Lunch of the week: Cuthbert’s Bake House

On a particularly rain-sodden Saturday, we sought shelter up Mount Pleasant and - it seems - we weren’t the only ones who had that bright idea. Within Cuthbert’s retro, distressed and doiley-dotted interior you can pretend it’s summer, pour a pitcher of Pimms and put the world to rights.

This ace little bakery-cum-cafe is still something of a hidden gem but we were pleased to hear the chatter of a range of European languages when we stopped by. Foreigners must love this place - with its Union Flag bunting, teetering cake stands and sticky flapjacks Cuthbert’s is the high water mark of high-teas.

We enjoyed our ciabatta sandwiches, crammed with squeakily fresh salads, plump chicken and bacon. We loved the cupcakes (which go easy on the icing, thankfully. We can’t be doing with cupcakes that are piped with two feet of sickly sugar cream on the top), and enjoyed the convivial buzz of the place. Our chocolate gateau was rich and moist, although we’d have preferred real cream instead of UHT stuff with our apple pie. But, hey, these are but trifles.

Liverpool simply doesn’t have enough idiosyncratic places like these: run with care and attention, and offering a genuine independent welcome. There was a time when every street corner in Liverpool had a Reece’s or Lyon’s tea rooms: looks like Cuthbert’s is continuing the tradition with style.

Cuthbert’s Bakehouse,
103 Mount Pleasant