WITH an unusual menu and brand new surroundings, I wanted to like this restaurant, I really did.
 As one of the newest places to eat in Liverpool, Filini's inside the four star Radisson hotel was something to be tried, at least for the novelty value. Dinner with a friend on a Monday night always promises to be a fairly quiet evening but as most people assume a hotel restaurant is for guests, this was quieter than most. At 7pm when you are the only people in a 120-seater dining area, you start to fear tumbleweed rolling across the set and businessmen discussing confidential details may have felt the need to whisper. Feeling a little outnumbered, we were met by two staff as well as a confident and courteous maitre d' who took us to our table and then introduced our waitress by name. The lack of customers made for extremely attentive service, to the point of being slightly irritating when the waitress was not only coming over to check if our food was all right but also to make conversation about the view. We had been led to a table by the window, for said "view", but it looked out on to portable buildings - including what looked like a toilet cabin - and the back of advertising hoardings. My dining companion informed me that it was to be made into a garden and you could look past all of that (and the thundering traffic on The Strand) to the lights across the water, described as the unrivalled views of the Mersey. I still wanted to like this restaurant and decided to concentrate on the extensive menu with its unusual selection. With every part of the dish described, it took a while to read the menu, but I eventually settled on seared scallops with tossed fregola grossa - which I have since been informed is large grains (£7.50). My friend went for the dish that had caught our eye on a previous look at the menu - air dried wild boar with celery and endive salad (£5.25). Taking a look around, the decor was contemporary, with decorative glass panelling as a central divide and non-descript modern art on the walls. My companion was taken by the innovative method of storing wine, on the shop floor as it were, behind our table in the middle of the restaurant in wooden crates. The lighting was very bright, with aluminium lampshades that were so low hanging that the waitress banged her head while pouring wine. | 
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