Twenty.One Kitchen and Bar

On Father's Day 2014, I wanted to do something special for my family, unlike the usual dinners and cakes we always had in the past. Since I am to leave soon, I planned to treat my family for a nice dinner. 

I looked up on the internet for some sweet dining places and I came across this restaurant that caught my eye. I did my homework and I found out that this restaurant won some pretty prestigious awards in the culinary business such as 'Best European Restaurant' and also had plenty of good reviews from blogs and feedbacks. 

First of all, I was disappointed about the location as I didn't expect it to be located on the 'busy streets of tourist's go-to-bars'. I let out a huge sigh when I stepped into the bar. It was way smaller than I thought and the interior design was just sad. Kept to a minimum, there was nothing much really. We were waited to an isolated table in the a corner, lighting was dim and space was limited.

Since I had the table reserved, it was sensible for them to lay out the menus proper and prim on each seat. We ordered 5 main courses, 1 cocktail, 1 dessert, 1 caffe latte and 1 appetizer.Plain water and two complimentary plates of appetizer- bread served with oil and crushed peanuts were provided. I found it to be vile, honestly. I couldn't tell what the oil was.

Bread with oil and crushed peanuts

Caffe latte

The caffe latte was mediocre. I am not a caffeine person. My brother did enjoy munching on the sugar cubes though.

I ordered a peach martini. I am not a fan of alcoholic drinks but this was bearable. I was pretty sure that cocktails have a higher content of alcohol than red wine but I was having the worst time trying to force red wine down my throat. It was probably due to the peachy flavour that neutralised the ghastly alcohol aftertaste. 

Peach martini

Pardon me for the incorrect dining sequence.

MAIN COURSES

 I wasn't impressed at all by the chicken tikka marsala and the English fish and chips. The fish was bland, typical, portion was too much, fries were too limp and the tartar sauce wasn't a winner either. The best dish was the green risotto and chicken. It had the right kick to it and the chicken was tender and well-seasoned, can anyone spell DELICIOUS? The mushroom risotto was pretty good too, a healthy option compared to other dishes as my dad was sick that day. Salmon was an okay for me but I had to give credits to its amazing plating. Definitely the most photogenic dish. Visually appealing, but the taste? Meh.

Chicken tikka marsala with shelled pasta, pickled kyuri and mint yoghurt sauce

Thai styled chicken with green risotto and spring onions

English fish and chips with tartar sauce

Mixed mushroom risotto with oyster mushroom tempura and crunchy parmesan crisps

Crispy skin salmon with a caper butter sauce, asparagus and potato croquette

APPETIZER

Of course we had to get nachos. I would say it was pricey considering that it was probably half a pack of nachos melted with mozarella cheese and topped with tomatoes and scallions. The minced chicken was too moist for my liking and too little to blend with the dry nachos. Nachos didn't have balanced seasoning either.

Nachos with melted cheese, jalapenos and minced chicken

DESSERT

I am a true sucker for desserts. This dessert was a let-down though. Portion was too small to meet the value. Wasn't even worth the try. 

Praline coated ice-cream with almonds

That concluded our visit to Twenty.One! Dinner was on me. A huge cut from my salary haha.

Verdict: 4/10
I am pretty sure you can find better bars.