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<\/p>\nAN award-winning restaurant run by a Great British Menu chef is closing its doors for good.<\/p>\n
The Chinese restaurant Lu Ban in Liverpool\u2019s Baltic Triangle first opened in 2019 under the leadership of chef Dave Critchley.<\/p>\n
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It won a Gold Award at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence in 2022 and also named Restaurant of the Year at the Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards.<\/p>\n
The restaurant, which specialised in the dishes from China\u2019s Tianjin region, gained a strong reputation thanks to its chef\u2019s table experience where diners had the food prepared in front of them.<\/p>\n
Customers could also enjoy a fine dining with Critchley who has appeared on the BBC\u2019s popular The Great British Menu in 2021.<\/p>\n
Diners whose budget didn\u2019t stretch quite so far as fine dining could also select popular Chinese favourites from the restaurant\u2019s standard menu and a bottomless brunch.<\/p>\n
The owners of Lu Ban put the reason for its closure down to the cost of living crisis and increasing financial pressures on running the restaurant.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the restaurant said in a social media post: "We regret to inform our customers that, after careful consideration, we have made the decision to permanently close Lu Ban restaurant.<\/p>\n "The closure was not a decision we have taken lightly but was due to a combination of factors.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ongoing cost of living crisis has reduced footfall to what was always a niche concept.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "This coupled with increasing financial pressure of running and utility costs has rendered the business unsustainable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to customers whom have plans to visit in the near future and where deposits have been paid these will be returned."<\/p>\n The news comes during a tough time for the restaurant business.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Doncaster\u00a0location\u00a0of Frankie and Benny's shut its doors last month.<\/p>\n Forty other branches of\u00a0Frankie and Benny's have closed\u00a0over the past year after lockdown and\u00a0inflation\u00a0hit the chain hard.<\/p>\n Byron Burger also closed its restaurant in George Street,\u00a0Oxford\u00a0at the end of last month according to staff.<\/p>\n Byron collapsed back in January\u00a0and announced the immediate closure of nine sites.<\/p>\n The move left more than 200 employees out of a job.<\/p>\n The hospitality sector as a whole has been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring\u00a0energy\u00a0bills\u00a0and\u00a0inflation.<\/p>\n Some well-known retailers have shut a handful of branches, while others have disappeared from the high street for good.<\/p>\n Italian dining chain\u00a0Prezzo revealed plans to shut 46 restaurants\u00a0back in April as a result of soaring energy and food costs, putting 810 jobs at risk.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24683125-1699543938902.jpg\")
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