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The point about The Living Room is not that it is in any way better than anything else in Chester, but that until it opened there was nothing else like it. Nowhere else in the city combined a restaurant and a bar and served so late on such a scale and in such style. So it was only after it opened, at the end of 2003, that we realised that such a place could even exist. Now it is probably the venue of choice for those of us who see themselves as that little bit more hip, more discerning and more beautiful than the rest.
When it first opened, its owners - who made the unfortunate mistake of not letting a PR company do the job for them - announced that this would be the first bar in Chester that would be able to accommodate Premiership footballers and members of the Atomic Kitten pop group in the style they deserved and expected. They have only themselves to blame therefore, if our perceptions of this establishment were forever tainted as a result. Nevertheless it has to be said that an awful lot of people do come here. They come to be recognised and to be seen, especially by the kind of people who gather in The Living Room. For most, the evening involves milling around a fairly small bar in a galleried room, where a pianist plays some pretty duff music too loudly on a supercharged white grand piano. It's OK, not as posey as you might expect, but at weekends you will be drinking vertically whether you like it or not, so comfy shoes may be in order for the ladies.
Along one side of the establishment, looking out onto Godstall Lane, there is a restaurant. Upstairs, more tables cater for eaters and drinkers. The food has had a poor reception from Chester@Large readers to date and our own experience has been in line with this. The menu looks good on paper: starters, lunchtime specials, comfort food, main courses, sides and desserts. There is nothing technically advanced here, but the ingredients are interesting enough in a familiar kind of way. On our most recent visit though, a stack of thyme and garlic potato cakes, black pudding, bacon and fried egg would have been excellent had the potato cakes not been lumpy, the thyme and garlic more pronounced and the entirety a few degrees warmer. This has typified our experience: the menu asks little of the kitchen and the kitchen obliges by giving little in return. Stick to the simplest dishes to avoid disappointment.
Remarkably, for an enterprise still in its first year of life, there is a very noticeable mood of depression from the staff. Most look very scruffy, seem unable to smile or converse easily and appear to lack energy. We have never seen anyone here with an air of authority to take charge of things.
By way of a controlled experiment, we had the pleasure of a visit to Frankie & Bennie's on the retail park the day after our most recent visit. The service, the prices and the music were better at F&B's and the food wasn't that far behind.
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