21

Fantastic food great produce friendly staff five stars

Overall eating at Cafe 21 is always a good experience. However on this occasion one of us needed gluten free food because of a medical necessity, not a life style choice. I did mention this when booking and when confirming the booking. It seemed to come as a surprise - there are minor adjustments that could be made such as using cornflour for sauces and soups, having a range of GF breads and ensuring dishes could be adapted. I note you have a vegetarian/vegan menu, which in the end is a lifestyle choice. I love coming to the restaurant and have no complaints, but some attention to GF food, would be appreciated.
Also I am aware that some people are extremely sensitive to gluten and need to have food made in the right environment, which is not the case with my friend.

Really good food, excellent service, just what you would expect from a restaurant of this quality.

21 is without doubt the very best restaurant in Newcastle and possibly within the UK as I use it often and the quality of food, service and ambience matches anything I have experienced within my UK and World travels.

As usual an excellent night at Café 21 wit the food and service being of its usual high quality This really is the best place to eat in Newcastle and we will be back again

Very disappointed, poor value for money. The restaurant was crammed full, and it was reflected in the food quality. The ribeye was worth about £15, not £ 30; my Wife's halibut was under, and, its the first time I've ever had a chocolate soufflé, where the server pours the chocolate from a small jug into a whole in the top of the pudding! Can't fault the service though.

I went with 7 friends to celebrate my birthday. We had the 3 course early evening menu.
I could not fault it and every course was delicious. There was empty plates all round.
Our waiter was friendly and attentive.
One of my friends is a chef and noticed the kitchen was spotless and the staff happy and relaxed - the sign of a good kitchen!

Excellent food and service as always, only slightly off putting note was the volume and choice of music, bit too loud and not great tracks

The food was excellent as usual and the staff and Service was very good. 5*

Exceptional food as always the best restaurant in Newcastle

From entering to exiting you are made to feel special without service being in your face it fake. The cocktails are amazing the food is too die for, top quality. First visit and certainly won't be our last.

It was our first time at 21 and we were very impressed by both the food and service. The cheese soufflé was superb and fillet steak exceptional. A real treat. Would be happy to return.

We really enjoyed our visit, the food was excellent quality and the service very sound. We particularly liked the cheese and spinach souflett.

Excellent food, the cheese souffle was gorgeous followed by venison. The wine selection covers a great range at a reasonable price. One of my favourite places in Newcastle.

Great food and excellent staff. We all had a lovely time.

Had a lovely meal with my husband and six year old daughter .Great service and delicious food. Thank you 🤗

Great service
But thought range as steaks all being salt aged were too salty for our taste...could be a range with some dry aged to suite more pallets. Not keen on the 10% service charge as for two our service charge was £15...this time we booked as a couple but imagine paying £60 service as usually eight if us out dining...it did say optional but not a fan adding these charges

One of the best restaurants I have ever eaten in. The food and service were outstanding.

Lovely round table, nice surprise with birthday cake/candle, gorgeous food beautifully presented and cooked, service very good, nice ambience...nice buzz about the place. Def recommend.

Fantastic restaurant with exceptional food and service

A truly perfect dining experience in every way. The food and wine were of the very highest standard.

Great food and value for money with the set lunch.
Lighting is perhaps a tad too bright.
My only real gripe is their automatic adding of a top on the bill.

Today my Sister in Law had a meet and greet with her 3 week old Nephew.

We have as a family always loved 21 !

It was a wonderful day with fabulous food and service.

It could have been only improved by one small thing... baby changing facilities.

Perhaps you think that families with babies wouldn’t visit your restaurant, but we will keep coming irrespective of the small inconvenience.

Firstly, we were not rushed post arrival and were kindly offered the opportunity to settle with a drink at the bar, first (very curtious).

Food:
We both had the Scallops which was inventive and cooked (steamed) to perfection in a clam shell however I would have aimed for a little more flavour in there with the clams, perhaps one more ingredient to help truly bring out the best of the dish. Then again, upon reflection, I should have asked for them to be done the way I personally love them, pan-fried/grilled.

For mains, my fianceé chose the Partridge which was cooked very well however tough (understandably) in minor parts. For myself, the Salted Hymalayan Fillet Steak - never had a steak cooked so well (I can honestly say); I asked for 'medium'.

Finally, we were too full for desert as we ordered two sides as well (Creamed Spinnach and Seasonal Veg) so asked to sit in the lounge where we were not hassled or rushed to pay our bill.

Overall, lovely evening although I will say, the staff seemed to ask the right questions (general 'banter') but did not seem to care much about actually conversing with their irregular guests (the staff who served us, at least).

My first visit to Cafe 21 and found it very enjoyable, the staff were very pleasant and most helpful. We had one hiccup the day before our booking telling us our reservation was cancelled. Luckily I did check with the restaurant for confirmation, and they confirmed that our reservation was ok. This caused a bit of stress after receiving this message, as we had booked for a birthday celebration. Not sure why this happened. Trust to say apart from this we will look forward to visiting Newcastle in the future and look forward to booking Cafe 21 again.

Great food and great service as always

This was an outstanding meal even for 21. Fish soup was superb, my venison was excellent

Fabulous food and service, 21 keeps it's high standard

Super atmosphere and a really good venue for a celebration.
A very comprehensive wine list featuring some stunning wines from around the globe.
Bread was excellent flavour and proved ideal for mopping up the sauces of both starter and main course
Starter of lobster ravioli was succulent and sweet and the accompanying sauce was rich and well balanced as it complimented the sweetness of the ravioli.
The venison was cooked to perfection beautiful flavour and so so tender. An art in itself to cook it just so. The accompanying assortment of fruit and veg again balanced the venison.
A fabulous meal worth every penny.

Amazing food, wonderful service. Would thoroughly recommend.

Lovely , lovely food . The early bird menu is very good value, the main menu a bit pricey but worth it for such lovely food. I have marked service down only because 4 people who served us were excellent, but one waitress was just not nice.

The front of house was excellent. Full and prompt attention from the second we walked through the door. At one point there were 5 staff waiting on us. The food was delicious especially the large cut chips...desserts to suit all tastes. Can’t wait to go again,, I was there 2 Saturdays in a row !

We are regulars at 21 and the reason is simple - great food and service, an excellent wine list and, if you choose the early evening menu, outstanding value. We have never been disappointed in over twenty visits.

My wife’s birthday lunch shared with my son and daughter-in-law. We (mostly) choose different dishes but we’re all equally pleased with the very high standard of cooking (delicious), presentation and service - a great time was had by us all!!

Having used this restaurant before I felt sure it would be suitable for a special occasion. It seems standards have changed since my last visit.

My first course was a soufflé that was rather bland. The main course was moroccan lamb with couscous and aubergine.

The quality of the meat used was poor. A rather old lamb I think, and tough. The couscous was not cooked correctly and the herbs used had been overdone. I have had similar dishes in the past and this was very below an acceptable standard. I tried to eat some but my plate was taken away with 90% of the food remaining.

I was disappointed that the serving staff never enquired as to why my food was virtually untouched.

We declined the final course. My wife had the fish cakes as a main. Totally unforgettable she said.

The wait between courses was in just too long. I noticed other tables suffering long waits.

Sorry to say I would not recommend this restaurant unless the food and service improve.

It has been a couple of years since our last visit to 21, and the experience wasn't as good. The room is comfortable and well decorated. The meal started well in the usual tight well run restaurant. My wife ordered a lamb dish which when it arrived was very rare. She asked for it to be cooked more to her liking. At the time this was being done I was left with my meal dining alone. Had either of us ordered a steak we would have been asked how we would like the meat cooked, but the we weren't given an option as to how the lamb was going to be cooked. As our main courses were getting finished so were our drinks. We we never asked if we would like anymore drinks. When we did finish our mains the plates were removed in the usual timely manner. After some time we were asked if we would like to see the menu for deserts. We did. Time dwindled on and then eventually we were asked again if we were waiting for deserts. Sadly we informed the staff that we hadn't been given any menus. By this time, the moment had passed we disappointingly only asked for the bill. We left feeling underwhelmed.

We visit 21 around once per month,
This evening was busy but was one of the best we have had as a family of four
We chose the early bird menu. It never fails.

Heard about this restaurant from a friend, and we were really pleased we followed his advice, what a great restaurant, from the moment we arrived we greeted by friendly and professional staff, the food was amazing the wine was excellent, overall we had a fantastic time and I would definitely recommend this restaurant..

I took my wife as part of her 50th birthday celebrations as we hadn't been to 21 before and it was the only higher end resturant in Newcastle that we hadn't tried. The booking site asked 'is it a special occasion' and i answered 'birthday' which was one of the options and added a comment saying it was a 50th and asked for a good table if possible. There was absolutely nothing done in response to this so why bother asking the question? The food was very good as you would expect from the price. The service however, was very basic and detracted from the offering. I think that the automatic adding of the tip (it says discretionary but most will feel compelled to pay so as not to make a fuss - like i did) means that the staff don't have to work for the tips. There are rival restaurants who do great food but back it up with great service. I will be going back to those in future.

As soon as you walk into cafe 21 you feel special! Food was wow wow and even more Wow!
Starters Cheese soufflé was to die for
Main course I opted for the monkfish with cashew nuts.....fantastic
Hubby opted for shoulder of beef with dumpling he gave it 10/10!
Will definitely go back sooner the better.