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After a trip to see the small but perfectly formed Weegee exhibition at the Bluecoat, it was in a New York state of mind that lunch was taken at the newly opened NoLIta Cantina, located inconspicuously toward the top end of Bold Street. With the Strokes playing in the background on arrival, the decor was minimal and wooden with an open kitchen, always a pleasing sight.
The Manhattan influence ran through the menu, emphasising the owners' desire to create a Katz's style diner with big sandwiches the order of the day. We ordered the deep fried dill pickles (frickles) and chilli pops - breaded jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese to start. Both were excellent; the former crisp and sharp and the latter creamy with a nice warm kick. If there was a negative it was that while the house cheese dip provided a nice accompaniment to both starters, neither benefited from the alternative blue cheese option, which overpowered the frickles and clashed with the chilli pops.
There then followed a delay with our main courses due to the late arrival of the restaurant's meat order. Happily, after a nervous wait of twenty minutes, they arrived. We had both elected to go down the pastrami route; Catherine opting for the £6 sandwich (a Tuesday special price) which came with bottomless potato and sweet potato fries while I chose the pastrami burger, served with the same aforementioned fries and coleslaw.
The pastrami was utterly sublime, proving the absolute joy of a well sourced ingredient, and was complimented in both the sandwich and the burger by a well judged chipotle mayonnaise. The two 4oz burgers were excellently cooked, with the portion size pleasing this value-conscious consumer. The fries were also superb, if ever so slightly on the salty side even for my tastes. Not that it stopped me finishing them.
While the imminent arrival of Byron to Liverpool One is seen in some quarters as a cause for celebration, the arrival of high quality independent bars and restaurants like NoLIta Cantina is ultimately of far greater value to the city as it hopefully moves towards a future far less homogenised than the identikit feel of many of the country's large urban areas.
