Clove Hitch

Excellent quality burger (6oz Ranch) from the Bar23 menu. Very good craft beer selection. Intimate space with lots of small tables and outside beer garden area. Our waitress Lauren was fab — attentive service and really cheery!

I recently had dinner here for a very unhenparty style hen party. It’s a nice little addition to Hope Street, defo a step up from that old Mexican place. It has a cosy /​bustling kinda atmosphere, I recon it’d be a good Sunday joint. The food was good (fancy pub food with a bit of a Mediterranean thing going on) but the main courses came out so long after the starters that we were a bit over it by that stage, but hey the starters were all great and we were all pretty happy on the wine, so.
They sat us in the back room by the kitchen, which was a little cut off from the rest of the place but good to spot there’s a garden out the back. Good to know that the Cracke isn’t your only option now for those sunny days.
Worth checking out again.

Remember El Macho? That rather tired looking Mexican place on Hope Street? Well, with seemingly little fanfare, it’s evolved into the Clove Hitch — named after everyone’s favourite type of knot. Clad in a very tasteful style, with a cracking dark oak bar for you to rest your elbows on, it’s certainly less brash then some other bars which have opened in Liverpool City Centre recently. It also serves some seemingly decent pub grub, and an excellent selection of beers (many of which have been created in their own specialist micro brewery) I’ve been in here a few times now, and must say it’s a rather charming little spot which — rather handily — doesn’t appear to be afraid of changing elements which initially didn’t work all that well.
Like, for instance, the music. The first time I went into the Clove Hitch, I nearly walked out again as they were playing an absolutely awful MTV Unplugged album from 1994. I’m willing to accept a lot of things, but listening to Kurt Cobain whining whilst I’m trying to enjoy a tasty pint isn’t one of them. Thankfully, someone must have had a word in their ear, as when I nipped in there for lunch yesterday, they were playing a rather fine Animal Collective album — which certainly aided the digestion.
Their food isn’t too bad either. So far, I’ve only had their sandwiches, but each time they’ve been delicious — and quite reasonably priced too. A huge Halloumi and grilled vegetable baguette with chips only came to £4.20 — bargaintastic! I’ve yet to try the range of delicious looking cupcakes which they have stacked on their bar, but I’ll certainly be giving them a try the next time my sweet tooth strikes. However, I can’t help wondering why their lunch deal starts at 2pm when (by my reckoning) most people are heading back to the office. Surely they’re missing a bit of a trick there?
Hope Street is full of bars of all shapes and sizes, but Clove Hitch is one which is definitely worth a visit. Here’s hoping it can iron out the few little teething problems which mar what could just be the perfect Hope Street lunch spot.

Hey, remember El Macho on Hope Street? Yeah well it’s gone. It seemingly vanished quicker than Lucan on Concorde and in its spot is the Clove Hitch, named after everybody’s favourite kind of knot.
This new bar and restaurant is a great little nook of polished wood and squeaky floorboards. It has all the distinction of a European eatery construed from a knocked-​through dwelling but with none of the smarminess that usually accompanies these kind of establishments. Definitely one to try. It’s just a shame I have no stomach or I’d be perusing the menu as we speak.