 FIRST impressions last, and from the moment we first made our impressions on the comfy sofas in Llandudno's newest bar, we knew they would last. We could feel the tensions of a hard day's work evaporate as we tried out as many dictionary definitions of the word "lounge" as possible. Lounge, in a prime spot at the pricier, top end of town, is located in the building that used to house the popular Gresham pub which became U Bar and Wicked Wolf - neither of which seemed to become a regular fixture on Saturday night pub crawls. But Lounge appears to be pretty successful at competing with nearby eating/drinking haunts, the Fat Cat and Fountain Bar. With soft lighting, art deco design and the relaxed ambience of a metropolitan wine bar, Lounge has triumphed where its predecessors failed. With a state-of-the-art big screen complemented by the aforementioned comfy sofas, the place is also perfect for whiling away time on a Sunday afternoon watching Premiership football, or supping a quiet few pints while enjoying Christina Aguilera videos on MTV. So we thought it would be the ideal place to go for some top-notch nosh. As we perused the menu, salivating at the prospect of beer-battered cod, the lounge burger topped with bacon, mushrooms and melted cheese and a range of paninis and Italian ciabatta sandwiches at under £4, we were conscious the clock was ticking. Lounge only serves food until six, so at quarter to we had to be quick. But we were always asking for trouble ordering a full three courses 15 minutes before the chef was closing his kitchen. We decided to share a lounge combo between four of us as a starter - a plateful of barbecued chicken ribs, chicken yakatori, spicy breaded chicken balls, filled potato skins and garlic bread served with barbecue sauce. And just to prove you can never tire of too much exotically-flavoured chicken, we also ordered some chicken tikka skewers with lightly curried mustard. Our starters were delicious, but unfortunately the hors d'oevres were to prove the highlight of the evening, at least from a culinary point of view. Steve's chilli con carne was the first to arrive, and the rest of us applied ourselves with instantly revitalised vigour to his nachos, only to find they were stale. His rice, meanwhile, was dry and still stuck together in the shape of a boil-in-the-bag packet. | 
