Sited in a row of perhaps 9 other Chinese restaurants close to the impressive archway marking Liverpool’s Chinatown gateway, Ma Bo is immediately recognisable by its uncompromising ordinariness. No shiny jade tiles here, no oriental lanterns, no beckoning exotic bamboo, and certainly no menu outside, Ma Bo gives no quarter to oriental Anglicism. From the outside Ma Bo looks just like the terraced house it once was, and largely still is, except for the half dozen upside down wind dried ducks gawping hopelessly from the front room window at the pavement below. Steam billows from the front door, down some small steps and onto the street. Inside it’s a 1950’s front room with tables, the room was probably last decorated by Ken Hom’s grandfather. Linoleum and prototype Marley tiles cover the floor; the tables are covered with a very practical if not aesthetically pleasing oilcloth. The chairs, all 31 of them, crowd around the 8 tables like runner ducks at a Beijing bus stop. Interior décor reflects pre Chairman Mao minimalism; a wall calendar of indeterminate period or origin is the only belligerent stab at opulence. Ma Bo is family run, at last count by at least 5 living generations of the same family, from age 5 to approximately 105, and well represented in between. Service is a unique but utterly charming blend of near brusque surliness, punctuated by moments of near bewildering wide smiling friendliness. If you only ever visit one Chinese restaurant in Liverpool make it Ma Bo, not necessarily for the décor or the service, as fascinating as that may be, but for the food, its outstanding. Notable dishes are the chilli and salt squid, the fish ball stew, the pork Char Sui and just about anything they do with a duck. The menu is relatively small, and thankfully on the whole free of Cino Anglo staples. For considerably less than £20 two people can eat dishes at Ma Bo that: (a) are not available next door and (b) if they were would be at least double the price. Don’t miss it.
