Nick and Nats Uptown 21, Review

This weekend, I decided to indulge a little bit and took a trip to Nick and Nats Uptown 21 with a friend. As we arrived the hostess took our coats and lead us to our table. Very soon after we were seated, our server came to welcome us, she filled our water and offered us a drink. I took a sip of my water and was pleasantly surprised by the crisp clear taste that does not normally accompany Waterloo city water. We then took a look at the menu and lo and behold they offered an a la carte menu as well as a choice to have a 3 or 4 course meal with a set price. I, of course, chose to get the 4 course meal. Each course had two options. For my first course I chose a whitefish ceviche. It was very fresh, light and the beet chips added a nice crisp texture. Overall it was a lovely dish to start with, however it was slightly too bitter. My next course was mussels in a tomato kalamata broth. The mussels were cooked perfectly, many restaurants overcook the mussels and they end up dense and chewy however these mussels were light and tasty. The broth used canned tomatoes which normally I would be opposed to but it gave a heavier more winter-ish composition. The mussels were also served with fries as opposed to garlic bread which was a nice change. Once again, it was heavier but still delicious.

 My main course was a boar chop with a Mediterranean couscous.

 The couscous had a deliciously strong full flavour, however the boar chop was too salty. I definitely preferred the boar to pork because it was beefier, and not quite as lean, however the seasoning seemed to be overdone, particularly salt. There was too much salt and unfortunately it took away from the entire plate.







 Lastly was the dessert, I chose the Mexican spice pudding and was pleasantly surprised. It was not too sweet compared to most desserts I have had in the past. It was bold, creamy and rich. I would absolutely order it again but after three courses it was a little large.












Overall Nick and Nat's had some very powerful flavours, most of which were great, however in some cases they used too much salt bringing the overall dish down.