Last Updated on 2 October 2023 by Colette
After our exploration of Tate Liverpool on Sunday morning we took a wander around a very cold and drizzly Albert Dock. Throughout December Albert Dock have a range of festive activities going on to get us into the seasonal mood. Today we found a brass quintet playing well known Christmas carols, which I loved – you can’t fail to feel festive with a brass band providing the soundtrack to your adventures can you?
And we also came across the magical Winter Fairy who Chloe was utterly entranced by . . .
We had been invited to enjoy lunch at What’s Cooking? on the Albert Dock and we were more than ready to have a sit down and something to eat. We were shown to an enormous booth and the children were given colouring sheets and crayons before our drinks orders were taken.
The children’s menu (for under 12s) is fairly standard – burger, fish fingers etc. Ben went for his current favourite of a cheese burger, Chloe surprised us by choosing a hot dog and Amy wanted “pink and red” – goodness knows what this is but she’s tried to order it twice this weekend! We decided we’d get her a hot dog instead. Dave and I went straight for the handcrafted burgers – the Bacon Stack for Dave (a double burger with smoked bacon, Monterey Jack cheese and a fried egg!) and I didn’t get any further down the menu once I spotted the Billy-Boy Burger – as someone who loves goats cheese this combination of a burger with goats cheese, roasted red pepper and apricot & ginger sauce with caramelised onion was a no brainer! We also ordered a side of onion rings.
I couldn’t tell you how long it took for our order to arrive but it was a perfectly reasonable time – we certainly didn’t feel we were waiting around for it. I think one of the biggest compliments to the food is that our table fell almost silent as we all tucked in. Both Ben and Chloe completely cleared their plates – which is not all that common when we eat out. It can be very hit and miss as to how much all three of them eat and we often buy two meals to share between the three of them but this time they made short work of their lunch! In fact Ben had actually finished his lunch before Daddy! Both of our handcrafted burgers were absolutely delicious and could only be described as “knife and fork jobs”.
Of course it would have been rude to decline the opportunity for dessert . . . again the children’s menu was fairly basic with ice cream or chocolate fudge cake – but really what more could kids want than that? Ben and Amy went for chocolate fudge cake and Chlo chose to have vanilla and strawberry ice cream. Again all three kids pretty much cleared their plates! Dave and I were blindsided by the Ben and Jerry’s sundaes – ordering a Cookie Dough sundae and a Phish Food sundae – with the intention of sharing them but I must admit that once I got stuck into the Phish food I just couldn’t give it up again, sorry Dave!
We were all absolutely stuffed and fully satisfied by our meal at What’s Cooking? and I think the fact that Ben asked “Mum, can we come here for birthdays now?” says it all really! We would absolutely return to What’s Cooking? like a shot!
* We were invited to enjoy our meal at What’s Cooking? free of charge for the purposes of review however all thoughts and opinions remain our own *
I've never heard of What's Cooking but it looks awesome – I love a good burger! The hot dogs for the kids look HUGE! x
The food looks delicous, especially the puddings!! #triedtested
That is some burger – looks delicious!
Your meal's all look amazing, I am hungry just looking at your photos. I have never heard of whats cooking before but I wish they had a one near where we live xx #triedtested
Oh wow! That food looks amazing! It's making me quite hungry now 🙂 x
That chocolate fudge cake looks delicious! I love Liverpool but I've not been since before the babies arrived! What's Cooking sounds like a definite restaurant to add to the list!
It looks lush! I always go for the burger, they are irresistible. You can't beat a nice one like that. Glad you enjoyed yourselves x
What a magical day! Brass band, fairy and good eats! Looks like a nice family venue there. 🙂
That winter fairy looks cool what a fab trip out despite the miserable weather. The burgers look super juicy 🙂
I Have not heard of this company before but the burgers look great! #triedtested
Huge hot dog and yummy looking ice creams! I'm hungry now… #triedtested
We LOVE the Albert Dock – only 40 mins from us! #TriedTested
This has made me so hungry!!! The food looks delicious
yum, this sounds like a great place to eat. that burger!! #triedtested
Oh goodness, I didn't know What's Cooking? was still there! I used to have a badge on my primary school bag from there back in the late 80s or early 90s!! That shows my age, and what a hit it was then!
Funnily enough my best friend said that it was somewhere she used to eat as a kid too!
What a great endorsement by your boy.the size of the food portions looks amazing, very generous.
This looks fab and so much fun! Thanks for hosting #triedtested and happy christmas!
Oh my goodness – how good do they look?I've never heard of them before but now I'm keen to go to Albert Docks just to try #TriedTested
It sounds like you had a great day out, and the kids were well catered for!
#TriedTested
That food looks fantastic. I haven't heard of the restaurant so I assume it is not a chain
It looks very family friendly and a fun atmosphere #TriedTested
This looks like such fab day out. I've only visited Liverpool a couple of times but I loved the Albert Docks. That food looks yummy too – I don't think you can beat a decent burger!
Looks great! We went to Liverpool for the first time last month but will be back, will put this on our to visit list #triedtested