Restaurant Reviews

The Living Room – Eat and Relax

June 12, 2012
The recent opening of The Living Room at 30 Caroline Street has gotten a lot of people talking. Whether it’s their unique layout, different menu options or friendly staff, I like their swagger.

Grand Opening party is only a couple days away, and I thought it would make sense that I post this in a timely manner!

Let’s first look at the menu.

Living Room Menu

The format of the menu is trendy and hip, splitting the menu up by small plates, medium plates and large plates. This tapas style menu is created for people who like to share, or for people who are rich and stingy, either one.

Since I was with a group of 7, we chose to split things up and went with a variety of items. To begin, we ordered the Charcuterie Plate, with house cured duck breast, port rillette, rabbit sausage, onion jam, baguette crostinis and a local cheese ($16).
Charcuterie Plate - The Living Room

The stellar presentation of this dish was achieved and I applaud the kitchen staff for their creativity. Each item on the plate definitely had something interesting going on, depending on what your palate likes and dislikes. I did try everything, even though when I eat duck it makes me think about all the ducks splashing around in Congress Park and well, I think you get the picture. This is definitely a go-to plate if you’re with 4 or less, otherwise you have to cut each piece into a tiny morsel.

Next up, the Green Apple and Chevre Pizza, topped with arugula and onion jam ($11).

Green Apple and Chevre Pizza

This pizza was fabulous. I’m always one to enjoy out of the ordinary pizzas and this definitely tops my list. The green apple provided a nice crisp sweet flavor where the chevre added a creamy/tangy texture. The arugula continued the party in my mouth, adding a sharp freshness and the onion jam complimented the above ingredients to finish it off.Okay so who loves mac and cheese? Maybe it’s better to ask who DOESN’T love mac and cheese? You’re in luck because the ultimate comfort food is also on the menu at The Living Room, made with three cheeses and topped with a cracker crust ($17).
Macaroni and cheese
Looks can be deceiving and while it looks like a small portion for the price, I promise it’s not. The three cheeses which I can’t remember for the life of me (shame on me, I know!) are blended so well together that you savor every last piece of the tender macaroni and it’s oh so worth it.

Finally, we went for the spinach shitake mushroom pizza, with grilled red onion, parmesan cheese and truffle oil ($11).

Mushroom Pizza

Sloppy picture, sloppy pizza. For me, this pizza was lacking in flavor which was somewhat disappointing. Out of the two, I’d definitely say the apple and chevre pizza is the expert choice.

OH right, and then there was dessert. Enter the chocolate bread pudding a la mode.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Although I’ve never been a huge fan of bread pudding, this may have changed my mind. This dessert was deliciously moist and chocolatey and the addition of the ice cream gave it a nice cold and sweet consistency. So so scrumptious.

Yes, The Living Room gets my stamp of approval.

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