Wednesday, February 12, 2014

REVIEW | Cibo Wine Bar for Winterlicious 2014 - a trendy ambiance with tasty dinner & cocktails on King West

Cibo Wine Bar is a sister restaurant to Yorkville's Ciao Wine Bar by Liberty Group. Both Cibo and Ciao offer the same menu by Chef Saverio Macri, an authentic rustic Italian and exudes a very trendy and chic vibe that many nightlife venues by the Liberty Group signifies. I have always been a fan of the food and ambiance of Ciao Wine Bar, so I took the advantage duing Winterlicious to try the spot on King West.


At first glance, Cibo Wine Bar is much larger and open concept than its sister Ciao Wine Bar.  The beautifully furnished space features an open kitchen, where you can witness fresh pasta being made and a a glass wine room.  That's not all! What caught my eye in the dining area is the stone walls and exposed brick... so much character and warmth!


I dined that night with two of my friends so we were able to get a taste of everything on the winterlicious menu, except for one of the entrees.

First Courses:
Tiger Shrimp with spicy wine garlic tomato sauce featured four pieces of tiger shrimps. The sauce was delicious on its own, nevermind the shrimp, so we used some to dip our breads into.

Baked Eggplant with melted boccoccini and parmigiano and light tomato sauce was also a very generous portion of an appetizer.  The layers of cheese and eggplant was great but I found that it got a bit mushy and fell apart midway.

Arugula & Prosciutto Di Parma with shaved parmigiano reggiano, red wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil offered us a lighter choice from the other two apps.  I personally enjoyed the prosciutto pieces with my arugula for the texture variances.  Can't get enough!

Second Courses:
Diavola Pizza with tomato, mozzarella, spicy calabrese salami and roasted red peppers is perfect for sharing! The spicy salami gave this pizza a little fiery kick, which we all loved.  It was very enjoyable.

Next was the Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms in a light cream sauce.  I love mushrooms and i love cream sauce so this was an obvious hit with me.  There was a good pasta to sauce ratio and the texture of the mushroom was good - not soggy at all.

We also got the Chianti Braised Short Ribs with creamy Gorgonzola polenta and crispy onions.  Having a piece of the fall-off-the-bone rib with the polenta and crispy onions in one bite excited my taste buds from the different textures.  I definitely fell in love with the Gorgonzola polenta and the crispy onions.

Third Courses:
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with candied blood orange and tangerine was my favourite dessert from the three we ordered.  It was of good consistency and had a nice jiggle to it. 

The Tiramisu Martini was also a hit at our table. A scoop of the different layers was sweet and delectable.

Dark Chocolate Risotto Pudding with hazelnut brittle on the other hand was the richer and heavier dessert choice.  Loved that it had dark chocolate with fresh berries as well.  This is my first time having risotto pudding and I quite enjoyed it.

 

Cibo is definitely a date night or a dinner with girlfriends type of spot with such a beautiful interior that sets the mood for both.  Not to mention its attentive servers and delicious Italian food, it's no wonder why it's a popular restaurant on King West. 

If you're looking for a trendy & chic place for your next night out or for a date, head to Cibo - you can't miss it with its signature red vespa parked at the front!



Cibo Wine Bar on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. I was tempted to try the tagliatelle, but got swayed by the ravioli (also delicious). Next time :)

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  2. mmm that sounds delicious as well. We'll try that next time! Thanks for reading~

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