21 Restaurant in Bacolod City
This restaurant started as a hole-in-the-wall snack house located along 21st and Lacson Streets in Bacolod City, established in 1984 by Lydia de la Rama-Gamboa. They were first known for their La Paz Batchoy, which was considered to be a unique cuisine and kept the locals coming back to their snack house.
After some time, this hole-in-the-wall merienda house expanded its business, thus becoming 21 Restaurant: a fine dining venue offering all kinds of fresh food, which often includes their seafood taken from the owner’s own fishpond.
21 Restaurant is now under the Twenty First Gate Corporation, headed by Mr. Edwardo Paolo Araneta, Mr. Jose Maria Antono Espinos, Ms. Katrina Patricia Lacson, and Mr. Ricardo Julian Gamboa. Some of their best sellers include:
Lamb with curry rice. Lamb seasoned in garlic and onions with roasted eggplant (Php 310)
Porkchop ala Bicol express. Deep fried porkchop in cassava batter with mixed vegetables simmered in coconut milk (Php 225)
21’s Original Batchoy (Php 120)
Aside from their best sellers and fresh seafood they offer, 21 Restaurant also offer a variety of Filipino-American dishes. Today, 21 Restaurant is now famous for their authentic Ilonggo dishes that includes their kinilaw, crispy pata, and sinigang.
21 Restaurant can accommodate about 400-450 persons; this includes their function rooms that can cater to about 200 people. Aside from their clients that are locally from Bacolod or Filipino nationals, they also receive foreign guests that are usually Koreans, Japanese, Europeans or Americans. Their menu is usually good for sharing. Guests may opt to walk-in but having a reservation a day before is highly recommended.
They offer free wifi access and parking space for their guests. Payment can be done either through cash, card, debit or credit. They are open daily from 10 am to 11 pm.
Written By: Patricia Antoinette M. Nacianceno
This also appears in the February 2018 issue of Philippine Primer Japanese Magazine.
