The Living Room (W1)

Very rude manager. Currently trying to make contact with their head office to formalise my complaint. An otherwise enjoyable afternoon was ruined by this under trained 'manager', over a comparatively minor bill discrepancy. She was very unprofessional, ill-mannered and accusatory - resulting in us not paying the 12.5% tip - which was more than the discrepancy.
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Aruan
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 6
Monday, August 04, 2008

So nearly perfect but just missed out in the details.

Lovely Ribeye, great flavour and cooked to perfection. Chips looked fab but were slightly undercooked and a little hard.

Roasted Winter Squashes with chestnuts sounds fantastic and the flavour again was good but the squash was hard, undercooked and so just missed the mark and the point of having squash cooked in this manor.

Wine was quaffable and affordable. The place, bright, intimate and buzzy with that lovely romantic view over Heddon St. We both felt we could be sat in Paris or New York, not just 2 mins away from tourist hell Piccadilly.

I'll be going back, theres a lot more on the menu I wanted to try!
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Emma H
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 05, 2008

I went there for a saturday night out and everything was great. The food was superb and the chef "Raymond Fulton Corrie" (according to the menu) has a great eye for food. The menu is great with everything you would need for a variety and selection for every palette.

Bar staff are excellent and even though the wait was a bit longer (saturday night so it is understandable) the bartender gave me a quick smile and told me he was going to be with me when he could, which so many bartenders in the west end do not do). Just allowed me to relax while waiting (also did a great Tom Cruise impression).

The waiter was brill, ubobtrusive yet attentive, and kept our glasses topped up perfectly. Even had the bill waiting for me to ask for it!!!! (so many places get that wrong)

Overall, great place, great bar, great food and great service, appalling manager!!!!!!
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Jo Nightly
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Very simple - we had our Christmas lunch at The Living Room this week. The service was fine, the location was good and the bar/restaurant itself is lovely inside. It is just so unfortunate that the food is TERRIBLE. I don't know who the chef is, but I would be ashamed to send out the kind of food we received at our table - and this wasn't anthing complicated.

Such a shame as in a location like that it could be a real money spinner for food as well as drinks.

I will not be returning.
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Jack
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, December 08, 2007

Went here for the first time on Saturday after a matinee and a few drinks. Arrived at 8pm without booking and despite the place being full they managed to fit us in. The service was excellent throughout and the tuna and scallops to die for. The pinot was also very good.

The music and atmosphere added to the evening, which was unrushed and comfortable. We would recommend this restaurant and defy anyone not to find something on the menu. The ladies toilets are also something to see, but ask directions :-)

All in all a fantastic evening, a fantastic meal and we will be going back.
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Dee - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

I have been to this restaurant many times, including hosting a couple of 10+ lunch parties. It's no good expecting gourmet food, which is invariably reasonable, a bit pricey perhaps, but not excessively so. I think the people who complain about the service have been extremely unlucky; for me and my guests, the service by charming and knowledgeable staff is a particular strong point. We have found that complaints were quickly and efficiently dealt with.

I lunched there on 23 October with a guest, and the above comments applied equally to this most recent visit as to previous visits. I am going again at the end of the week, with another guest who chose the venue, based on her previous experience. I am looking forward to it.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Great interior! Very chic and modern! Food average. Service average.

I arrived at 12:30pm and despite them being open since 10am (and empty) I had to walk up and down the bar before one of the gaggle of staff approached after my 2nd obvious eye contact - not a great welcome!

I left my coat on the chair next to me expecting to be asked if I would like it taken to the cloakroom - this was not done although it was for many others in the restaurant!

Service was ok. Slightly over attentive after the poor welcome. Had fish and chips and mushy peas. It was ok. The fish had a few bones but was very tasty and white. The mushy peas serving was tiny but that was ok. The tartare sauce was a liquid rather a sauce - wasn't sure if this 'was the new thing' so didn't ask. Warm treacle tart and ice cream was good but could do with a bit more treacle for the taste.

Discretionary service charge automatically added. Seemed to be a hassle to remove but they were quite happy to receive my feedback.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Had dinner here on a Tuesday with a work group before attending Spamalot. We were a party of 7 total with myself and two others from the States and the others from London. All in all, we had a fantastic time. As others have stated, the food was quite good, but nothing over-the-top except for the "orgasmic" salmon, which I had and was absolutley tremendous!

What made it such a great evening though was the service which was extraordinary! Our server, whose name I can't recall, was the type of rare individual one encounters in life far too rarely -- someone who loves what she does and let's that enthusiasm pour out regularly. This petite tawny-haired beauty was a firecracker with an attention to detail and an ebullient charm which made us all feel quite welcomed. We all wanted to take her with us for the rest of the evening, selfishly robbing the other patrons!
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Fred Morales
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, September 15, 2007

My friend and I both had sweet corn soup for starters. It was really creamy and delicious!! One of the best soup I ever had! However main course was rather disappointing. My friend had Pork Belly and I had duck with a side order of Ceaser Salad. Pork Belly was hard, overcooked, and tasteless. Duck was better but I have so much better duck elsewhere for a similar price before. Ceaser salad just had too much dressing and it ruined the flavour of salad itself.

In total it was ok meal as we went for 50% off special offer. I would not want to pay full price for it though!!

I wonder if other dishes are any better. Place was quite noisy as we sat at the ground floor.

One good thing is that a lady serving us was very attentive and nice!
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Saya
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Friday, August 24, 2007

I booked a table for 21 people on a Saturday evening.

To cut a long story short, nice place to eat but overpriced pedestrian food with fantastic 5* service. Our bill was £800 and I'd paid £105 deposit before hand but on the night they were unable to find the £105 deposit I'd paid so I had to pay the full bill only to receive my credit card statement 2 days later with the £105 debited from it two days before our booking. Very poor admin and although their error was credited (very polite staff) after a few to and fro phone calls whilst they checked to make sure I wasn't making it up, I did have to create a stink in order for them to refund my credit card rather than send me a cheque! What is that all about? It really spoiled what was essentially quite a pleasant evening even though none of our party was bowled over by the food...but we did have a limited set menu.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, August 20, 2007