Restaurant Review: CIBO

Those charming people at Manchester Confidential have been at it again. An invite popped into my inbox, inviting me to visit CIBO in Didsbury and take Mr GFB. Having seen so many intriguing tidbits about the restaurant already, I didn’t need asking twice.

 

 

So happy were we to go, we forwent our usual Sunday night activities (me packing my gym bag, Mr GFB actively avoiding doing anything work related via the PS3) and booked ourselves in asap. Understandably, this was no hardship. And given the quality of both food and drink on offer, you’ll soon see why.

 

 

The restaurant is classic in style – wooden floors, open brickwork, neutral colours, but there are little elements that liven it. up. Aside from the pretty glass chandeliers above the bar, there’s also a workstation in front of the kitchen, complete with fresh fruits and vegetables on display and where fresh pasta is worked on by the kitchen team and you can look on in fascination.

 

 

Gazing at the menu and unable to make a decision on what to choose, we opted for a cocktail to assist in our deliberations. Mr GFB chose a rather pretty Carrie’s Veneto –  a combination of lemon vodka, triple sec, Campari, cranberry and lime – whereas I went for something a little more substantial with a Griselda’s End – Amaretto and Vecchia Romagna, smoked over cherry wood. After all, what’s the point in running 10km if you can’t ruin it later in the day?

 

With fresh bread to nibble on, fruity olive oil to dip it in and the most luscious fat green olives to feed our brains while we decided, we pondered the menu a little further.

Bowing to the knowledge of our waiter, we opted for the cicchetti menu – normally little nibbles you can sample whilst at the bar in parts of Italy – in this case CIBO offer these for £2 a plate or, like us you can be greedy and have one of each for £10 as a starter.

Firstly, why do we just have the option of peanuts and Bombay mix in bars? Why can’t we have stuff like this? These are fabulous. Mr GFB described the aubergine balls as ‘all the flavours of Italy in one’ and the arancini? Saffron flavoured risotto and peas deep fried into crisp creamy gorgeousness.

 

 

But enough of the starters. What of the rest of the menu? Well, this is where our waiter was a littler persuasive. Mr GFB selected one item each and wanted to share a side – Mr GFB decided on cotechino on orange lentils, I had selected the ravioli neri filled with crab and we were debating on our side dish. Before we knew it, we’d ordered our mains and added in three sides.

 

 

Sitting atop incredibly light lentils, flavoured with lemon, cotechino is chargrilled, salty cured pork sausage – so good that Mr GFB let me taste the merest morsel the size of a 5 pence piece. The ravioli is incredibly fresh, rich crab lightened with ricotta and in a rich buttery, herb sauce, with a little kick of chilli. Every mouthful better than the last.

Our sides of fried fennel, caponata and cauliflower with Taleggio were gorgeous. Even one of the staff commented that she was unsure of the fennel until she tried it and we’d agree. Crisp moist fennel, deep fried in batter, leaves it softer in flavour.

 

 

And yet we weren’t finished. On the recommendation of our waiter an antipasti of tomato and Buratta with basil and oregano, followed by fresh penne pasta with Dolcelatte and spinach appeared.

 

The Buratta is a Puglian speciality, similar to mozzarella, using buffalo milk and cream. It results in an incredibly creamy, yet light cheese and with the tomato, herbs and cured ham was dreamily fresh.

Finally, we made it onto dessert. And the decisions are once again hard to make. Mr GFB selected the classic cannoli, and I opted for the twist on a classic, the passionfruit panna cotta.

Both were, unsurprisingly, stunning. A special mention must also go to the dessert wine, which was peachy,  lightly fizzy and matched the panna cotta beautifully.

All in all? Whether you fancy nibbles and a cocktail, a light lunch, or a long dinner, you will find fresh pasta, great wine and quality ingredients.