The Living Room opened on Fox Street in Maboneng in 2014, on the roof of Hallmark House. The bar is interesting on its own terms — a rooftop garden full of plants in repurposed containers, low-amber lighting, a soundtrack heavy on local hip-hop and electronic — but most of what makes the visit work is the neighbourhood it sits in, and the neighbourhood's last fifteen years are the bar's actual context. Maboneng's renaissance, year by year.
The bar's cocktail programme is honest rather than ambitious — a Marabi Spritz (a Pinotage-and-rooibos variation), a Hallmark Mule (Cape brandy, ginger beer, lime), classics done well. The pricing is mid-range Johannesburg. The visit is for the rooftop and the neighbourhood as much as for the drinks; pair with dinner downstairs at Hallmark House or at one of the Fox Street restaurants.