Cibamor Bistro rustles up a culinary storm with its many first-of-its-kind food trails, says Chahak Mittal
It had been long since I went on a date night with someone I barely knew. This time I decided to make it a dinner date since there is nothing better than food to fuel conversations. If we go by what Paul Prudhomme had said — ‘you don’t need a silver fork to eat good food’ — this would definitely be justified.
As we made our way inside the Cibamor Bistro at H Block in Connaught Place, we were welcomed by a huge glass wall that gave us a glimpse of the interiors. There was a golden staircase to our right starting from the main arena. The chaise lounges and chairs let us sink in comfortably whereas the wooden walls in off-white defined the warmth and charming ambience. There were yellow lamps on the ceiling shaped like a deciduous winter tree.
The server recommended that we begin with Nacho Macho, which as is implicit in the name, is a dish of nachos with veggies like olives, tomatoes, refried beans, bell peppers topped with melted peri-peri cheese. As we bit into the crunchy starter, served with the in-house salsa dip, guacamole and sour cream, there was a blast of complex and diverse flavours in our mouths. I could vouch for it — nachos have never tasted better. This was certainly several steps up the usual ‘cheese baked nachos’.
Next up were the Rosemary Truffle Parmesan Fries. Ever heard of potato wedges fried in rosemary oil? Well, the needle-like rosemary leaves, even though they are such a tiny element, make up for a great lemon-pine-like flavour. We applauded the chef, Abhishek Kumar, for serving the fries that faultlessly balanced the Parmesan dust and rosemary oil flavours.
The next in line were the Habanero Chicken Wings. Glazed in the hot chilli pepper, the chicken wings were screaming a red alert on the spice quotient. However, to balance the heat, the dish was served with house mint and goat cheese dip which had an unripened and moist texture like that of ricotta cheese. Anyone who loves spices should definitely pile up their plate with this one. They’d forget KFC!
Moving on to the main course, we had the speciality of the house called Mezze Cibamor. The dish comprised cracked white pita bread, sweet potato hummus and beetroot falafel and the combination made it appear like Indian “cutlets” and was served with fresh tabbouleh salad on the side. Even though I have never been fond of hummus, the dish hit the right chord with its presentation and its flavourful appeal.
The food had stolen the show till this time so we ventured into the drinks menu and decided to sample some as well. We ordered the special beer cocktails from the ‘Beer Mixx’ section. There was Beer Punch replete with the citrus flavours of pineapple, orange, infused with spices and bitter cream. The second was Tom Terrific, that had one of my favourite flavours of lemongrass, smoked spicy tomato and lemon juice in a stout beer. I can say without any qualms, that in this chic diner, these fruity concoctions were a proof that happiness can be served in a glass.
Next in line were Cibamor’s speciality and what I termed as P-cube, Penne Pollo Piccante. Piccante is a hot pepper sauce in Mexican cuisine which brings together flavours of chilli tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and garlic cloves. At first glance it might appear like an Arrabiata penne pasta, but it’s light orange colour differentiates it from what could be called a conventional ‘red sauce pasta.’ The dish seemed like perfection on my plate.
While I was still gorging on the delicacies, the chef presented three special dips that are exclusive to their menu. The first was the Jalapeno dip with crushed mint and spices. The second was the tomato salsa dip. The third, that became our personal favourite, was the mango crunch that was spicy with a tinge of mango flavour. You won’t be going back to the homely mango or aam chutney after having this for it is indeed one-of-its-kind.
Most people believe that a meal is incomplete without desserts. Even though we were stuffed, going by the meal, we were more than willing to stretch it a wee bit more.
And this too, didn’t disappoint. We ordered pancakes which the chef had customised to our taste. We had the Cinnamon Pancake that brought two highly varied syrups —caramel and jaggery — in one plate. While half of the pancake tasted of caramel, the other half satisfied our tastebuds craving for jaggery.
The satiating meal where the chef had stirred up a culinary storm made sure that I would go back to gorge on numerous delicacies.