Vetch, Liverpool

The best way of experiencing 90% of the fun and frolics of a top-end restaurant whilst shelling out less than 50% of the usual cost is to go for a weekday lunch or early bird menu. Some of the most exciting dining spots in the country have some remarkably reasonably priced off-peak offers, designed to fill tables at times where otherwise they'd be empty, and as we all know there's nothing worse - from a diner's or restaurant's perspective - than an empty restaurant.

These special menus come with an understanding, however - that there will necessarily be cheaper ingredients used (cod instead of halibut, chicken instead of pigeon) and crucially that if there are fewer courses, the overall amount of food should remain largely the same, made up by bulking out with sides of carbs or slightly more generous cuts of the main ingredients. And there will be no squabbling about this, because everything coming out of a good kitchen will be worth the effort, made from the same wonderful stocks and sauces and using the same presentational flair, and if you get mackerel instead of turbot, or sticky toffee pudding instead of soufflé, then who really cares?

But Vetch seem to have gone in a different direction with their early bird menu, and though most - in fact all - of what we were served was impressive in many ways, instead of bulking out with extra carbs or bigger cuts, they have seemingly just lifted three dishes out of the £85/£105 10-course tasting menus, size and all. I should repeat that everything we were served was at least excellent, and occasionally stunning, there just wasn't nearly enough of it. A dainty loaf of Japanese Shokupan (milk bread) was first, warm from the oven, with a little bit of miso butter which soaked into the crumb beautifully.

Cauliflower chawanmushi was a lovely bowl of wintery comfort food, a silky-smooth savoury cauliflower custard topped with parmesan and chive velouté, kind of a deconstructed (if you like) and elevated cauliflower cheese.

Artichoke, goat's curd and truffle was another intriguing bowl of powerful flavours and textures, topped with a giant leaf of charred kale (I think it was) which was great fun to crunch through.

But favourite of the starters was this stunning chunk of monkfish, glazed on top and bright white underneath, next to a cute parcel of braised leek topped with charred stalks (more leek I think) and a little mound of some kind of fish roe. Everything about this dish was pretty much faultless, from the way the flavours worked together perfectly, the addictive textures, and the beautiful main ingredient. Everything, that is, apart from the fact we could have done with a bit more of it. But I'll try not to moan about that too much.

Mains, such as they were, followed. A finger-sized slice of (albeit perfectly cooked) duck fillet came with a pickled beetroot and kale, all soaked in a fantastic beetroot/duck jus. This would have been as faultless as the monkfish it if it had only included a bit of potato - fondant, maybe, or some creamy mash - to fill it out a bit.

Cod, chicken and mushroom was an exquisitely tasteful - and bijou - the fish fillet with a gorgeous glazed skin bound to seasonal wild mushrooms with a chicken cream sauce which you just wished there was more than a teaspoon of.

Desserts were equally beautiful, equally accomplished, and equally tiny. "Pumpkin, caramel, finger lime" showed a range of interesting techniques and textures, but the highlight was the pumpkin, sort of a dense, silky-smooth mousse. And "pear, chamomile, yoghurt" was an intelligent balance of crunchy fruit and decadent dairy, which also just left you wanting more.

So much like the service issues at the Hightown Inn which made the overall experience so frustrating to score, I'm in a bit of a quandary with regards to Vetch. I know for a fact they can cook, and the full tasting menu would most likely have been brilliant, and perhaps there are some people who would have considered the portion sizes if not generous exactly then still just about reasonable. These people probably do exist. But I can't remember the last time I left a restaurant hungry, and I have a very strong feeling that if it wasn't enough for me, it probably wasn't enough for most, and it most certainly wasn't enough for the giant bloke on the next table, 6'5" and nearly as wide, who made our drinks shake like a scene from Jurassic Park when he got up to go to the loo and who must have wondered if this procession of bitesize dishes was some kind of elaborate practical joke.

But all that said, Vetch undeniably has some real talent in the kitchen and I really do want to go back for the Full Monty, so perhaps that's what these off-peak menus are about. Or at least partly about. And it's in a beautiful Georgian townhouse, front of house were as charming as you could hope for, and although the matching wines arrived in slightly stingy portions (as fitting the general theme) they were offered with enthusiasm and real knowledge. And we really enjoyed our evening there, as I'm pretty sure you would too. But maybe have something waiting for you in the fridge when you get home after, just in case.

8/10