The recent opening of The Living Room on Caroline Street has gotten a lot of people talking. Whether it’s their unique layout, different menu options or friendly staff I’m not sure, but whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it right.
With their “grand opening” party this Thursday, I thought it would only be appropriate to write my thoughts down about the experience.
First off – menu:
As you can see, the format of the menu is pretty unique in that they split it up by small plates, medium plates, large plates and so on. At first glance, prices are pretty decent, but I quickly learned it totally depended on the meal you ordered. The purpose of the menu is to get diners to share meals, like a tapas menu but also offering single portions if you’re not so hungry (small plate) or you could eat a cow…(large plate).
Since I was with a group of 7, we all split things up and got a variety of items. Starting off, we ordered the Charcuterie Plate, with house cured duck breast, port rillette, rabbit sausage, onion jam, baguette crostinis and a local cheese ($16).
It’s obvious that a stellar presentation is the goal with this dish, and I’d have to say I think they knocked it out of the park. With that being said, 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).
Okay so who loves mac and cheese? Maybe it’s better to ask who DOESN’T love mac and cheese? The ultimate comfort food is also on the menu at The Living Room, made with three cheeses and topped with a cracker crust ($17).
Sure it looks like a smallish portion for the price, but these 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. Get this, no question.
Finally, we went for the spinach shitake mushroom pizza, with grilled red onion, parmesan cheese and truffle oil ($11).
OH right, and then there was dessert. Enter the chocolate bread pudding a la mode.
For someone who isn’t a huge fan of bread pudding, I gobbled this down. This dessert was deliciously moist and chocolatey and the addition of the ice cream gave it a nice cold compliment. So so good.
Well there you go fellow foodies, The Living Room has my stamp of approval. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think!
Thanks for this review. I haven’t stopped by The Living Room yet, but I will have to. I am a big fan of out-of-the-ordinary pizzas, too.
Thanks for commenting! If you like out of the ordinary pizzas, you definitely have to try The Living Room. Also, I don’t know if you’ve ever been but Village Pizzeria has some pretty outstanding and out of the ordinary pizzas as well. Take care!