The Living Room

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Slightly adrift from the hub of the city centre, this stylish bar and restaurant pulls in a mix of fashionable twentysomethings and corporate diners on expense accounts. It's dark and moody inside, the long rectangular space divided between cocktail bar and restaurant. Curving leather booths and red spotlights set the tone while soft jazz plays in the background. The large menu reads like a whistlestop tour of the world: Italian risottos, Peking duck, Thai curry and chicken teriyaki all feature, along with a 'home comforts' selection, which includes steak pie, fish and chips and burgers. Roast organic salmon, though large, can be a bit dry, accompanied with a mussel and saffron sauce. However, the goat's cheese tart is light and crisp, filled with sweet yet slightly salty cheese and smoked roast peppers that bring texture and taste. Talks are under way to allow individual branches of this national chain to offer more regionally distinct menus, which have been essentially identical in London, Birmingham, Manchester or Edinburgh.

• High point: Late dining
• Low point: Dishes don't always live up to their description