...Café 21 is still easily one of the best places to eat in Newcastle. The flagship of five restaurants owned by local food hero Terry Laybourne (MBE no less), Café 21 has always flown the flag for the North East food scene, winning a multitude of awards, and even having a Michelin star at one point in it’s now twenty-fifth year. Celebrating Ms. Eats 29th birthday, we get on the cocktail train early and then go for a set lunch, £20 / 3 courses, which is definitely at the higher end of the scale for Newcastle, but 21 Group restaurants are the safest choice going - you know you are going to get assured quality, hence they have remained popular for so long. Having stopped chasing the Michelin man many years ago, and now billing itself as “a classic modern bistro…about eati
Café 21 is a real ‘grown up’ restaurant that is not trying to be anything clever. Simply high quality food and service… I can see why it had so many recommendations. Top place.
We visited 21 for a special occasion and had a marvellous evening. We started with excellent cocktails, French 75, which I found paired especially well with the oysters we ordered. We tried both the Sashimi and Tempura oysters and we loved them. The tomato ponzu gave the oysters a delightfully fresh zing while the oyster mayonnaise was very rich and full of umami. After the oysters we had the white asparagus with ham and truffle which was packed full of flavour. However the absolute star of our dinner was undoubtedly the Tournedos Rossini. The filet mignon was cooked precisely rare, as ordered, and it was beautifully seared on the outside and very tender and tasty on the inside. The seared truffle and foie gras gave the dish a luxurious richness which was perfectly offset by what tasted to me like mustard in the mashed potatoes which were smooth and buttery. The crown of potato crisps gave the dish an exciting crunch, which balanced the overall textures. Finally, the crouton under the steak tasted divine as it had soaked up the juices from the fillet and the Madeira sauce. I would certainly love to go back and try more of their menu and of course would recommend a visit
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