The Mezzanine is the on-site restaurant that provides an excellent option for pre-show dining at G Live for a few select events. The restaurant can be located on the second floor, at the front of the building and provides an uncomplicated menu, full of locally sourced food that is sure to compliment your entertainment for the evening.
The Décor
The first thing that strikes you about the Mezzanine is how fantastically well illuminated the dining area is. The glass façade that provides the stunning exterior to G Live also acts as a boundary for the restaurant and gives diners a cool and bright place to enjoy their food. G Live is intrinsically a sleek and modern venue and the Mezzanine is very much in that mould with dark wooden furniture that mirrors the clean and crisp interior décor. Let’s also not forget the vantage point on offer which provides a marvellous view of the upper High Street and certainly adds to the whole dining experience.
The Menu
So the menu itself combines a variety of locally sourced ingredients to produce a simplistic offering of five reasonably priced starters, six mains and five desserts as well as some nibbles, sides and a cheeseboard. This stripped back style means you don’t waste hours making a decision on what to order which is good news when you are on a timescale.
To start, there is an option of soup of the day with crusty bread, as well as creamy garlic mushrooms on sourdough, Thai style fishcakes alongside homemade sweet chili (as is fashionable to do nowadays) and a smooth chicken and wild mushroom terrine, complimented delicately by an onion and mustard chutney. The final option is the spiced lamb kofta, presented on wooden skewers with a delicious mint yogurt dip that beautifully offsets the spices in the meat- a classic combination worthy of recommendation.
As part of the main plates, there are three traditional British dishes that will warm the heart; homemade sausage (from local butchers, ‘The Joint’) with mustard mash & onion gravy, Hogs Back beer battered cod, layered on a generous amount of pea pureé with tartare sauce and triple cooked chips and an 8oz beef burger with chorizo relish and a brioche bun, also with triple cooked chips (which are well worth trying with the tangy homemade ketchup).
On top of this there are also three more exotic options starting with the falafel with greek salad and tzatziki in pita bread (which is a great choice for vegetarians), followed by chicken in a white wine velouté sauce with a spring vegetable medley and a carrot & star anise pureé. On top of the price list at £18 is the deliciously tender Moroccan lamb rump in a tomato and aubergine sauce, served with a ramekin of jewelled couscous (as pictured).
And to finish it all off, a coffee alongside a homemade chocolate brownie, a baked vanilla cheesecake, rhubarb fool, white chocolate and passion fruit tart, or a selection of ice cream is a worthy finale.
The Reasons why it shouldn’t work!
The Mezzanine however, has a number of factors working against it. The kitchen, for example is on the bottom floor and so getting the food to your table on level two whilst maintain its heat is quite a challenge. The second major hurdle is to serve all the diners in a short period of time, without being rushed before the curtains are raised for the evening show.
G Live management have gone to great lengths to overcome the problem of keeping your food warm enough and have managed this by making use of a dumbwaiter. And no, a dumbwaiter is not an insulting term, rather the technical word for a small, freight lift that connects several floors and carries objects (like your dinner) instead of people. Certainly this has gone a long way to alleviating the problem.
The second major obstacle is in the timing. There is very little the kitchen and waiting staff can do in regards to serving a three course meal to patrons unless you arrive with enough time before the start of the show. If you want to relax and enjoy your food without worrying about timings, the best suggestion is to book a seating time that allows you that luxury.
However, if you do run out of time or simply want to take a little breather in between courses, then you can pre-order dessert and drinks which are then served to your table in the interval. This is G Live’s way of accepting that not everyone has time after work to sit and eat three courses before a show starts, but means there is no reason to miss out; a really nice touch.
The Verdict
There are a variety of different options at the top of town for pre-show dining, but The Mezzanine is as good as any. You have the convenience of the restaurant being right next to the auditorium, combined with top notch service provided by the friendly and helpful staff. The menu provides enough options and is continually being updated and improved upon, not to mention incorporating locally sourced ingredients. If you haven’t been up to The Mezzanine yet, then you should give it a try sometime soon- it’s certainly a worthy dining option before your night of entertainment at G Live and you surely won’t be disappointed.
James Martin