Founder of Mo Salah's go-to restaurant says 'fresh food is everything'

Bakchich on Bold Street opened over a decade ago in order to "educate people" in Liverpool on Lebanese cuisine One of the founders of a well-established Moroccan and Lebanese restaurant, which Mo Salah has visited on several occasions, believes "fresh food is everything". Bakchich on Bold Street opened over a decade ago in order to "educate people" in Liverpool on Lebanese cuisine, at a time when there were hardly any restaurants of its kind in the city. The venue serves authentic North African and Middle-Eastern food, including breakfasts such as shakshouka, manakeesh (Lebanese pizza) and zaatar eggs with falafel.

Later on, the menu offers a selection of hot and cold mezze, shawarma, salads and platters. Director and founder of Bakchich, Adam Outaaraft was born in Casablanca in 1981, going on to study business at university. He told the ECHO : “My background has always been in restaurants for the past 20 years.



This place is family-run; we’re the first to come in the morning and the last to leave at night. “I've been here for 25 years. This is my city because I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived back in Morocco; I left there in 1999, I was a business student and just used hospitality as a student’s job.

But I liked it and one thing led to another. When I came here I worked in several bars and restaurants and then opened up a restaurant." The 43-year-old opened Bakchich in 2013.

He said: “We opened from scratch. We had a Moroccan restaurant down the road and then at the Christmas market we opened a Bakchich stall, which was very popular. It made us realise we could open a restaurant successfully.

There was no Lebanese in Liverpool at the time so we wanted to educate people. “This place was a camera shop so it took a lot of work to make into the restaurant. When we first opened it was very popular; there were only a few restaurants on Bold Street and this was something new, something different which people wanted to come and try.

The thing about this place is that we don’t serve alcohol, so people come purely for the food.” Bakchich opened restaurants in Manchester in 2015 and Williamson Square in 2017, but was forced to shut these locations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Adam remarked: “After covid happened, it was too much so we decided to just keep this [Bold Street] restaurant.

" Emphasising the importance of using fresh ingredients, Adam said: “Everything is freshly made every day. Making food fresh is everything, that’s what brings people here because when you taste the food you know it's good. Our shawarma, for instance, has to be marinated for 24 hours before it’s cooked.

What we serve is healthy and quality - that’s why people come back." One customer who kept coming back was none other than Liverpool forward Mo Salah. Adam said: “Mo Salah and his wife used to come in here and then when he started to become more famous, he ordered takeaways and his wife would come and collect them as she’s obviously not as well-known.

“When he used to score a goal, we would give free falafel out in the restaurant or to whoever came in and claimed it. It was really popular." Adam says the company plans to open other sites in the future.

Bakchich can be found at 54 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EA..