The Living Room
Farewell summer bites, hello comfort food
Healthy winter warmers arrive at The Living Room
You’ll be eagerly donning your fur coat, scarves and gloves and fully embracing all that winter has to offer with the launch of The Living Room’s new seasonal menu, maximising those short nights and dusky days with heart-warming and palate-pleasing dishes for meals out that are both affordable and exciting.
With an eye on popular trends in eating out, the menu has been redefined to ensure that The Living Room’s culinary offer is up-to-date, inspiring and tempting.
Seasonal ingredients, creative cooking and reasonable prices are core elements. Here’s an overview:
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Cooking for a crowd Group eating takes on a whole new meaning, with new sharing dishes added as a direct result of their popularity. The Deli board offers Prosciutto crudo, salami Milano, coppa, grilled vegetables, bocconcini mozzarella, olives, roasted red peppers and chunky tomato houmous with ciabatta. If summer holidays on the Mediterranean seem far flung memories, re-live the indulgence with Spanish tapas – albondigas, chilli & lime chicken wings, goats cheese, olive and oregano epanadas, paprika baby squid, marinated white anchovies and parsley and pickled green chillies.
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Wild or mild? One of the most exciting additions is the creation of different versions of one dish. Customers who eat out regularly often end up sticking with similar meals, so The Living Room has come up with a way for them to enjoy their favourites, but with a new twist. For example, there has always been a daily soup on offer, but now there will be a Classic (mild) version and a Gourmet (wild) version. This means all palates and tastes can enjoy a similar dish, whether the preference is for subtle and smooth flavours or something a bit more spicy or unusual.
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Mix your own Taste variations enable you to customise your meals as you wish. For example – have your mussels of the day with cider and bacon or even chorizo and tomato. Swap your sticky beef salad for sticky halloumi. The new menu is less restrictive and more adaptable – ideal for those with particular tastes.
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Veggie power With 3% of the population being vegetarian and a rapidly growing number of people making a conscious effort to eat less of it, meat-free diners cannot be ignored. The value of the vegetarian market has more than doubled over the last few years, demonstrating that more and more Brits are turning to meat-free food. Those who avoid meat often lament their limited options at restaurants, so The Living Room has created a new, tailored section just for them. Many of the main course dishes can be customised as vegetarian options, and there is also a whole new selection of delightful offerings, including butternut, sage and Stilton risotto (available as a starter or a main) and celeriac and spinach layered pasta with a porcini mushroom dressing.
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Home comforts Hearty dishes that are perfect for warming up on a chilly evening. With the nights set to draw in and weather becoming colder, these home comforts are tasty and filling. Try Lamb and black pudding hot pot with braised red cabbage or Beef and Old Speckled Hen ale pie with mash and gravy.
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Make your meat your own Steaks have also been given the special treatment, with a greater range of sauces and flavoured butters to enhance and add an interesting flavour to the fine cuts of meat.
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Sandwiches with style The Living Room has revamped its offerings for the hungry lunchtime market too, with a new range of chunky sandwiches made with fresh doorstop bread and packed full of premium fillings. Selections include Grilled vegetables, pesto and mozzarella, Smoked chicken, avocado and basil and West Country Cheddar with fig and damson chutney, and all sandwiches are served with homemade vegetable crisps.
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Nostalgic puds To finish the meal, traditional desserts are served with a twist, such as Black Forest chocolate trifle with griottine cherries and Rum and raisin crème brulée.
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Speedy lunch Items that are speedier to deliver are highlighted in the lunchtime Express Menu, ensuring that customers on a short timeframe can take advantage of the express service, no quality compromise. The Living Room promises that the customer will be in and out within an hour if they select these options from the menu.
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A Table D’Hote The Living Room will also be offering new fixed price menus featuring a selection of the A la carte dishes. Quality fixed-price dining means better value for customers who want a quick but delicious meal to see them through the long commute after work, or something to keep them going for a night at the theatre. There is also the opportunity to take advantage of the nibbles during the Signature menu operational hours (please check website for details).
The Living Room W1's Head Chef Mark Dransfield says, “Our new menu is an exciting fusion of seasonal elements and old favourites revisited with a contemporary twist.”
Mark's favourites include Tandoori sea bass on Bombay potatoes with a spiced coriander, mango and yoghurt sauce and Pork T-Bone with potato and apple gratin, sage and red wine sauce (full recipe below).
Pork T-Bone with Potato and Apple Gratin and a Light Sage and Red Wine Sauce (Serves 4)
Sauce
Ingredients
1 Shallot, cut into thin slices
140ml Water
2 Chicken wings (3 joint), (or a good quality chicken stock mixed with 140ml of water)
10ml Balsamic vinegar
5ml Extra virgin olive oil
Half a clove of fresh garlic, finely chopped
140ml Red wine
10g Redcurrant jelly
140ml Fresh beef stock
8g Fresh sage, remove leaves from stalk and finely chop
80g Unsalted butter
Small sprig of thyme, remove leaves from stalk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method – Make the red wine sauce base first.
1) Warm the oil in a saucepan and brown the chicken wings thoroughly on all sides, this will take approximately 10 minutes. If using water and chicken stock, heat and continue as below.
2) Add the shallot and garlic and cook gently for 5 minutes
3) Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce by half
4) Add the red wine, thyme and redcurrant jelly and reduce by three quarters
5) Season the sauce with salt and pepper
6) Add the beef stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes
7) Add the water and simmer for 10 minutes
8) Check the seasoning, pass through a fine sieve into a shallow container
9) Leave to cool
10) Once cooled remove any fat from the top
To finish – Create the final sauce using the rest of the ingredients
1) Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and sage and cook until soft, but without colouring
2) Add the red wine sauce base and bring to a gentle simmer
3) Set aside and keep warm until ready to serve
Apple and Potato Gratin
Ingredients
500g Green apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
1kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices
280ml Double cream
12g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
3 Cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1) Line a large deep baking tray with greaseproof paper
2) Mix the Parmesan cheese, garlic and cream together and season with salt and pepper
3) Place the potatoes and apples separately into two large bowls
4) Add half the Parmesan cheese, garlic and cream mixture to each bowl and coat the apples and potatoes thoroughly
5) Layer the sliced potatoes and apples in alternate layers in the baking tray
6) Pour any excess Parmesan cheese, garlic and cream mixture over the potatoes and apples
7) Top with a sheet of greaseproof paper
8) Wrap the top tightly with tin foil
9) Place in a pre-heated oven at 150°c and cook for approximately 2 hours. The potatoes should give little resistance when pierced with a knife
Pork T-bone steak
Ingredients
4 Pork T-bone steaks
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the pork T-bone with the pepper
Grill the pork T-bones until cooked through
To serve
1) Pre-warm 4 plates
2) Place one pork T-bone on each plate
3) Cut the gratin into four portions and place one on each plate
4) Pour the sauce over the pork T-bones
5) Enjoy!
The Living Room Tower Bridge is located at Unit 1 Tower Bridge House, St Katherine Docks, London, E1W 1AA. Tel: 0207 702 4210
The Living Room London W1 is located at 3-9 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BD. Tel: 020 7292 0570.
About The Living Room – A collection of unique restaurants and bars, The Living Room offers an abundance of choice with a wide range of high quality food and drink choices brought to the table with an award-winning level of service. An extensive À la carte menu is supplemented by monthly chef’s plates with regionally inspired dishes created using fresh, local produce.
With comfortable, stylish restaurant spaces and modern, relaxing bar areas, The Living Room is designed to make you feel at home at any time of the day – be it a light lunch, family meal or private party. Known for its live music from the iconic baby grand piano and eclectic cocktails, find out more at www.thelivingroom.co.uk.