Stamford Restaurant Review: Twenty

I finally went to Twenty, the new resto/bar/lounge on the corner across the street from Black Bear. It's where the old Park Place Diner used to be. I was dubious; I don’t know many people who have been, and I had heard only vague and confusing things on Chowhound. The one short discussion thread about Twenty contained a mixed brunch review and an exchange about whether or not Elvis pancakes were on the menu and if a chef had or had not returned. I went, though, in the name of Stamford Talk research. Happily, the food was pretty good. Even my picky-eater husband said, “I’d go there again.”

When we arrived at 7pm on a Wednesday and the place was totally empty, I felt even more scared about the food, but we sat down. The place is really lounge-y and cool looking. We got two appetizers: the mozzarella in crust was better than the coconut chicken, which was a bit burnt and dry.

The menu is very creative. It’s American food with exotic twists. For example, one entree is pan-roasted Atlantic salmon in an apple cider gastrique over herbed couscous and wilted spinach. Entrees are $19-29, but we only did apps, salads and burgers.

The food was not great, but it was good. I got a delicious latina salad with avocado and a cilantro vinaigrette. My husband’s ho dad burger was on a huge brioche with bacon, and my friend’s bourbon burger was on an English muffin and definitely tasted like bourbon. Each burger came with a choice of parmesan or sweet potato fries. On this first initial visit, I’d rate the food as good. It was tasty and original, American while still being interesting. If you want a burger, it’s certainly worth skipping Black Bear and giving Twenty a try. You can see the menu at Twenty’s incredibly annoying website. Click "music off" to get rid of that awful, awful squeaking sound.

We were the only people in the restaurant for a good 30 minutes before a young couple came in. I’ve heard the place is hopping on the weekends, so I’ll go back on a busier night to check out the crowd and try more food. I feel a little gypped that I only got to see the food and not the crowd. (I just had to spellcheck ‘gipped’ and realized it’s spelled with a y. It must come from the word gypsies, right, because of the stereotype that gypsies steal? Funny how I have used that word and never known where it came from. My Apple dictionary widget says the word is of unknown origin, but Dictionary.com tactfully tells me, “[Probably short for Gypsy.]")

I’m happy because I knocked one more place off my “Eat at Every Place in Stamford” list. I still need to try Monster B’s and go back to Bella Luna on Hope St., because I’ve only been there once about 8 years ago. We ate at Market again last weekend. Food was OK but not flawless. We laughed when our ‘fried squash blossoms’ app arrived as one blossom that we had to cut in half! I give that meal at Market a “pretty good,” just like I gave Twenty. I finally ate at Dragonfly with a friend last night, and I'll give that a "very good" so far. Overall, Market gets a "very good," because the other two meals I've had there were great. My "excellent" ratings go to Duo and Napa.