Big on bigness

Whether it is size of the place or the food, Cibo doesn't fail to impress

Call me a traditionalist, but when I want to eat, I want places whose main priority -- apart from trying to make me happy -- is food.


Grills at Fire Grill

There are many lounges and other such that serve decent food, but unless it is mellow, unobtrusive Western Classical, even with all my love for it, music can be a problem. What can also be a problem is an ambience that sends mixed signals: somewhere between nice-place-to-hang-around-with-decent-food-to-go-with-alcohol and nice-place-with-okay-food-and-decent-alcohol.u00a0

Cutting right through my many hang-ups, is the Fire Grill at Cibo. This was my first time at Rohit Bal's restaurant: the many places in and around CP are notorious for their mediocre food in the family, and taking the wife to one of these has a huge personal risk. And especially after our experience with Ravi Bajaj's Soak, she had sworn off designers-turned-restaurateurs.

Pride of excellence
But I have mentioned the calming effect winter has before, and taking advantage of it yet again, we stepped into the mellow-yellow Cibo. Thank Bal, I said, for the stone, the bare wood tables, suitable chairs and muted music. Thank bar, I then said, for the excellent wine we were served immediately after. Fransola 2008 (Torres), though served chilled, had a balanced acidity that felt good in the mouth, and cleared the palate for the Lime and Basil jumbo prawns -- really jumbo, well-grilled, and served with just the right amount of relish.

Try out
The Fire Grill's other offerings of the night (I wouldn't have looked for them but winter requires caution for the amount of sea food I consume) were Marinated Chicken Breasts, Charcoal Fired Tenderloin and Barbecued Smoked Buckhurst Sausages with grilled vegetables as accompaniments.

The white wine was good enough but a red wine was recommended for the tenderloin and the sausages. (I skipped the chicken, which according to me is the potato of the meat world). Even dedicating a whole page to the Orange Label Rosa Toscana IGT (Piccini) would not do it justice. That is all I have to say on this subject, and that it of course paired well with the well-done tenderloin and (large) Buckhurst Sausages.

I ate so much meat, I felt guilty and ordered a separate side of vegetables! In characteristic style, the Fire Grill at Cibo is big on bigness, whether it is size of the place, the food, or the ornate decor (inside). But, this bigness has taste (first case in point: the red wine we had). What else does a restaurant need?

At: cibo, hotel janpath, janpath road
Timings: 8 pm onwards
Ring: 43029291
Price: Rs 1,500