My wife and I went to 23 for dinner on a date night recently.
Upon arriving at the bar, we had a little difficulty finding the restaurant portion. We asked a staff member, who very kindly showed us the way up, and got a member of the wait staff to see that we were taken care of.
I went with a pint and the roast pork belly, while Rachel had IIRC sea bass. We had the fish cake as a starter.
The starter was outstanding and unlike normal for us we took our time eating, savouring each bite of the fish cake. Our meals were likewise beautiful: the pork belly was cooked expertly and had a variety of textures; crispy where it had closest to the roaster, and melting in your mouth below that. It was presented nicely on a bed of roasted black pudding and a sort of apple coleslaw IIRC. It seemed weird on the menu, but I was sold at the first bite.
I only tried a little bit of Rachel's dish, as mine was clearly superior; both she and I agreed. It was extremely tasty, but even the best fish dish in the world would be hard pressed to compete with that roasted pork belly IMO.
We also went for dessert: the brownie, based on our waitress's recommendation. It was heaven. Chocolately, gooey goodness, heated on a piece of slate with ice cream... my mouth is watering as I type this. I plan to make a trip back to 23 just for dessert some time in the near future. :)
As for service, we went on a night when there weren't a ton of people out, which might have accounted for our service experience being a little better than others'. We didn't have any unreasonable delays for anything; our drinks came out quickly, the food was speedy and came out straight from the kitchen.
I liked this place enough that I've decided to try taking one of my French friends here for dinner. When I'm willing to risk my reputation with a guy from Bordeaux on a restaurant, you know it's good! ;) read more