21 on Rajah

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21 on Rajah is Singapore Halal Certified by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) and therefore, they do not serve pork, lard or alcoholic beverages. They offer daily buffets and an a la carte menu featuring Mediterranean and local flavours at affordable prices.We were here for their New Year Eve Dinner Buffet on 31st Dec 2014.Rock Salted Whole Salmon - I would like to highly recommend this big Salmon. I've tried many in different 5-star hotels, the meat was usually tough or slightly tender. But I'm surprised to find this super tender salmon that melts in the mouth at 21 on Rajah! Thumbs Up!Slipper Lobster “Singapore Chili Crab Style With Bun - This was the main dish of the night! The chili crab sauce was robust with succulent slipper lobster meat, perfect to dip the sauce with the buns provided! Yummy Yummy!!!This is from 1 of their Ala-Carte Menu: Slow-Baked Norwegian SalmonThis was the BEST cooked Salmon that you must order! It's not easy to cook a perfect salmon, it's usually over-cooked or totally tough. But look at the photo above, the salmon was cooked to perfection - Super Tender, definitely melts in your mouth!!!The chef controlled and monitored the temperature very well. 2 words to describe this dish "Perfect" & "Awesome!" And not forgetting the Buttered Mashed Potato & Mustard Sauce provided, it's heavenly matched with the Salmon together. Thumbs Up for this Great Main Course!We were here for 3 times (Tried their Ala Carte menu, Normal Day Buffet, as well as the recent New Year Eve Dinner Buffet). To be honest, there wasn't any disappointment at all during the 3 visits. The food quality was quite constant. Most of the food were between average to above average, probably only 1 or 2 was below average. Desserts were decent - Need to improve..Overall, we enjoyed the food here very much! Good quality food in a spacious and vibrant restaurant at affordable prices! (Don't expect wide variety of food here at such prices) The service from the young servers were average, but the service from the manager was top notched!For full review and photos, please visit:http://summerlovestoeat.blogspot.sg/2015/01/new-year-eve-dinner-buffet-at-21-on.html continue reading

Valentine's Day was just no normal day especially when it was make special by the man who took additional effort to make an advance booking in 21 on Rajah which is nestled in Days Hotel of Balestier.Known for its modern architecture showcasing its Mediterranean cuisine and Singapore local favourites alike, the atomsphere of their dining environment tells us more. The use of color and design of interior was soothing and calm, hanged with cages from the ceiling, looking creative.As we were about 45 minutes earlier than our appointment, the restaurant looked quite empty on such a big day like this but as the sky darkens, the place gets more and more crowded.Here's the Valentine' Day Set Dinner for Him And Her exclusively prepared by 21 on Rajah for this special day. A 4-courses fine dining meal for the dine with a slight difference in menu for its main courses.Besides the presents and bouquet I had received on 14th Feb, 21 on Rajah had actually given a stalk of rose for every couple dined in and with a candle lit up, enhancing the romancing night throughout the meal.While waiting for the courses to be served, breads were giving with a tangy spread which reminds me of those tomato pasta sauce. Served in a wooden tray, these breads were warm and fluffy, filled with lots of air pockets.A complimentary drink from the restaurant to us, two cups of tasty blended strawberry smoothies that lends a nice gritty texture from its seeds on the smoothly blended ice. What's more, we had a slice of strawberry placed at the side of the glass which packed more romance into the air.Starring the first course, Poached Egg with Soy Marinated Beef Carpaccio and Salted Seaweed as our appetizer. This combination was a perfect start and totally rock my socks off.Clam Broth with Dashi, Pinto Beans and Cabbage soup was next in menu that caught us by surprise. Ingredients were placed on the plate first followed by hot tasting soup filled to its brim by the helper. Come with hints of lemon grass and the broth was sweet with lots of fresh clams included.For him, we had slow cooked beef cheek with horseradish, miso chive mashed potatoes,braised Daikon and Lotus Root for the main course. Though the sauce and sides tasted great, I find that the beef was just too soft. It tasted close to the texture of beef stew whereby one bite of it would have tore it apart without much effort.For her on the menu is the miso coated Halibut with braised Leek and Mussels in Kombu Broth. Presented with a foamy outlook, the food tasted fresh especially its mussels and Halibut stacked up by a bed of barley pearls . My expectation of the main courses were high especially when the sides were out of my expectation. However, I felt that it was a letdown due to that it was too salty for me.The wait between the dishes were rather long even for their dessert which we thought could have be prepared before hand. Thus we had requested for the bill upon having our last course but we still we were forgotten.Nevertheless, the desserts were delicately prepared and tasted average to sum up our dinner.Despite having the in-charge apologizing for the long wait in between the meals, I still feel that they could actually do better. My observation throughout was that the team was still quite "raw" in handling such crowd and some even required the In-Charge to walk him/her to the customers' table to serve the food. Professionalism was abit lacking and just for 4 simple courses meal, it took us 2 hours plus to complete though we were there earlier. continue reading

Remember the previous contest? Well, my boyfriend won a stay cation at days hotel with a buffet lunch. Well, this is buffet is so special. They had a special corner where guests are allow to mix their own alcoholic drink. Their manager went around each table and ensure the food met the expectation of the customers. their food was nice, I particularly like the dessert sections, although there wasn't many choices. Is really awesome! The clay fish was a little not fresh but the way cook are able to cover the fishy smell! The price is less than $40 for lunch during weekend, which I think is quite worthy. continue reading

I don't know why some reviewers have said the choices are not extensive. I have no idea how big these people tummies can be, for there was more than enough variety here. I was so full I couldn't even try a few items!So don't be put off by people who say there isn't much extensive variety, there's plenty here at their Sunday Brunch. First off, their cold meats (esp the peperoni) and prawns (and oysters which i avoid because i don't like the taste) are just succulent beyond belief! They offer a range of breads for you to cut yourself like foccaccia and wheat, and rolls too (the breads were sooooooooooooo fresh and flavourful, you'd be hard pressed to stop and not fill up on them!) - and olive oil that make an excellent dip for the bread, coupled with the fresh and huge jumbo prawns - and the accompanying sauces such as thousand island and ranch - I was in complete heaven!The seafood lasagne was so delicious, and so was the roasted lamb - although i love having lamb with mint jelly but they had gravy instead. It was still delicious. The seafood tossed in wine sauce was also wonderful. The beef goulash was simply captivating in taste, and I liked the different cheeses and crackers available there too.There was a live pasta and egg station, but I was already so full I had to skip the pasta station, and I ordered an egg but only had a two mouths of it before I had to call it quits - my tummy can only take so much food! LOL!Other dishes there that I only took a bite of include chicken in tomato base, roasted chicken, sea bass, and butter rice, - all were not bad. Also, I don't like salmon but my sister had both the fresh one and smoked one and said both were delightful - the salmon actually is presented as the whole fish! I also didn't take any veggies except for one grilled tomato, as I had to save room in my stomach, so can't comment on those but my friend enjoyed the salad/veggie stuff a lot. My friend also had the mushroom soup and said it was divine - i had no more space by that time for anything else so didn't try!The only dish that was a bit disappointing was the dry cous cous that wasn't flavourful at all.As for dessert, the chocolate cake stole the show! Rich and creamy, I wish i wasn't so full for i could only afford a small sliver of this by the end, but it was simply great! The panna cotta shots were also tasty - light and refreshing, it was the perfect dessert after a heavy meal. There is also a chocolate fountain with accompaniments such as marshmallows, biscuit fingers, waffles, etc - I only dipped one biscuit finger into the choc fountain and didn't find this very tasty, sadly. But my sister and friend had the small cakes and custard protiferoles and said they were very good. I loved the mini chocolate eclair! I had only one cos by this stage nothing else could enter my tum-tum, but it was absolutely amazing!Drinks wise, there is coffee, tea, two types of juices - all of which I didn't have. I instead had cold water and plenty PLENTY servings of the alcoholic sangria - they have free flow of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic sangria. My sister and friend said the alcoholic one was so watered down they wondered if they labelled it wrongly and maybe it was non-alcoholic. Maybe I haven't drunk in a long time - (I had one glass of wine in March 2013 and before that the last time i drank was in March 2012!) - but the alcoholic sangria was working on me!!! It was so refreshing and i drank a lot, and my head was starting to feel ozzy. So to me the sangria was working fine! LOL!In the light of me going to other restaurants that had excellent food all the way, I would say 21 on Rajah had quite a lot of excellent food, such as those I described above (can't stop thinking of the bread and jumbo prawns and peperoni, plus the beef goulash and seafood lasagne), however some dishes were not bad, but didn't blow me away. So it wasn't exactly a 100% hit for me, but I would rate it as say 80%, so for me i rated it 4 stars out of 5 for this reason. So whilst some would say 80% is worth 5 stars, to me the math says 4 stars, so thought i better give it a grade/percentage so you know what I really mean. This restaurant certainly is an A-, about 80% or 80/100 in grade/marks. And that's good enough for me to say i will certainly be back, and will try the dishes i had no room for the last time. Also, at 40 bucks, this is really a value for money buffet on Sunday, when most restaurants that serve weekend buffets are extravagantly priced! The ambiance of the restaurant is also great - there is air con, plenty of seating, and the seating is spaced far enough that you're not elbowing the other table. The sun shines in as it's on the ground floor, and the white walls with paintings and bright turqoise bowls stuck on the walls make it a very relaxing place to dine. In addition, the service is excellent! The wait staff is polite, smiling, friendly, warm and always ready to get you what you need - excellent indeed!!So for this price, ambiance and great food, 21 on Rajah is simply an excellent choice! continue reading

I called last night to inquire if I needed to make a reservation (for two) and they said yes so I did. We arrived and the place was empty - maybe two tables in a very large dining room (red flag #1). The place is beautifully decorated but we noticed right away that the room was warm and stuffy and needed to have more air conditioning (red flag #2). We specifically wanted to eat here because we read a great review in the newspaper (My Paper - 27/5/2013). We had also visited their website and looked at their menus and prices. After being seated we ordered the dinner set talked about both in the newspaper and advertised on their website. It is advertised as a complete set with enough food for two priced at $48. We both love Mediterranean cuisine. We were told that the set was not available. No apology. No explanation. We walked out and will not go back. We walked down the street to Whampoa Food Street Keng Fish Head Steamboat and had a great experience with great food, very friendly service and plenty of AC! While we won't be returning to 21 on Rajah, if any other OpenRicers want to try it I suggest you call ahead and see if they have everything on the menu. continue reading