Alma De Cuba is one of those places. You know the place. The place you’ve heard so much about and you keep saying you’ll go on over to check out but for some reason you just never seem to make it! Set inside the once St Peters Catholic Parish Church, this magnificent converted building is breathtaking and totally different to any other venue in the city! Not only is it the first church to bar conversion in the city, but the church itself had stood for almost 200 years before the bar folk came along! History much!
Bringing Cuban, Hispanic and Latin America
themes and flavours, plus a good ol’ dose of scouse sprit, from its original
feature alter to the antler inspired chandeliers, you won’t know where to look…until
they bring out the food that is!
I headed along to finally
check this place out when a very dear friend of mine announced she was leaving
merry old England
and going off on some European adventures until well into next year! *cries*.
Celebrating and good-byes required a special kind of venue so we found
ourselves in Alma De Cuba, we’ve both been wanting to go for so long!
We picked up their early
bird menu, you can get 2 courses for £14.95, or 3 for £19.95, Monday –
Friday 5pm till 7pm, and Sunday 6pm – 8pm. I really like set menus like this,
they have to be pretty selective about what they put on there so I figure you’re
going to get the good, yet slightly more affordable options from the a la carte
menu.
For starters, I went for the crispy tempura cod fillet, with a sweet pea puree & crushed mint
peas. I love tempura batter; it’s so light and crispy! Even though I despise mushy peas, pureed and crushed
go down a treat (I’m weird, it’s ok). The mint peas were delicious and went so
well with the cod, there was a generous dollop of tarter sauce on the side too,
my favourite with fish! The cod was great; it is pretty hard to get cod wrong
if you ask me!
When it came to the mains I didn’t want to eat nothing but
fish, and chicken just wasn’t going to cut it so, predictably, I went for the grilled 100% prime beef burger with cheddar
cheese, salad, black plum and tomato chili relish with a side of home made chips. If you ask me, you can
really judge a place by its burgers, I mean if you’re putting a burger on the
menu it has to be different, something special compared to every other burger
out there! This was no exception, the burger was delicious, moist but without
juices running all down my chin. There was a really strong herb and sun dried
tomato taste and lots of char grilled flavouring which I love. The bun wasn’t
brioche but it was soft and lightly grilled, the only downside was I forgot to ask for it without the cheese
and there was a lot of it on there –
lactose be damned I wolfed it down!
The relish was really
different! I’ve never been a big relish girl but I’m pushing the boat out and
trying! It wasn’t spicy at all but it certainly packed a flavour punch! It
tasted amazing on both the burger and the chips!
We skipped dessert; we were so full from our mains! I did however;
opt to accompany my meal with a non-alcoholic cocktail, paridiso, a blend of fresh passion fruit juice, peach puree, fresh
raspberries and orange juice.
The meal was great, some really stand out flavours, but
really what you’re heading to Alma De Cuba for is the venue itself, everyone
who came up to the dining floor just sat in awe looking around at the building.
It’s a different night out that’s for sure! Even if you’re not going to eat,
you should at least pop in for a drink and a peek at this historical building!
I’ve heard during the club hours they do a petal
drop! I’d love to see that! They also have a gospel choir Sunday brunch
that sounds so unique!
Have you been to Alma De Cuba? Know any other interesting
eating locations in the city? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time,
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