Liverpool named best city for food, oldest pubs, best beer gardens & new Greek - this week's food round-up

It has been a big week for food fanatics in Liverpool, with two new restaurants revealing their opening dates, McDonald’s bringing back their iconic Shamrock Shake and, most importantly, our city once again being named the best in the UK for all things food and drink.

Time Out once again declared Liverpool as the UK's top city for food, beating Manchester, London and Brighton for the top spot. Thousands of Brits took part in the foodie survey - which looked at a range of factors including food quality and affordability. 84% of respondents rated Liverpool’s quality of restaurants, with 68% saying the food scene is affordable.

We had fun taking a look back at Liverpool’s oldest pubs and uncovering the history behind some our most iconic venues.

We also tried out a host of food options ourselves, including Black Sheep Coffee’s new acai bowl, the brand-new El Gato Negro Tapas site on Castle Street, German Donor Kebab’s ‘Kebag’ and the famous green Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s. While the tapas joint impressed - the other three weren’t quite what we hoped.

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In terms of new openings, Zeus Taverna - which promises a world inspired by the popular holiday island of Santorini - revealed the launch date for its new site in the former Boots site on the historic Castle Street.

Picante, brought a “bring a taste of Guadalajara” to the Baltic, with the new restaurant located in Cains Brewery Village opening on Saturday. The new eatery focuses on tacos, tequila, cocktails and great music.

Other food stories from this week:

- All 23 JD Wetherspoon pubs in Liverpool and Merseyside ranked from best to worst, according to your reviews

- I've fought hard to save my Liverpool pub The Caledonia but have made the difficult decision to close for good