7 Greek Street,
LEEDS,
LS1 5RW
(0113) 380 0930
The ViewLeeds Review
A feel-good kind of place, the buzz of the Living Room is Greek Street's shining star for those who enjoy good food and drink, and most importantly, a good old time!
The Venue
The Living Room in Leeds sits proudly on Greek Street and it is big. Four storeys in fact, catering for those who want to enjoy a relaxed tipple after work, sit down for a nice meal for two or drink and get on it till the early hours, all in a sophisticated manner of course.
It’s divided into different areas separated by places to drink and places to dine. The upper floors are set aside solely for diners and half of the ground floor, to the right as you enter, tucked neatly behind a baby grand piano.
There’s a bar area on the ground floor with leather club chairs, booths and high stools at the bar and a more intimate basement bar called the Mosquito which is open later in the evening on a Friday and Saturday (10pm till 2am).
Colonial-style sets the tone for the Living Room, using dark browns to complement the clotted-cream walls and big potted plants and Venetian blinds harking back to the glory days of the Empire.
Elegant black and white framed photos are everywhere adding to the personality of the place and creating a more intimate, homely environment; it’s also full of little nooks and crannies that make it perfect for an intimate night with a loved one.
The People
Nice places attract nice people, so the story goes. With such a beautiful interior and such crowd pleasers as a piano (with jazz singer most evenings) and an open fire, The Living Room does attract an older, wealthier crowd.
The bar in particular is full of wealthy businessmen and women flashing the cash and the obligatory pretty young things looking to flirt their way to a free drink. The restaurant is a little less calculated, entertaining big group parties, couples and families. The staff are relatively young and lively and are a little too cool sometimes to be dealing with ‘such fussy customers’.
The Food
The Living Room serves up well presented modern British food. Well mostly that is. There are a few dishes that creep in that could be described as English due to the sheer volume of Asian food we now eat, however the die-hard Yorkshireman is probably reeling in his seat when confronted with Peking duck with pancakes (£7.95) or Thai red curry (£10.95 vegetarian or £11.95 for chicken). In the chef's defence they are pretty authentic and tasty.
The menu is geared up for all events, whether it be a snack after shopping, a light lunch or a three-course dinner. It offers breads and small plates, starters, salads, lighter meals and sandwiches, the list goes on forever. All you need to know is that there’s definitely going to be something there for you.
There's also a 'home comforts' range which serves up more traditional fare (steak, ale and mushroom pie at £10.95). The roast shoulder of lamb with creamed potatoes and rosemary (£15.95) from the mains selection is another winner.
The Living Room knows how to please and the desserts are more along the same lines with rich, indulgent favourites such as chocolate fudge cake (£4.95) and sticky toffee pudding (£5.25) blowing the calorie count off the proverbial scale. Good food for all with enough wow-factor to keep you coming back.
The Drink
The selection of drinks on offer is something it's proud of, if for sheer volume alone. So much so it even goes as far as to giving the (relatively) brief history of the origins of gin, whisky and other favourites in its menu. Slightly pretentious and alarming as it would have to be a pretty boring date for you to turn to the history of whisky, wouldn’t it? This aside the Living Room does appear to know what it’s doing and it wants to shout about it.
Bottles of wine start at £12.95 with the confidently titled ‘world class reds and whites’ starting at £32.00. There’s plenty of Champagnes on offer (starting at £37.00 for a bottle), as you would expect alongside cocktails (a Singapore Sling £5.95, the perfect drink to suit the setting) and liqueurs in the bar. A full list of hot and soft drinks completes a comprehensive menu.
The Last Word
The Living Room confidently sets out its stall to offer you everything you want from an evening out in the way of sophistication and indulgency, and it delivers. A great place to escape to during the day too, when things are a little less crowded.
Living Room has been reviewed by 1 users