21 steps: kitchen and bar

i visited this restaurant 2 days ago for dinner with my husband.
we were greeted and sat right away at a beautiful spot right by the window. it was not very busy as we were there for an early dinner.
they had a special set menu as it was the cornucopia festival while we were there. it was one appetizer, one main and a dessert or dessert coffee for $37 which is great value!
we both decided to go for that. iordereda malbec which was nice and my husband had a beer. the service was great, very attentive and professional, the girl was friendly and sweet throughout the entire meal.
iorderedthe pork belly which was out of this world! it was cooked to perfection and the sweet potato and fennel puree it sat on was delicious, i need that recipe! the coleslaw was also a nice acidic, crunchy touch.
my husband had the mussels. we normally have them with white wine sauce so heorderedthem with the thai curry instead, this proved to be a great decision! the thai curry broth was medium spiced and full of flavour and really complimented the mussels.

i had the scallops and tiger prawns, the sauce they were in was very lemony and fresh tasting. the scallops were overcooked and slightly chewy but the prawns were beautiful and just right. the vegetables were way too hard and badly chopped and the rice was somewhat bland. overall i wasn't blown away by this meal.
my husband had the rock fish, this was very bland. the rice was plain, the vegetables the same as mine and the sauce was mild, way too mild. the fish had no taste and wasn't seasoned. after such a great appetizer, we were disappointed.

we bothordereda dessert instead of a coffee. i had the creme brûlée and my husband had the brownie. the creme brûlée was really delicious, perfectly done and its always a favourite for me. the brownie was also delicious and came with a peanut butter brittle and caramel sauce, it was a great dessert and ended the meal nicely. 

i would like to try this place again and try some other items as they have an excellent menu!

came here for a quick dinner and after a long day in whistler. well then... was quite curious about the food. and unfortunately to me, my experience have been subpar in this place.

came in it was packed, without any reservation the assistant was able to grab a bar spot for two of us within 20 minutes which is alright, then, after being seated in the bar, the bartender was alright, greets and ask, but definitely a little bit thrown off, maybe because we were seated at the bar for dining? not really sure what it was.
 

anyhow,ordereda few items, and all pasta, since i'm not really into heavy meat or anything like that, then definitely after not ordering drinks, the bartender is just not as attentive, but alright, maybe he have an off day.

everything is definitely alright, the food, definitely alright, nothing good and nothing bad to nitpick about it, maybe a little bit simple, in terms of the seasoning they use, but again it's only a pasta dish. but overall wasn't impressed on the food, or maybe i've just become really picky over time. the salmon bits were definitely too salty for sure.

we decided to visit 21 steps based on the rating. there was the $37 three course menu that you can pick from the regular menu but 5 of the dishes in the main course need extra charge. we didn't feel like any appies so alorderedthe rib eye steak medium and the shellfish linguini for myself. the steak itself was quite tender and had a nice beef flavour that many steaks lack most times. we should haveorderedthe steak medium rare instead because the medium tasted more like medium well in most part of the steak. the plating wasn't too ideal as well. they placed the steak on top of the mashed potato and there were deep fried onion bits on the steak. i prefer having the steak stand alone. overall it was a good piece of steak but at $35 it would be overpriced if it's in vancouver. back to my linguini, two words, too oily. i mean, the flavour isn't too bad. it was with garlic and wine sauce but every bite was full of grease and my mussels were not so fresh. another horrible thing was they put in chopped tomatoes that were not ripe. it felt like i was eating apple. this $19 dish did not meet my expectations.
service was attentive and the decor is more old school and laid back. i don't think i will return.

we were seated at the attic which has a nice lounge atmosphere. this is about the only good thing for our night. weorderedbacon wrapped filet, fried chicken and orange glazed ribs. food is mediocre at best. service was horrendous. the waiter can't concentrate on my husband and i long enough as his attention was on the table of 2 girls next to us. i don't understand the raving reviews. we will never return to this place.

mussels didn't open and they only offered to re-cook them.orderedthe shellfish linguine tonight. it came with 5 mussels: 3 of them didn't open. 2 were half open.

when i told the server, he offered to send those 3 back to be cooked further. while i was ok with that because i was hungry and didn't really want to send the whole thing back, i expected them to at least offer to redo the whole dish.

when i tried the remaining 2 mussels, one of them tasted bad. the other one i took a smell and it also was bad. only after informing the server of this, did he offer to take it back.

not the service i was expecting when the 17% tip is mandatory.

not too impressed.orderedthe seafood linguini and the mussels were clearly not fresh and had a bad smell to it. provided feedback and there was no offer to exchange it.. just a "i'm sorry". i guess this is what happens when you dine in a big group and 17% gratuity is mandatory

just ok. with the reviews thought we'd check this place out. for starters we went with the bacon wrapped baby filets. meat was tough and dry. for the mains,orderedthe grilled pork chop and chicken. both cuts of meat were dry--they need to incorporate brining into their cooking process. service was good but wasn't impressed with the food.

satisfied aussies!. after spending half an hour looking around for a decent feed we came across 21 steps. at first we were worried that it was a little to formal for our liking but we were pleasantly surprised. i decided to have the three course dinner special. my partner had two appetisers as she wasn't as hungry as me. for $35 i got the chilli garlic prawns as my appetiser, which were delicious. for the main i got the chicken linguini. the chicken was perfectly cooked and tasted amazing! i'm particularly fussy and don't like when my chicken is overcooked so this was a big tick. as i had no room for dessert iordereda decaf espresso.
my partner got her two appetisers staggered so that we would each be eating when my main came out. first she had the queso fondido which was made with two types of cheese and a roasted pumpkin seed pesto, served with homemade tortilla chips which tasted amazing. for her second she had the same garlic chilli prawns as i did which came with crispy wonton papers and spicy peanut/asian style sauce which wasn't too heavy.
she mentioned that it was the perfect amount of food too, the appetisers weren't tiny little servings in the middle of the plate like some more up market places tend to have.
our waitress was lovely ( and not australian which was nice!) and the cadillac margaritas we had were real margaritas which was what we had been craving.
overall very impressed with the quality of food and although some reviews say its more expensive, coming from australia it was no more pricey than a normal restaurant back home.

get out! don't eat there. the food isn't bad but it's far from good. it lacks the level of commitment found in good food. my girl and i each had the 3-course tasting menu andordereddifferent items: none of the food was good. the scallops were covered in a sticky sauce. the salmon was dry and again covered in a sticky sauce. the mussels were thankfully fresh but the sauce was weak. my lamb chops arrived in a pool of a sweet sauce. the vegetables in both main courses were given little attention as they were undercooked and poorly presented. though the server and hostess were very pleasant, i won't be going back there again.

last winter, we had two snowboarding weekends in whistler. on the first trip, 21 steps was packed. on the second weekend trip, we were able to reserve a spot for our big group of 14. weordereda lot of things from the menu. to start,  iorderedwings ($9). my friendsorderedbacon wrapped filets ($12), sambal & masala seared scallops ($12), steamed mussels ($12), star anise and orange braised pork ribs ($9) and baked mushroom caps ($9) to start. yah, my wings never came. however, it seemed like everyone else’s appetizers turned out pretty good. another one of my friend’sorderedthe wings and enjoyed the asian flavours. they asked if i wanted some, but i denied, because i thought my order was still coming. for my main, iorderedthe italian sausage pasta with penne ($18). i was really surprised, and this dish was really good and filling. perfect to re-energize after a day of snowboarding.the pasta was cooked al dente with a good bite, and their was plenty of italian sausage.

best way to enjoy a new-to-you-restaurant? don't even think about what the restaurant may bring you. jt and i were walking around whistler village looking for a place to eat and we found this cute place with two floors that didn't even seem that exciting. the decor was nice, admittedly, but it looked like standard fare. what a cute hidden gem we found in 21 steps kitchen & bar . weordereda fixed price ($35) menu which was fantastic value for our dollar. my starter was garlic chili prawns ($11), which were absolutely delicious and very well served. my advice, though - don't eat garlic chili prawns if you are planning to have a full meal. while extremely flavourful and strategically including nuts and other spices to mellow the chili down, i was full by the time my "small plate" was done. my "large plate" was moroccan spiced chicken ($23), which normally would be delicious to me. but with the overpowering (and tasty) flavour of the garlic and chili of my starter, i almost felt my moroc