The lovely folk at new Deansgate restaurant 3TwentyOne kindly invited me for dinner to sample their wares last night. The restaurant had a soft opening on Friday for friends and family and on Saturday it turns out the much maligned MCR foodie contigent were being offered up a sneak peak.
Myself and B rocked up a little early for our pre-dinner cocktail and a good nose around the place (which is situated above the Deansgate pub at the Castlefield end of Deansgate).
It has a great cocktail menu, taking it back to the basics with a decent selection on classics done well with top drawer spirits.
If there's one thing I love, it's a Martini and the 3TwentyOne signature Monkey 47 gin one here did not disappoint. A subtle hint of elderflower and with an orange peel twist it was fresh and clean and delicious.
A much more daring B chose a tall chili vodka and watermelon concoction that quite frankly nearly blew her head off. She liked it, I didn't. Let's move on.
The place is smart. Clean and shiny and new and ready to be enjoyed. The staff are all attractive and neatly turned out in their uniforms. It goes without saying that on only the second night of running the service is not going to be perfect, it felt a little young and lacking in confidence, but this will of course get better.
It has one of those open kitchens which I think are great for diners as it allows us to see what's going on but is less great for the staff, because you know that everyone can see what's going on and there's immense pressure to not balls anything up.
We ordered starters; big boy ribs for myself, these were mighty meaty pork ribs in a BBQ glaze. Really tasty and a very generous portion (for one so dainty) but annoyingly they were a little cold. I could've forgiven this for being intentional had it not been for my chum Sarah on the next table remarking that hers were piping hot all the way through when hers arrived. Alas, they had that intense well smoked BBQ taste and the meat peeled away from the bone and that for me wins it.
B, on the other hand had the BBQ king prawns and whilst the dish was pretty she said they lacked in any depth of flavour and were under-seasoned. Nice, but nothing to shout about.
The 8oz ribeye done medium-rare came in good time and with a side order of Bernaise sauce and the roasted balsamic candy beetroots. Although my immediate thought was 'it looks a little anaemic', once I'd taken my first bite I was pleasantly silenced. A beautiful steak. Yum. The candy beetroot was delightful too and a lovely surprise to see it on the menu.
There was a little apprehension for B as when she placed her order for the beef short rib she was asked how she wanted it cooked and replying "uhm, medium?" we both were unsure as to what she was going to be presented with... Thankfully, it came well done and falling off the bone, as a beef short rib should be. A beast of a piece of meat covered in a beautiful bourbon glaze. A side order of sweet potato fries arrived cold but once rectified were divine. Crisp, sweet, salty and moreish.
We both had dessert. A baked blackberry and vanilla cheesecake went down a storm with B and the English cheese selection for myself. To be honest, I was done in by the steak and if it hadn't been for peer pressure I would've happily called it quits with a coffee but, I'm not one to let my friends down and I powered through.
We both enjoyed our food and aside from the newby hiccups I see 3TwentyOne getting settled here.
Get yourself in for a good feed. They don't mess about with portion sizes and the menu is reasonably priced.
They have a pizza menu that I'd like a crack at some time soon too.
Lovely stuff.
