The story
Belzan is a neighbourhood bistro and wine bar at 371 Smithdown Road in Liverpool, serving seasonal modern European food. It appears in the Michelin Guide as Recommended for 2026.
Owners Chris Edwards and Owain Williams opened Belzan in December 2017 with chef Sam Grainger. The kitchen treats humble and prized ingredients with equal respect, using simple dressings, proper amounts of butter and a wood-fired barbecue. Produce is bought locally when it makes sense, and much is made by hand.
Some weeks nothing on the menu changes, and other weeks three or four dishes do. The Good Food Guide's 2026 entry describes a fancy but relaxed modern bistro. Its reporters single out chicken and mushroom croquettes with herb aïoli and a Guinness rarebit potato. Rib of Aurox beef with miso and cashew nut butter sits alongside grilled jerk primo cabbage with pickled raisins, peanut and buttermilk. Desserts stay straightforward, such as clotted-cream ice cream with strawberries.
Sunday lunch is a regular draw, and the drinks list covers classic cocktails and wines chosen to match the kitchen's attention to provenance. Food and wine-pairing nights support the producers behind the bottles.
Recognition
Ambience
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There’s plenty of local love for this abidingly popular neighbourhood spot in the city’s Wavertree district: ‘typically Liverpudlian,’ affirms one reporter, while another says that it always feels ‘like a proper special night out’. Belzan is the very image of a fancy but relaxed modern bistro, helped along by a delightful team. To start, you might plump for chicken and mushroom croquettes with herb aïoli – although one fan swears by the ‘show-stopping’ Guinness rarebit potato. Combinations are more enterprising than your standard bistro repertoire, so expect anything from rib of Aurox beef with miso and cashew nut butter to grilled jerk primo cabbage with pickled raisins, peanut and buttermilk followed by straightforward desserts such as clotted-cream ice cream with strawberries or cheese with a clootie dumpling and apple. Hearty Sunday lunches also bring in the crowds. The drinks menu features a slate of classic cocktails, and the place also supports wine producers with food and wine-pairing nights.
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