There’s always been something happening here – Keith’s Wine Bar and the Old Police Station, with its craft-led makers bazaar, are veterans – but now a new generation is raising the game. Street-food pioneer Hafla Hafla has become a fully fledged restaurant with Persian roast chicken on the menu; Polidor 68 (pictured), inspired by counter-cultural Paris, experiments with lamb-keema lasagne and pistachio tiramisu, while the brilliantly named Woo Tan Scran is a vegan Chinese chippy wrapping up ‘prawn’ toasts and jackfruit pancakes. Since Liverpool’s time as European Capital of Culture in 2008, it has been high on confidence, doing bold, imaginative things. Inner-city hits include the buzzing Ropewalks and Baltic Triangle areas with street art, club nights and cafés. Aigburth, though, has the community spirit and open spaces, with nearby districts worth exploring, too: Granby Workshop for ceramics, seasonal menus at Belzan and Otterspool Promenade, from where you can follow the river right into town.
