Allerton Road has become something of a foodie paradise over the past few years, with several restaurants, cafes and bistros opening up in a bid to rival Lark Lane.
The latest addition to the South Liverpool road is Carlisi, which already boasts a much-loved restaurant on Dale Street in the city centre. Taking the place of Maray on South Liverpool road, the restaurant had a lot to live up to.
As we entered the establishment on a balmy Tuesday evening we were instantly met by a warm and accommodating staff member called Alexandra. The restaurant was buzzing and I was very glad we'd booked, as several groups who came in afterwards were turned away because there was no room, despite the restaurant occupying two floors, with outside seating also available.
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Alexandra quickly took our drink order, with a variety of cocktails, wine, spirits and beers available. I went for a prosecco to start (when in Sicily after all), while my husband went for a pint. These came swiftly and we both chatted and enjoyed our surroundings, with the distinctive blue decoration and wide open windows making us feel like we were back in Italy.
After enjoying our drinks and perusing the extensive menu we made some difficult decisions. The menu compromises of Italian street food, small plates and larger plates of pasta.
The bruschetta is not to be missed at Carlisi, with six options available, we went for the "Bruschetta Carlisi" which compromises of mushrooms, belly pork, burrata cheese and pistachio nuts. The dish was delicious, with the belly pork and burrata combination frankly a taste sensation, there was a lot of the dish and we regretted not just ordering this for a starter.
We also ordered the "Frittura Di Calamari and Gamberi" which had potentially some of the most delicious juicy and large lightly battered prawns I'd ever had, the squid was also very tasty.
With the starters cleared away it was onto the mains, which again took a lot of time to decide. I went for the "Busiate Carlisi" with more delicious prawns, burrata and pistachio all present in the dish. I'd never had anything like it in Liverpool and again it was incredibly tasty and felt very authentic. My husband went for the seafood risotto which he described as "excellent" with the freshest prawns and mussels he'd ever tasted.
We were pretty full after all of the delicious Italian fare, but a meal out isn't complete in our book without dessert and Carlisi had a lot of tempting ones to choose from.
I think of myself as something of a tiramisu connoisseur and I was quite overwhelmed when the huge portion appeared in front of me. The tiramisu was tasty, but not the best I'd ever had, with it a little too dense for my liking. The true star of the desserts was the Chocolate Ferrero cake which rendered my husband speechless after the first mouthful, in fact, I'm surprised he didn't order more to take home.
Carlisi is a great addition to South Liverpool, the service was very attentive and you really felt like part of the family, we will definitely be back.
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