Having sat empty for well over a decade, last year saw the Old Blind School on Hardman Street played host to the Liverpool Biennial and its numerous art installations and displays throughout a building evidently in need of much love, attention and paint – lots of paint. The ‘Liverpool School for the Blind’ was founded in 1791 on London Road, but was transferred 60 years on to the current site, apparently stone for stone. The building has undergone some other transformations throughout the years and the school moved on to its current location on Church Road in Wavertree by the ‘Mystery’. The next tenants of the building were Merseyside Police until the early 1980s when the Trade Union, Community and Unemployed Resource Centre took over. The centre closed in 2004, although admittedly, I personally thought the building had remained unused from a date much earlier than this. A good, albeit slightly out of date piece on the building was written by Gerry Cordon in October 2014: [https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/the-scandalous-decay-of-a-brilliant-representation-of-liverpools-radical-past/]. Eleven years on from the closure of the Trade Union and following the departure of the Biennial, works were underway to kit the building out and bring a 200-cover dining experience to Liverpool. Step forward Dave Mooney, Paul Newman and the New Moon Pub Company, who have had recent successes with the Old Sessions House in Knutsford, Beef and Pudding in Manchester (soon to have a second iteration in Liverpool), the Montgomery in Eastham and the Mockingbird Taproom in Chester. Though much of the fanfare has heralded the arrival of a ‘Gastro-pub’, I am reticent to give it this disservice. Not that there is anything wrong with a Gastro-pub of course; it’s just that it feels like so much more that is on offer. The building was never a pub and although the menu reads much like a steak, burger and country-pub fayre template the ambience, décor and service suggest a more ambitious remit. The downstairs performs as a bar area, with currently, 3 cask lines, reasonable wine cellar and a healthy cocktail menu; it is light, airy and has touches of the new and original features working together, but the real business is up the impressive flight of stairs. The stairs at The Old Blind School have been retained and refurbished from the original building, with some ornate tiling and much tenderness if slightly odd choice of paint colour. Impressive, if slightly unusual plaster murals with three dimensional casts of hands and shoes await the back wall of the mezzanines, before one enters the upper bar and dining area through double doors. The upper level replicates the feel of the ground floor bar, high ceilings, peculiar anthropomorphic canine portraits, typewriters and Edison-style filament bulbs adorn the room which still gives healthy and knowing nods to its past. The seating arrangements are sufficient (when considering it is a 200-cover, there is some suspicion it may be a little cramped – not so) and although the music was perhaps a little out of place (too much, too loud) to be in keeping with such surroundings, the atmosphere was relaxed and warm but brisk. The private dining area looks the part; slightly Arthurian, secluded, peaceful and an easy environment to suddenly lose 3 hours to eating from TOBS’s kitchen and sinking one too many beers, brandies or cocktails. Service was good; it was especially pleasing to speak with our server and hear that some care had been given to matching wines and beers with the food, so often this is overlooked in many restaurants, with staff not getting an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the menu and which drinks will offer the best pairing. The level of attentiveness and friendliness was perfect, plus although it was the dry-run of the first week, the staff seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. Although this is not set out to be a review, the food is certainly worth a mention; a special nod to the quality of the starters must be made; excellently earthy, sweet and with a slight piquancy, the black pudding provided more than a few agreeable murmurs around the table and eyes widened at the sight of large deep fried prawns, sweet, crisp and oil-free. The Gordal olives even made converts of those who usually shun the nibbles at the start of a meal, fat, juicy and waiting to burst. Those manning the steaks and other mains may need a little more calibration, but after two days you can’t ask for total perfection, the cuts of T-bone and skirt bavette were generally good, although the latter was much more variable with some immaculately succulent cuts cooked exactly, whilst another was a bit on the sinewy side and underdone. The idea of sharing planks may be one to raise eyebrows amongst the ‘we want plates’ crowd, but nothing was really out of place on the one ordered; a miniature feast of seafood scattered across a wooden board; though maybe some scallops wouldn’t go amiss? The beers available range from casks from Tatton Brewery (currently) to bottles of Founders All Day IPA with not much in between; the usual Becks, Stella Artois and Corona (plus some other uninspiring bottled offerings) do thankfully have Freedom Brewery nestled in between – both the pils and the Pioneer lager. The cocktail list is broken into four sections, established, established with a twist, new iterations and champagne based; I have it on good authority from a companion that the espresso martinis were executed very well, plus the menu seems to cater to a broad palatal preference. The wine list seems to have been given the most thought, with three broad categories apiece for red and white, a rose and fizz category. The stand out note from these wine menus aside from the interesting choices for inclusion (the Tasmanian Pinot Noir was excellent by-the-by) is the reasonable pricing and although this is alluded to in a head note on the wine menu, it does ring true. A pleasing dimension to the TOBS dining. There’s a renaissance fermenting in Liverpool at the moment, with plenty of new establishments opening their doors and providing as much choice as the city has seen for some time. The Old Blind School definitely provides something a little different in terms of the grandeur and scale it provides. The menu is a well-travelled path, but competently executed on first impressions. A return visit is in the offing; reasonable pricing, startling surroundings and good cooking – a recipe for success that everyone is able to see. Pedro. ----------------------------------------- The Old Blind School 24 Hardman Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 9AX. Tel: 0151 709 8002 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.oldblindschool.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/blindschooll1
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