Ego at The Punchbowl, Sefton, Liverpool in Sefton

**Edit - further to Ego's reply on this review asking me to email them, I did send a polite email, giving them a right to reply privately, they never got back to me**Visited 20/01/25 as a group of 5. Unfortunately we seemed to be forgotten about in a corner and I had to go and ask a waitress to come over after almost 20 minutes so we could get drinks. When we tryed to order food, 3 out of the 5 chosen meals were not available, which we were not warned of, and this was 5:30pm ish. Then one of our 5 deserts didnt arrive and when I managed to flag a waitress down we were told they didnt have that either. I had a 50% off mains / kids meal voucher but having stupidly paid without fully looking at the bill I have found they only took it off 3 of the 5 meals. The food is always great here, and I will hopefully come back if I can convince other family members to try again, but this occasion was not the best experience sadly.

Was really hoping to enjoy it here but was quite disappointed. Visited in January using a 50% off mains offer. When my food arrived it was only warm and the chicken looked anaemic 😬 the taste of the dish wasn't great - think frozen ready meal. Such a shame as the restaurant itself is beautiful and in a lovely location but sadly won't be returning.

Have dined here quite a few times over the years and especially for family birthdays. Using online booking system, originally booked 1 table for 6,but then wanted to increase number to include sister's family but system would only allow me to book another table for next time slot, but I explained that both bookings needed to be linked as celebrating my mum's birthday. When we arrived the server abruptly informed us that we weren't sitting together as comments only looked at on that morning and no space available. Whilst I accept there are limitations, it was more the manner this was delivered along with no prior notification to enable us to decide if wished to continue a celebration at different tables. When seated, the tables weren't even in a vicinity to socialise easily. Food was decent, but everyone's onion rings were cold and chips lukewarm. The final bill was incorrect, which I'd never normally even check but did on this occasion due to splitting. When staff finally worked out error and corrected, there was no apology. I'm not normally a hard to please customer and happily go with the flow, rarely complaining, but just felt the the overall attitude of team was brusque and surly, not what we would normally receive and made a family get together disappointing, disjointed and flat.

First time we have visited since it was taken over by M&B. Have been eating at Egos since the 1990s but had noticed that before the takeover quality of food and menus had gone down. Food today was excellent and back to its previous quality. Steak was superb. Look forward to visiting again

Great food and service. Recommended.

I had an exceptional dining experience thanks to Harris. From the moment we were seated, they made us feel welcome and attended to our every need with professionalism and genuine warmth. They were knowledgeable about the menu, provided excellent recommendations, and ensured that our drinks were always topped up without being intrusive. Their friendly demeanor and attention to detail truly elevated our evening. If you’re dining here, I hope you’re lucky enough to have Harris as your server!

Wonderful food. The place was not busy however the service was abysmal. We constantly had to seek out the waiters and there was a mountain of empties on the table. We were celebrating a birthday and gotta say didn’t feel very welcome. For the price you’d expect more

Love this place usually, Firstly food was amazing .😁 Whole party had beautiful food. Sadly dissapointing service on the day. Host commented we had arrived too Early . Arrived 30 minutes before, manner abrupt . Once seated server again no interaction. No eye contact manner abrupt throughout. As our time slot was ending, tables becoming empty, asked if the table was required , if not could we buy a further drink. This was agreed advised if it was needed we would be advised by the host. Within minutes of our drink arriving he came to the table advised he was pushed for tine on thd table , ushered us to a bar seat and gave us our bill without request. We paid the bill, the restaurant had emptied considerably . We stayed and had our drinks , another hour and interestingly , our vacated table wasn't used and several others remained empty.!! Perhaps it was a shift change- however the afternoon was overshadowed by unitetested and unpleasant staff

Very good food, with a good choice and good value for money. The staff were welcoming, attentive and helpful. Nice surrounding.

Nice relaxed atmosphere , lovely food, lovely service from carys .

A friend highly recommended this place, so during my holiday from Australia, we decided to stop by for Sunday lunch—and we’re so glad we did! From the moment we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by the friendly staff. Ross and Tom took excellent care of us, ensuring our drinks were topped up and that we had everything we needed. When I asked for a few extras on my plate (the food here is far better than back home!), they were more than happy to accommodate. The meal itself was absolutely delicious, generous in portion, and full of flavor—definitely exceeding our expectations. It was a truly wonderful dining experience, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for great food and exceptional service!

Excellent food, good portions too.! Staff very courteous and a lovely environment.

A lovely place to visit and have a well deserved dinner. Plenty of choices to eat and drink from. Fantastic staff always there to help with whatever you might need. Complements to the chef for our food, it was absolutely delicious. We will be back.

Lovely meals for four, wife, sister and brother in law. my first time at the punchbowl meals well cooked good dessert menu very pleasant brother in law had a 50% off voucher made the experience even better. Would like to thank staff for their service 👍👍👍

Served by Carys - friendly snd professional. Good customer service - nice ambience.

Pleasant evening and 50 % off mains just now. Food up to usual standard and we had perfect service from the lovely Carys. Very welcoming, efficient and cheerful.

Staff were extremely polite & friendly. Food was great & would highly recommend to our friends and family. We will be returning for sure.

Top class service and food as per usual from Ego Sefton. It’s a pleasure to visit there. Staff are so helpful with accessibility issues and in particular, Oliver, was so helpful, informative and interpersonal.

Went for the 2 courses for £18 offer, pretty small portions of what I would call good pub food made fancy, you get what you pay for I suppose, staff were great just go off main menu or get starter as well if getting the deal or your spacialy challenged and used to a bucket 🪣

Loved our NYE meal and entertainment at your lovely restaurant. Heather who served us so friendly and always asking us are we ok or need anything. Service so quick and food fabulous as always. Lovely singer whose songs were so nice to listen to. Thank you we had a great night!!

Was a busy day but excellent service and food

Harris was amazing we love him xxx

Fabulous venue, great food, & superb service from Thomas , Sandra & Dani

Served by Harris. Very attentive, polite, friendly. Very honest, as we overpaid.

Birthday meal @ ego. Great food. Great service Harris our waiter was there for us all night very attentive. Advised on menu. Took pics and brought out our b.day cake. Great night. 👍🍾🥂

Harris was an excellent server and the food was lovely

Fantastic food and excellent service x

Good selection of food. Nice surroundings and good service

Went here for festive dinner. Wasn,t dissapointed varied menus. Food was spot on nicely cooked .Staff very pleasant. Lovely place by a church.

Served by Carys, very polite and personable. Relaxed atmosphere. Delicious food, we had 2 courses, plus 2 drinks, with a tip...£25 each...and it was great value for money. The duo of pork was outstanding. Will go back soon...my new favourite restaurant.

Visited today with my sister and grandson for lunch, just before mid-day. The manager he needs to have a word with your staff the woman with long blond hair, dressed in all black. She could of been a bar manager!! Her attitude was disgusting. Terrible attitude when we went in . We where made to feel uncomfortable, and being a nuisance. Had our food and went. She needs re-training in customer service!!

Very disappointed. We have visited this restaurant many times but today was not a good experience. We brought our small 7 month old puppy as it is a dog friendly pub. She is only a pup so is a still a bit nervy when approached by people and does sometimes bark. She is fine once she is given time to settle into her surroundings but can be overwhelmed initially. We explained this and were seated in an area out of the way and by the fire. As soon as we got settled we were told we would have to move to another table. This was close to the bar with more footfall and not ideal. We we told she would have to be kept in the corner there so she wouldn’t “go for the staff”. We explained she wasn’t at all aggressive in the slightest but we were made to feel completely unwelcome. The whole experience was horrible. The service was slow and the food wasn’t enjoyable either. We were left feeling quite upset by the whole thing. We have been to many other pubs and restaurants with our pooch and have always had a lovely experience socialising her. We will not be returning.

The food & Service were excellent! Nina was a great! Thankyou very much.

Lovely time seeing my cousin and lovely server Caris

Carys served us a selection of food whisk was lovely. Great service

Didn't realise at the time of ordering, apparently chose the early bird menu,Garlic mushrooms, followed by 2 rump steaks, garlic mushrooms uneventful, and rump steaks where tough only ordered the rump as there was no other steak choice on that menu, should have maybe ordered my more familiar choice in steaks, probably been spoilt by miller and carter, only fair to give this restaurant another try, service was excellent and food arrived quickly, many thanks.

Great service, food and atmosphere

We've been coming here for years and always enjoyed it. Sandra, our server, was especially helpful today even though the restaurant was very busy.

Nice folk. Great service. Nice location. Better than a chain pub.

We had a decent lunch although the serving staff did not appear to be that interested in looking after us or anyone else. Our visit was probably not helped by the Christmas decorations being put up around us as we had our lunch. Give it a try as the food is ok and well priced.

Popped in for dinner, didn’t book. Staff couldn’t be friendlier and more accommodating. Food was delicious and good price. Highly recommended.

Friendly staff, Carys was helpful.

Always excellent food, good service from very pleasant staff and good value for money

We've returned after quite a few years absence to a greatly refreshed, transformed venue. It's airy, with beautiful modern decoration, and a varied menu.The offering was restricted owing to a supplier letting them down, but there was still plenty of choice; I had Moroccan style lamb which was plentiful and superb. The staff were cheery, and very professional. Perhaps a draught real ale might improve things, but they do a good pint of the ubiquitous Guinness. Highly recommended.

Just dined here and it was amazing, the waitress Carys was brilliant and the food was top notch. Definitely will come here again.

Had a lovely meal for my mum's birthday. Food was amazing. All of the staff were lovely, especially our waitress, Carys, who was so welcoming and attentive.

Disappointed. Table booked for 7p.m. order taken at 7.15p.m. One of our group had bread and olives but our nain course wasn't served until 8.30p.m. Short staffed? Food was okay but portion size on dessert was small. Expected better.

Sunday dinner, 4 of us absolutely superb many thanks to Ross super service ,spot on

Great food and service 👌 Special shout out to Paddy ! He made sure we were very looked after with superb cocktails 🍸

Food was ok, service was excellent and the atmosphere was inviting and welcoming.

Had a wonderful meal at the Punchbowl. I love this restaurant & the staff are always, always amazing. Thank you!

What I love here is the free mini dessert you get with a cup of coffee. Just enough to give you a sweet end to the meal but not excessive.

My peaser was burnt was disappointed ☹️😔

Nice never been before as was visiting relatives we have a local one this is better service and atmosphere than ares nice area outside would go again lots of food choice

Party of 12 for my dad’s 80th. We had our own private dining room which was perfect! Service was excellent, as was the food. The family were very impressed and insisted our next get together to be at the punchbowl! 5 stars from us all 👍

Twelve ladies dining in side room. It was a lovely evening. Staff were excellent and so was the food

Average beer selection if expensive. Clean and comfortable. Outside garden area nice but why the really noisy fan noise?

We were greeted by friendly staff and our server was very attentive and friendly. Food was lovely, dessert was a little disappointing.....the rhubarb crumble would have been much nicer with more crumble and less filling, which was quite sloppy. Overall a lovely lunch in nice surroundings and with very friendly staff.

Innovative menu, absolutely delicious food, best meal we've had since moving to this area, 100% recommended. We will be back to try kebab night on a Thursday

We have just dined at Ego on a Tuesday steak night for 3 birthdays mum, daughter and Granny all within a week! Definitely picked the right restaurant. Food was fabulous as usual and the service was amazing. Our waitress was extremely attentive and nothing was too much trouble. She even named the perfume I was wearing! The extra touch at the end of the meal was a lovely surprise for us and very much appreciated. Well done Ego. It’s the little things that keep your customers returning and obviously the great food!

One of my favourite restaurants , everything is always consistently really good

A pleasant evening dining for a family birthday. Food, service and atmosphere were perfect for the occasion. A big bonus for us was that they allow dogs and we were able to celebrate with our two present.

Fantastic food and great atmosphere staff couldn't do enough for you

Upset at the desert menu for celiac clients, only left with ice cream, or chocolate brownie that I do not like. Lemon tart & frangipan tart was always gluten free

What more can I say, wonderful food and service, we've been there before and will go again, five stars.

Had a really good experience food and service good as usual

My chicken was very dry, and there wasn’t much sauce on it. Half the garlic bread was burnt. My daughter enjoyed her pizza and the puddings were nice. I had gone with my birthday voucher, but when I went to use it, it had disappeared from the app, even though I was within time to use it. I feel like this Restaurant is going downhill as it used to be much better. Which is a shame, but the prices charged, do not match the quality of the food.

Beautiful good, fabulous staff, great atmosphere, value for money! Will be back soon.

Special meal for my 60th birthday and it was everything we could have wished for. The food was excellent with plenty of choice and the service was very quick and efficient. Thank you

Absolutely enjoyed our visit , food was excellent and service was just as good

Exceptionally limited menu and quality of food was not good. Staff were very apologetic and were hardworking and accommodating.

Fab lunch. This place is brilliant. Staff polite, friendly and helpful. Food excellent and well presented.

Enjoyed a lovely meal, steak was perfect. Staff very nice and attentive. Thank you.

Lovely lunch food very tasty and polite and friendly staff. The coffee however was far to strong

Great food lovely clean restaurant no complaints

Excellent Sunday lunch. Good value for money. The service was excellent. 10 out of 10. Would recommend.

Food was lovely, a party of 5 and we all enjoyed the meal. Highly recommend the pork dish.

Brilliant dining experience as always. Polite ,courteous , knowledgeable staff.

went with 2 friends lovely food,service and friendly staff

Absolutely brilliant will be back again

Had a lovely afternoon tea ...would recommend to anyone...£25 for a bottle of house white though...bit excessive

Food lovely and service was excellent

Celebrated our son's 21st here, food was great and couldn't fault the great service from Paddy

Excellent food and service. Fairly quiet on our visit this time but usually good atmosphere.

Had to send starter back twice as cold had to send main back as cold

We had an excellent midweek lunch with friends and really enjoyed it, will be going again soon!

Delicious food and great service. Staff were super helpful and friendly.

Well tbh I love the place , and I'd got my birthday treat plus it was our anniversar and it was sunday 8th wet rain misrable , so suggested let's go for Sunday lunch for 2 as ours house can be like Euston !! O I was really disappointed, its not on the " enjoy a meal on us" and I knew the menu and yes it's really good but I just wanted a Sunday lunch as did my husband . So i had to forfeit your kind gesture from yourselves of a birthday treat and we had the Sunday lunch ... and again YES it was really just what we expected a great meal .. I don't really understand the logic behind the Sunday roast not on the list , it's like offering a tin of sweets but telling you DONT take the coffee creams haha xx

This restaurant is in a nice location, the interior is ok with a relaxed vibe. Our table for 6 was in a corner next to an open door which was fine as it was a very warm evening. Perhaps we got overlooked as we were in the corner as the service was poor? On arrival it took an age for anyone to come to take our drinks order, then ages for them to arrive. We were sharing garlic bread as a group, this came fairly quickly and was tasty. 5 of the mains arrived together after a longer than average wait. My meal of a hanging chicken kebab took over 20 mins to arrive, I was not too pleased with this. My fries which had arrived with the other mains, then went cold. No apology for the delay or offer of a portion of hot fries. I couldn't be bothered to ask for more after already waiting. Another long wait for further drinks after trying to gain the attention of staff for ages. Overall really poor service. A tip was left by whoever paid the bill but not justified in my opinion and nor would I have left one if we'd discussed it. A staff member was informed about our dissatisfaction but worryingly, I don't think she thought our comments were valid. The food was lovely but sadly I wouldn't return.

Very tasty food and staff were excellent. Would recommend and would come again ourselves.

One of our favourite places , lovely food , 4* just because disappointed mussels have gone from menu. Don’t have a dog but love the fact its dog friendly

With Wednesday being a ‘meal deal’ event I’d definitely choose a less busy time for a quiet celebration meal out. I really enjoyed the prawn piri piri starter but the main meal was just ok, with luke warm chips and fatty lamb rump. We ordered a bottle of wine on arrival, which we had to remind them about after the starters arrived. The wine was placed on the table without being opened or taste sampled. To finish we had a small rhubarb crumble and cappuccino. The whole idea being to eat together, we had to wait at least 8mins until the second crumble arrived and even then they forgot the custard. To sum up, the only attraction is the birthday meal deal ‘buy one get one free’. The food was a pub average standard and the service not so good, probably due to it being a very busy Wednesday.

Food is amazing with plenty of choices, staff are lovely

We had a delicious early dinner and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. The service was excellent - staff were friendly and efficient. We always enjoy our visits to Ego.

Food and service fine but left disappointed. It was my birthday and I had a voucher for a free meal. As my wife does not eat a lot she got a course not from the main menu. When I came to pay there was no discount as we had not fulfilled all the terms and conditions by going off the main menu. No discount was offered and we wouldn’t have dined if I was paying full price. As we are both pensioners we left disappointing.

Meal was very nice but my wife said she wanted a divorce.

Consustently superb. The food this time was really excellent - took 2 friends for lunch and they were honestly thrilled. The staff exceptional - our waiter brilliant cheerful friendly and bubbly. Always meets my highest expectations

Went for afternoon tea with my daughter and to be honest was disappointed. The server asked if we wanted any changes to the standard menu but were unable to provide a menu so we had to go online to check what the standard menu was. We did change one option and they were happy to amend this. We asked for a soft drink to begin with but were then never offered any tea or coffee which should have come as standard with an afternoon tea. Delicious food, but the general experience was not what I would have expected.

Food was very nice, although we did wait along time between courses and the restaurant wasn't that busy. Service started off well but went down hill by the end of the meal. We ordered coffees at the end of the meal and watched them sit on a tray on the bar for nearly 10 minutes before my husband got up and got them himself. No one acknowledged this at all and it took a long time for plates to be cleared between courses.

This is an excellent pub/restaurant. Does excellent food at a reasonable price but does lots of deals in the week as well. Outstanding service, food, drink every time we go. Also dog friendly areas. Worth a visit.