The circus was in town in more ways than one at Liverpool's Albert Dock last week. While thousands of people flocked to the Liverpool Echo Arena to see the latest Cirque du Soleil show, I was visiting Circo, one of the new bars on the dock block.
Circo is latest bar/restaurant from the hugely successful Korova corporation. Like all the other venues from the Korova chain Circo is uniquely decorated. While we waited for our table, my friend and I entertained ourselves taking in the big-top themed décor. There are some great features, but some of the clowns could get rather unnerving after a few too many cocktails!
After choosing a bottle of red wine to drink with our meals (Ropiteau L'emage Merlot 2006 - £14.15), we were shown to our table, next to a huge trapeze net hanging from the ceiling!
With a large variety of starters to choose from, including plenty of seafood, one thing we were both sure we wanted was the Tear ‘n' Share Bread (£2.05). Large hunks of freshly baked garlic bread came with a tangy balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip.
I followed this with a starter of Brie and Proscuitto (£5.75). The parcels of creamy brie were wrapped in serrano ham and lightly grilled. The four parcels were just the right amount and were accompanied by rocket and a sweet onion chutney. My friend went for the Peri Peri prawns (£5.95). A large portion of five prawns that were as big as my hands (although I do have freakishly small hands!) came with a moderately hot but tasty sauce and side salad.
For my main, it was difficult not to play it safe and go with my favourite choice of pizza as there are many on the menu (including a naan pizza with a poached egg on top!). I decided to try the Seared Beef Salad (9.95). The beef was char-grilled with a juicy pink centre. Red chard mixed with beetroot and crispy garlic added colour and the horseradish sauce and capers gave the salad an extra kick.
My friend went for the Harlem Fried Chicken (£13.95), soft chicken with a southern fried coating with creamed spinach and black beans (and an extra surprise of boiled rice which wasn't shown on the menu).
I was getting pretty full by this point but our waiter Gary assured us we had to make room for the desserts (all £5.25) on offer. I was slightly disappointed when I discovered the ‘selection of luxury ice cream' on offer was Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry (the combination of those three flavours always make think of budget blocks of Neapolitan) so on Gary's recommendation I went for the sticky toffee pudding with coconut ice cream while my friend had Eton Mess (which interestingly was presented in a Martini glass). I was pleased I went for the cake in the end as you can't beat an old school pudding. The hot treacly sponge was covered in an abundance of sweet toffee sauce.
As it was a Tuesday evening, Circo was pleasantly busy but not packed. I'm sure it gets very busy with the usual trendy dock crowds in for drinks at the weekend (we spotted Ian McCulloch in there on our visit). I'd most definitely roll up there again for food and drinks in the future.
Service: Friendly and informative
Price: Wide ranging from reasonable (starters £2.05, mains £6.35) to pricy (starters £19.85, mains £34.95)
Atmosphere: Fun and trendy, somewhere different.
KINDLY CONTRIBUTED BY RUTH WORTHINGTON
