorable plates of food.
Dessert was no different either and the Praline & Hazelnut Choux and Blackberry Pavlova we rounded our feast off with were a real treat.
They certainly left a pleasant taste in our mouths although had we finished our meal off by sucking an entire bag of lemons between us, the Rocket & Ruby aftertaste would have been just as sweet.
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I was very kindly invited to review Rocket & Ruby but all words, photographs, opinions, teeth, hair, boobs and nails are my very own.