Eating Out: The Living Room

Oct 26 2011 By Tristan Stewart Robertson

The Living Room Image 3

Address: 150 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5NE Tel: 229 0607 Web: http://www.thelivingroom.co.uk/location/glasgow

YET another winter is sadly encroaching upon us, and if there’s one thing needed to combat it, then it’s warm food.

Urban eaterie The Living Room has launched a winter menu of what it calls “stodgy” food to warm the stomach and soul.

So the Glaswegian decided to check out what filling treats are on the new, and very lengthy list of culinary creations.

In fact, the only menu longer than the food one is the cocktails, running to a mere 75 different concoctions.

My friend and I started with strawberry cream and espresso martini cocktails (£6.95) which were somewhere within the mammoth list and thankfully the helpful staff knew what we were looking for, even if we couldn’t find them.

For starters, we both tried the scallops and cauliflower purée with mild curried oil and cauliflower crisps (£8.25), a tame and somewhat salty appetiser. We also tried a risotto.

Now, blue cheese in risotto (£4.95) is not a creation I would think of, and on its own, it wouldn’t work. But with the sweetness of the butternut squash, this is a unique starter worth trying, albeit a filling one.

As a main course, my companion went for the seafood linguine sauteed with chilli, garlic, white wine and baby plum tomatoes (£10.45). There wasn’t much left of this plate at the end.

For my turn, I went fo the coq au vin with parsley buttered new potatoes (£10.25). This was a rich dish, but not too much so and certainly well proportioned. If there’s still room for dessert, somebody’s done something right.

On to the rum and raisin crème brûlée (£4.75) and baked blueberry cheesecake with blueberry compote (£5.15). Both were delicious and we would be hard pressed to decide which we prefered.

As big as the menu is, it is a relaxed one. And as standard as the selections might appear at first glance, they far from ordinary, as the blue cheese creation easily demonstrates.

With an espresso (£1.60) and latte (£2) to complete our meal, we both felt sufficiently warmed against autumn outside. Give The Living Room’s winter menu a try for yourself and see what you find for the season.

Click here for your chance to win a meal for two at The Living Room.