FIND THE PERFECT MARGARITA PERFECTION WITH PATRON

When you think of Margaritas you think of Mexico, but this Margarita Day – 22nd February, mark your calendars accordingly – the perfect Margarita is much closer to home thanks to Patrón. Over 60 bars across the country are putting on a special Margarita menu for the occasion. At Satan’s Whiskers, the home of the 2019 UK Patrón Perfectionists Cocktail Competition Winner, you can get Classic, Satan’s and Mustang Margarita; both Mr Fogg’s Residence and Mr Fogg’s Gin Parlour will be doing The Ran Tan; and at Soho Residence you can choose from the Perfect Margarita, the Cucumber-Coconut Margarita, the Hemingway, and the Pasifika Margarita.

Patrón has made it super easy for you to find your nearest one by creating a Margarita map – all you gotta do is pop in your postcode and you’ll be able to see the bars nearest to you, so you can spend less time searching and more time sipping.

It’s well worth taking a look at the map because you could also be in with a chance to fly off to Mexico and experience the Perfect Margarita International Tequila Day in July. OLÉ.

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Sat 22nd February 2020
patrontequila.com

Madre, Liverpool

For much of its existence as a tourist attraction, the Albert Dock in Liverpool, stately and beautiful and a fantastic place to wander around though it undoubtedly always was, was where restaurants went to die. With a massive tourist footfall ensuring that nobody really had to worry about repeat trade, and sky-high rents preventing all but most ruthless and cynical operators from setting up shop, it was home to a collection of the worst restaurants in the city, each one of them unambitious, overpriced and crap. I remember a (nominally) French creperie that reheated pre-made crepes to order, a steakhouse-turned-late night club that would serve its £35 Argentinian fillets with tiny pots of plasticky Bearnaise that cost you £2.50 extra, and - the cream of the shit crop - What's Cooking, a bizarre place selling truly diabolically bad burgers, fajitas and burritos (the vegetable version of which is £12.50) and served by a bunch of people giving the impression they'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Even more diabolically, What's Cooking is still there.

Just around the corner from What's Cooking used to be an Indian restaurant called Spice Lounge. Now admittedly, I never went, but I think I'm on fairly steady ground in assuming that it was unambitious, overpriced and crap. It has been replaced by a taqueria called Madre, and you're going to have to give me a moment to compose myself here, because I can't quite believe what I'm about to type. Here goes. Madre is a restaurant in the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and it's good. It's very good. Madre is a restaurant in the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and it's very good.

Of course, given the pedigree of the owners, I probably should have given them the benefit of the doubt but after so many decades of terrible meals it seemed somehow impossible - literally impossible - that somewhere ambitious, intelligent and keenly priced would one day live up to the standards of this building's extraordinary architecture. Madre is a kind of collaboration between one half of Breddos Tacos, Nud Dudhia*[see edit] - still the only person to make a fish taco good enough to match the ones served in TJ - and the very well-regarded Liverpudlian bistro Belzan, and from the second you walk through the door it's clear that, unlike so many of their neighbours, they want to do things properly. For example across three different nights, a margarita, made by three different bar staff, was never anything less than great - cold, crisp, dusted with tajin, elegantly presented. The best cocktail I've ever been served in Liverpool, and though that's not a particularly high bar, well, there it is.

Tortilla chips, lightly salted (not unseasoned, nor - bleugh - artificially-flavoured Doritos), came with a giant mound of fresh guacamole, a refreshingly stripped-back version involving little other than Mexican avocado, lime and coriander but which at £4 was bigger, bolder and far better than most I've been served elsewhere. You can tell almost everything you need to know about a Mexican restaurant from its guacamole. And Madre's guacamole is basically perfect.

From this flying start, incredibly things only got even better. The modestly-titled "Patatas" were crushed into charming irregular shapes then fried to crunchy on the outside, creamy inside. Served with cooling garlic sour cream and seasoned with what I think was a kind of arbol chilli paste, they were absolutely knockout.

This is a burrata and squash tostada, which I didn't try as I have next to no interest in squash at the best of times, but was declared "very nice" so I'll leave it at that. I'm sure it was lovely if you like squash.

I'd ordered roasted bone marrow mainly for the sheer novelty of being able to order bone marrow in a restaurant in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) but it somehow conspired to be one of the highlights of the meal. Expertly cooked and dressed simply with chives, it was buttery, beefy and brilliant on its own, but I had what I consider to be the unique and brilliant idea of scooping the marrow out with a tortilla chip, thus creating the world's most decadent Mexican canapé. If you go to Madre I thoroughly recommend you do the same.

Tacos, though, are the star of the show at Madre and their versions are as exhaustively researched and lovingly created as any I've come across outside of Baja California. The quality of the pork is impressive, with just enough fat to be tender and not enough to feel too rich, deeply spiced and with a lovely lick of woodsmoke from the grill. They are topped with a little baton of pineapple, in true Al Pastor style, and a mound of fresh coriander and white onion to provide crunch and colour. But most importantly of all the tortillas were absolutely spot-on, soft yet firm, holding their shape to the last bite, and leaving your fingers for hours afterwards with that glorious soily aroma of masa flour. If you closed your eyes you could almost be in a little cantina in the arches of Mercado Hidalgo, while somewhere amidst the noise of the market a Mariachi band is on their third rendition of "Guantanamera".

Oh, Madre do fish tacos too, and yes, they're also fantastic. Generous chunks of fresh fish (cod) with a greaseless batter and gently chillified Jalapeno mayo, they too would have not been out of place served under a Mexican sun, with all the flavour and texture of the very best examples.

By this point my own astonishment at eating as well as this in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) had turned into a kind of gentle hysteria - I was determined to eat as much as I could in case the whole thing turned out to be some elaborate prank or Christmas tequila-spiked fever dream. So these are chicken pibil, glorious slow-cooked chicken with orange and chilli, and like the other tacos were deeply authentic, generously portioned and sparkling with personality and flavour.

And finally, because a restaurant this good needs to have no corner of the menu unturned, we ordered a portion of "Churro French Toast", an idea every bit as filthy and wonderful as it sounds, a kind of butter-soaked waffle topped with salted caramel soft-serve ice cream. It was just on the edge of being too salty, too fatty, to much - but even after the amount of tacos we'd knocked back the bowl still got licked clean.

So. What to make of it all? Our dinner at Madre was so good, so unbelievably good, that the moment it was over I started to panic. What if it can't find an audience? What if, after so many decades of "restaurant in the Albert Dock" being a kind of local shorthand for crap, they can't convince enough Scousers to give it a try, and can't convince enough tourists it isn't just another Tex-Mex laminated menu ripoff joint? What if they lose their nerve and take the roast bone marrow and Half Pig's Head Chicharron (£35, to share) off the menu and end up being just another well-meaning but otherwise unambitious Mexican restaurant? What then?

So I'm doing two things. Firstly I'm writing this, to try (in my increasingly un-influential way) and get the word out to the country as a whole and Liverpool in particular that you have a genuine, honest-to-goodness world class gem on your doorstep, and to forget every dismal and overpriced dinner you've ever had in this part of the greatest city on earth and head immediately to Madre. You won't regret it. And secondly, I'm going to make sure that every one of my future trips up to Liverpool involve at least a bowl of guac and chips in this charming, brick-walled and stone-flagged space, doing my own selfless bit to support the business. Whatever happens though, Madre exists right now, in Liverpool, in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) and that in itself is cause for heavy and continued celebration. Mine's a margarita.

9/10

Sorry about the terrible photos, my camera had run out of batteries so I had to use my iPhone.

EDIT: Madre is in fact a collaboration with BOTH halves of Breddos Tacos, with Chris Whitney also involved. Not sure why I thought otherwise - apologies and many thanks to Chris as well for this incredible place.

Madre, Liverpool

For much of its existence as a tourist attraction, the Albert Dock in Liverpool, stately and beautiful and a fantastic place to wander around though it undoubtedly always was, was where restaurants went to die. With a massive tourist footfall ensuring that nobody really had to worry about repeat trade, and sky-high rents preventing all but most ruthless and cynical operators from setting up shop, it was home to a collection of the worst restaurants in the city, each one of them unambitious, overpriced and crap. I remember a (nominally) French creperie that reheated pre-made crepes to order, a steakhouse-turned-late night club that would serve its £35 Argentinian fillets with tiny pots of plasticky Bearnaise that cost you £2.50 extra, and — the cream of the shit crop — What’s Cooking, a bizarre place selling truly diabolically bad burgers, fajitas and burritos (the vegetable version of which is £12.50) and served by a bunch of people giving the impression they’d rather be anywhere else in the world. Even more diabolically, What’s Cooking is still there.

Just around the corner from What’s Cooking used to be an Indian restaurant called Spice Lounge. Now admittedly, I never went, but I think I’m on fairly steady ground in assuming that it was unambitious, overpriced and crap. It has been replaced by a taqueria called Madre, and you’re going to have to give me a moment to compose myself here, because I can’t quite believe what I’m about to type. Here goes. Madre is a restaurant in the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and it’s good. It’s very good. Madre is a restaurant in the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and it’s very good.

Of course, given the pedigree of the owners, I probably should have given them the benefit of the doubt but after so many decades of terrible meals it seemed somehow impossible — literally impossible — that somewhere ambitious, intelligent and keenly priced would one day live up to the standards of this building’s extraordinary architecture. Madre is a kind of collaboration between one half of Breddos Tacos, Nud Dudhia*[see edit] — still the only person to make a fish taco good enough to match the ones served in TJ — and the very well-regarded Liverpudlian bistro Belzan, and from the second you walk through the door it’s clear that, unlike so many of their neighbours, they want to do things properly. For example across three different nights, a margarita, made by three different bar staff, was never anything less than great — cold, crisp, dusted with tajin, elegantly presented. The best cocktail I’ve ever been served in Liverpool, and though that’s not a particularly high bar, well, there it is.

Tortilla chips, lightly salted (not unseasoned, nor — bleugh — artificially-flavoured Doritos), came with a giant mound of fresh guacamole, a refreshingly stripped-back version involving little other than Mexican avocado, lime and coriander but which at £4 was bigger, bolder and far better than most I’ve been served elsewhere. You can tell almost everything you need to know about a Mexican restaurant from its guacamole. And Madre’s guacamole is basically perfect.

From this flying start, incredibly things only got even better. The modestly-titled «Patatas» were crushed into charming irregular shapes then fried to crunchy on the outside, creamy inside. Served with cooling garlic sour cream and seasoned with what I think was a kind of arbol chilli paste, they were absolutely knockout.

This is a burrata and squash tostada, which I didn’t try as I have next to no interest in squash at the best of times, but was declared «very nice» so I’ll leave it at that. I’m sure it was lovely if you like squash.

I’d ordered roasted bone marrow mainly for the sheer novelty of being able to order bone marrow in a restaurant in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) but it somehow conspired to be one of the highlights of the meal. Expertly cooked and dressed simply with chives, it was buttery, beefy and brilliant on its own, but I had what I consider to be the unique and brilliant idea of scooping the marrow out with a tortilla chip, thus creating the world’s most decadent Mexican canapé. If you go to Madre I thoroughly recommend you do the same.

Tacos, though, are the star of the show at Madre and their versions are as exhaustively researched and lovingly created as any I’ve come across outside of Baja California. The quality of the pork is impressive, with just enough fat to be tender and not enough to feel too rich, deeply spiced and with a lovely lick of woodsmoke from the grill. They are topped with a little baton of pineapple, in true Al Pastor style, and a mound of fresh coriander and white onion to provide crunch and colour. But most importantly of all the tortillas were absolutely spot-on, soft yet firm, holding their shape to the last bite, and leaving your fingers for hours afterwards with that glorious soily aroma of masa flour. If you closed your eyes you could almost be in a little cantina in the arches of Mercado Hidalgo, while somewhere amidst the noise of the market a Mariachi band is on their third rendition of «Guantanamera».

Oh, Madre do fish tacos too, and yes, they’re also fantastic. Generous chunks of fresh fish (cod) with a greaseless batter and gently chillified Jalapeno mayo, they too would have not been out of place served under a Mexican sun, with all the flavour and texture of the very best examples.

By this point my own astonishment at eating as well as this in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) had turned into a kind of gentle hysteria — I was determined to eat as much as I could in case the whole thing turned out to be some elaborate prank or Christmas tequila-spiked fever dream. So these are chicken pibil, glorious slow-cooked chicken with orange and chilli, and like the other tacos were deeply authentic, generously portioned and sparkling with personality and flavour.

And finally, because a restaurant this good needs to have no corner of the menu unturned, we ordered a portion of «Churro French Toast», an idea every bit as filthy and wonderful as it sounds, a kind of butter-soaked waffle topped with salted caramel soft-serve ice cream. It was just on the edge of being too salty, too fatty, to much — but even after the amount of tacos we’d knocked back the bowl still got licked clean.

So. What to make of it all? Our dinner at Madre was so good, so unbelievably good, that the moment it was over I started to panic. What if it can’t find an audience? What if, after so many decades of «restaurant in the Albert Dock» being a kind of local shorthand for crap, they can’t convince enough Scousers to give it a try, and can’t convince enough tourists it isn’t just another Tex-Mex laminated menu ripoff joint? What if they lose their nerve and take the roast bone marrow and Half Pig’s Head Chicharron (£35, to share) off the menu and end up being just another well-meaning but otherwise unambitious Mexican restaurant? What then?

So I’m doing two things. Firstly I’m writing this, to try (in my increasingly un-influential way) and get the word out to the country as a whole and Liverpool in particular that you have a genuine, honest-to-goodness world class gem on your doorstep, and to forget every dismal and overpriced dinner you’ve ever had in this part of the greatest city on earth and head immediately to Madre. You won’t regret it. And secondly, I’m going to make sure that every one of my future trips up to Liverpool involve at least a bowl of guac and chips in this charming, brick-walled and stone-flagged space, doing my own selfless bit to support the business. Whatever happens though, Madre exists right now, in Liverpool, in the Albert Dock (the Albert Dock!) and that in itself is cause for heavy and continued celebration. Mine’s a margarita.

9/10

Sorry about the terrible photos, my camera had run out of batteries so I had to use my iPhone.

EDIT: Madre is in fact a collaboration with BOTH halves of Breddos Tacos, with Chris Whitney also involved. Not sure why I thought otherwise — apologies and many thanks to Chris as well for this incredible place.

Northbank, St Paul's

You’ve probably never heard of Northbank. I say this with some confidence because I’d never heard of it, and as I spend most of my waking hours thinking about where to eat next and have the Hotdinners’ «Recently Opened» list as my homepage, for somewhere to sneak under my radar for so long (it’s been around since 2007) takes some doing. But even the most restaurant-spoddy of us (Zeren Wilson I’m thinking of you) have our blind spots, and I know for a fact there are a good number of good, solid places that are quietly getting on with the business of feeding people straightfowardly decent food without the distraction of having to appeal to the Instagram crowd, or even (ahem) fickle, trend-chasing bloggers.

But it’s no good being a decent, mid-priced restaurant if you can’t make the numbers work, and so Northbank have very wisely (and fortunately for me) invested in a bit of PR. And it’s at their invite I set out one cold, rainy evening to this welcoming space on the Thames Path near the Millennium Bridge, to find out what all the lack of fuss is about.

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The Old Fashioned at @northbanklondon is rolled around with cigar smoke and tastes incredible. Like mahogany bookcases and St James members clubs. #invite

A post shared by Chris Pople (@chrispople) on Oct 23, 2019 at 10:51am PDT

The first thing I should say about Northbank is that their bar is knocking up some absolutely great cocktails, and has a nice comfortable place to drink them in (plus an outside terrace), so if nothing else it should probably feature on your list of places to pop in for a classy drink in the Blackfriars/St. Paul’s area. Above is an Old Fashioned flavoured with cigar tobacco, one of the best twists I’ve enjoyed on this classic in many months. It’s also £9, about half what you’ll pay in some joints.

Northbank is (mainly) a seafood restaurant, and so the only sensible thing to start with is a great big tray of oysters — natives, as well, always a nice surprise to see. They were great, although I do prefer it when restaurants serve oysters on ice; there seems something risky about eating a room-temperature oyster although I’m sure there was nothing to worry about. The mignonette was nicely made, too.

Just to be contrary in a seafood restaurant, and on the advice of my waiter, I went for venison for a main course. It arrived rosy pink, with a faintly underpowered but still pleasant game jus, and some roast winter veg, and was in every way straightforwardly enjoyable.

Less successful was a bowl of mash, which had been over-whipped and was rather sticky and glue-y. It contained a good amount of butter, and the potatoes had a nice flavour, it was just a shame that the technique had let them down. Still, I did eat it.

Crab linguine was fantastic, though. A huge bowl of it (which you might hope for, for £22), and well made pasta that had a good bite without being too crunchy, this was a great vehicle for a generous proportion of fresh crab, with just enough chilli to create a gentle heat and a little dash of lime for acidity. There was also a lot of garlic, perhaps too much for some but I like garlic. 2019 truly was the Year of the Pasta restaurant, and it seems even places that don’t have it as their main feature are upping their pasta game. It’s good to see.

Desserts were a treacle tart, which was warm and bubbly and comforting, presented with some nice smooth ice cream…

…and a slightly-less-successful summer fruits and chocolate cake thing which could have done with a bit more sugar. However, the sorbet was lovely, so it was worth ordering it just for that really.

So, no eye-catching concepts, no explicitly ‘grammable content, no fuss, no fanfare. But Northbank deserves your time and your money because it does what it does competently, quietly, and elegantly, and with views over the Thames. I hesitate to mention service on an invited review, but I’m sure such enthusiasm and efficiency can’t just be magicked up when they know they’re being reviewed, so I’m going to give them thumbs up for that too. In short, they’re doing plenty right and not much wrong and that should be more than enough for most people. Even the fickle bloggers.

7/10

I was invited to Northbank and didn’t see a bill.

Ocean Drive Miami

Der zehn Straßen lange Abschnitt von der 5th Street bis zur 14th Street ist das Zentrum der Miami Nachtlebens: Hier wird gefeiert, getrunken und getanzt bis in die Morgenstunden. In der wunderschönen Kulisse direkt am South Beach Strand und dem angrenzenden Lummus Park trinkt sich der XXL Cocktail, den ja, in Miami sind die Cocktails nicht nur teurer sondern auch größer, besonders gut.

Bars, Restaurants und Café in den Art Deco Hotels

Der Ocean Drive ist der „Place to be“ für die Schönen und Reichen und die, die es werden wollen, in Miami. Hier fährt ein Luxus Schlitten nach dem nächsten an den unzähligen Bars, Restaurants und Cafés vorbei. Oftmals untermalt mit lauter Musik und auffälligen Gestalten hinter dem Steuer.

Ticket-Infos für Dich

Ocean Drive Tour auf Deutsch ab $139 kaufen

Ticket kaufen

Wer nach Miami kommt, der kommt am Ocean Drive nicht vorbei. Er ist wie der Times Square in New York und die Locals verbinden mit ihm eine Art Hassliebe. Hier spielt sich der Tourismus ab, hier sind die Preise extra hoch – auslassen sollte man ihn deshalb jedoch nicht.

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Versace Mansion am Ocean Drive

Dieser italienische Palast, auch Amsterdam Palace genannt, ist ein beeindruckendes pompöses Luxushotel, das dem Zuhause von Christopher Columbus in Genoa nachempfunden wurde (gebaut 1930) und einst Gianni Versace Zuhause war. Gianni Versace kaufte die Villa im Jahr 1992 and investierte rund $33 Millionen in die Renovierungsarbeiten. Nach dem Tod von Versace wurde das Haus verkauft und in die Villa by Barton G umgewandelt, wer hier übernachtet, isst oder ein Event veranstaltet macht sich über Geld schon lange keine Sorgen mehr und obwohl die Blutspuren auf den Stufen des Hotels lange verwischt sind, es noch immer der meist fotografiertest Spot in der Stadt.

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Art Deco am Ocean Drive

Einige der schönsten Art Deco Gebäude und davon gibt es in Miami rund 800 befinden sich am berühmten Ocean Drive. Einige von ihnen wurden in den 20er erbaut bis hin in die vierziger Jahre. Der Ocean Drive ist weltweit bekannt für die größte Dichte von diesen Art Deco Schätzen. Beginne deinen Sparziergang am Ocean Drive nördlich der 5th Street und mache eine kurze Pause am Art Deco District Welcome Center für eine selbe geführte Audio Tour am Ocean Drive – so entgeht dir nichts. Wusstest du, dass die heutigen bunten Farben der Gebäude erst in den Achtziger Jahren an die Art Deco Gebäude gebracht wurden? Man wollte so mehr Aufmerksamkeit erzielen, die ursprünglichen Farben sind eigentlich in weiß mit leichten Pastellfarben als Highlights gehalten.

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Ausgehen am Ocean Drive

Ein Cocktail am Ocean Drive gehört auf jeden Fall zu jedem Miami Besuch dazu. Auswahl hat man hier genug und die Stimmung ist überall gleich gut. Los gehts meist schon am frühen Nachmittag mit der Happy Hour. In Miami wird es übrigens auch nicht so genau mit dem „Alkohol trinken auf offener Straße“ genommen, was ja in Städten wie New York harte Strafen nach sich zieht. Ist man hier friedlich kann man sich zum Beispiel bei Wet Willies (Adresse: 760 Ocean Drive) einen gefrorenen Cocktail für „to-go“ mitnehmen. Hier eine Auswahl der besten Bars, Restaurants und Cafés am Ocean Drive Miami:

1. Mango’S Tropical Café

(Adresse: 900 Ocean Drive   I   http://www.mangos.com)

Willkommen in der Karibik. Hier tanzt man zu heißen Rhythmen aus Latein Amerika Bachata, Salsa und Merengue. Tagsüber ein tolles Restaurant mit sehr guten Cocktails, Abends ein Club mit Live Tanzeinlagen und Live Musik. 

 

2. Wet Willies

(Adresse: 760 Ocean Drive  I   http://wetwillies.com/Locations/South_Beach.html)

Gefrorene (starke) Cocktails für „kleines Geld“ (11$). Erhöhte Außenterrasse mit Blick auf den Ocean Drive

3. Die Clevelander Bar

(Adresse: 1020 Ocean Drive   I   http://www.clevelander.com)

Open Air Partytempel, der auch für Sportbegeisterte ein Highlight sein wird. Die ESPN Studios übertragen von hier alle nennenswerten Sportevents. Die Musik ist laut, die Cocktails stark und gerade zu Spring Break Zeiten lassen es die Locals hier richtig krachen.

 

4. Ocean’s Ten

(Adresse: 960 Ocean Drive   I   http://www.oceanstensobe.com)

Hier gibts die bekannten Bulldogs Cocktails bei Live Musik und ausgelassener Party Atmosphäre. Im Ocean’s Ten fühlt man sich ähnlich wie im Mango’s wie in der Karibik. 

 

5. BLT Steak

(Adresse: 1440 Ocean Drive   I   http://www.thebetsyhotel.com)

Nicht ganz günstig isst man hier das beste Steak am Ocean Drive im Betsy Hotel.

 

6. Prime One Twelve 

(Adresse: 112 Ocean Drive   I   http://mylesrestaurantgroup.com)

Feinste Italienische Küche gehobener Klasse. Etwas teurer, aber jeden Dollar wert.

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Mach einen Abstecher ans South Beach

Miami bietet unzählige schöne Strände, aber der bekannteste und beliebteste Strand ist ganz klar South Beach direkt am Ocean Drive. Der Boulevard mit Blick auf Lummus Park und Strand ist der Catwalk der Jungen und Schönen und besitzt zugleich einige der glanzvollsten Art-déco-Gebäud Miamis.

South Beach Miami

Miami bietet unzählige schöne Strände, aber der bekannteste und beliebteste Strand ist ganz klar South Beach direkt am Ocean Drive. Der Boulevard mit Blick auf Lummus Park und Strand ist der Catwalk der Jungen und Schönen...

MEHR ERFAHREN

Der Beitrag Ocean Drive Miami erschien zuerst auf Loving Miami.