Elif will launch to invited guests on Thursday, July 25, before an official opening on Monday, July 29. Located at 22 Castle Street, the building was once home to Parr’s Bank before changing to NatWest until 2017 when it closed.
The new restaurant is a Turkish Bar & Grill and part of the Elif family which has sites in Bold Street, Lark Lane, and Childwall.
It had remained empty before being bought by JSM Company Group, which has an expanding portfolio of leisure developments and venues across Liverpool and the UK. Elif will be based on the ground floor level, with planning permission granted to turn the upper storeys into a hotel.
Elif restaurants are well-known for their authentic Turkish cuisine with hot and cold mezzes and starters; grilled meat, fish and seafood dishes, and traditional menu favourites. Specialities include Guvec, with pieces of chicken, lamb or prawns cooked in an earthenware pot with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, aubergine, peppers and garlic; Iskender, a Turkish feast of grilled lamb or chicken with bread, yoghurt and tomato butter sauce, and Izgara Kofte, BBQ chargrilled meatballs served with a rich tomato, pepper and garlic sauce.
The interior of the new city centre Elif Turkish Bar & Grill has been lavishly created, with velvet chairs seated around opulent marble tables. A towering botanical feature sits at the centre of the former banking hall, which also houses an ornate fountain and boasts a striking modern chandelier beneath a stained-glass dome.
