There’s a lot more to bar work than when I was a barmaid in 1990. In my day, when people asked what wine you had, it was either red or white, and it was served out of an optic over the bar (eeugh!) A cocktail was a vodka and orange. Things have moved on since then, thankfully, and at the Living Room, the bar staff have a detailed knowledge of the different cocktails on offer and the ingredients of a traditional Martini. Despite this wealth of information, we ordered glasses of prosecco. How predictable.
The place has had a bit of a facelift since I last visited. Starter was a pea soup, served with pea shoots, crusty bread and butter. This had a lot of flavour and was the perfect starter.
For main, I ordered the fishcake served with wilted spinach, poached egg and hollandaise. This was ok, but I don’t think prawns go well in a fishcake – they tend to come out a bit overdone and rubbery.
For pudding, I ordered the cheese – a generous plate with oat crackers.
I generally recommend the Living Room. It is a chain, but this doesn’t prevent it from serving good food from a menu that gets updated now and then. Service is always polite and friendly.
