'Unique charm' - I visit Liverpool's new Blackstock Market food and entertainment venue to give my verdict

Blackstock Market has opened to the public, with more than 2,000 people flocking to the multi-million-pound Liverpool venue on its first day.

The new £7m entertainment destination is the brainchild of Hot Water's founders Paul and Binty Blair and will house four theatre spaces of varying sizes, from a purpose-built and first to open, state of the art 590-seat auditorium – one of the largest regular comedy club spaces in the world - to a 50-seat studio space, along with podcast studios, with the venue becoming a new home for Hot Water and the city's legion of comedy fans.

Alongside being a comedian, Lou Ridgeway helped build Blackstock Market, he told LiverpoolWorld: "We're not just a food market; we have live music every night, we have live comedy seven nights a week. We didn't build a food market. We built an entertainment venue with a food market in it."

A giant rooftop terrace, the largest in Liverpool, will open later this year. A big screen will show top sporting events live, while special 'audience with' shows will feature sporting legend guests. Street food vendors in the new food market include Burgerism, Pattersons, KO Grill, Laros, Paulie's Pizzeria, North Garden and Desserts by Dre.

There is also one of the longest bars in Liverpool and soon to open is a sumptuous cocktail bar, and an elegant Prohibition era-style bar – Whisky & Water - offering more than 300 different whiskies as well as live jazz and blues music. Along with a self-service beer wall, it features a selection of the very best craft beers from Liverpool breweries.

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