Cibo e Vino, Castle Hill

23 July 2012, 01:33

You know how sometimes you drive by a place heaps of times and you keep telling yourself hey we should try that restaurant someday? Cibo e Vino (299 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill) has long been on my list of restaurants in the westie hood to try, and with heaps of parking in Castle Mall rather than the horror of Castle Towers it is the perfect place for date night or for a catchup with mates.


Somehow whenever I see it on the menu I can never resist ordering a platter filled with nibblies ($21.50)- Gorgeous ribbons of prosciutto, fat slices of speckled salami, marinated olives, a pile of vivid pink pickled onion, wedges of reggiano parmesan and buttery garlic bread. The board was pretty impressive and uh probably best shared with 4 people cos woah baby that was a loooot of meat!


All the pastas are handmade each day at Cibo e Vino and because I can never have enough pork products in my life I had to order the Fettuccine carbonara with applewood smoked bacon, egg and parmesan ($21). Each strand of silky pasta was coated in an incredibly rich and creamy sauce with lots of crispy bacon bits. DELICIOUS BACON BITS. Bacon bits make me happy! The world needs more bacon bits!


Noods opted for the Spaghetti with crab, rocket and lemon ($24) and gleefully smashed it with ease, chortling every time he uncovered a mound of crab meat. Of which there were many. Chortles and crab.


MOUNTAIN OF FRIES. The “Cibo style” shoestring fries with herbs, parmesan, garlic and chili ($9.50) was nothing short of amazing and even though the chili was kinda tasting like burning I just couldn’t stop eating it! My stomach rebelled against my brain and kept telling me it could fit in more deep fried starch. That was an explosion of tasty right there. So FRICKEN tasty!


Stomaches at explodey point we had to take a breather before we even contemplated dessert and teehee I loved this Chocolat artwork!


Unable to handle anything rich we decided to share the Soft-centred meringue with rosewater, raspberry swirl ice cream and passion fruit ($12) which was thankfully light and refreshing. The meringue (heh I love spelling meringue because I keep chanting merengue instead) had a sweet, crisp outer layer with marshmallow soft innards and the ice cream was intriguingly addictive.


Cibo e Vino is a great restaurant and one that I will definitely return to try all the other pastas. And the fries. Gotta get the fries again. Yes.

ChocolateSuze dined as a guest of Cibo e Vino and The Bamboo Garden.

1. Those fries look crazy but I can see how it would work (hatches plan for tomorrow night’s dinner). And ooh I totally want to snuggle under that blanket of prosciutto. Heh.

   — Helen (grabyourfork)    Jul 23, 01:42 AM    #
   
   

2. That’s how I pronounce meringue too, it helps me to spell it. Hahaha. Definitely a carb loaded dinner, delicious looking might I add, so wise choice with the meringue. Ok so I just had to say it again… lol

   — Tina @ bitemeshowme    Jul 23, 09:16 AM    #
   
   

3. Oooh those crab lumps would have me chortling too if I had that in front of me!! Yummo!

   — Anna @ The Littlest Anchovy    Jul 23, 10:19 AM    #
   
   

4. The desserts looks lovely and simple, while I totally share your charcuterie obsession :)
   “Chortles and crab” – what more can you ask for in life?

   — Tina@foodboozeshoes    Jul 23, 10:34 AM    #
   
   

5. Cibo e Vino is on my westie eat list too…so close to home yet we’e just never made it there..yet.

   — Miss Piggy    Jul 23, 12:01 PM    #
   
   

6. my friend owns this place! love the fries and the pastas are awesome! they had an awesome beef ribs last winter!

   — gastronomous anonymous    Jul 23, 12:32 PM    #
   
   

7. That meat platter and the dessert ~
   look divine! *

   — Food Fashion Victim*    Jul 23, 01:45 PM    #
   
   

8. If you need more bacon in your life just watch Epicmealtime haha!

   — pollypockets    Jul 23, 03:39 PM    #
   
   

9. Oh wow, that all looks delicious – especially the carbonara, the chips and the spaghetti. Ok, so it all looks awesome!! :)

   — Sarah    Jul 23, 05:56 PM    #
   
   

10. I have visited this restaurant a few times for their degustations, and they are great! Now I’m thinking I want to visit this weekend!!

    — Laura    Jul 24, 01:09 PM    #
    
    

11. There’s nothing better than freshly made pasta so mouthwateringly good! Love the look of that meringue + ice cream dessert..

    — Christine    Jul 24, 01:45 PM    #
    
    

12. Both of those pasta dishes sound incredible! I love that they make their own pasta… makes SUCH a difference to have fresh pasta.

    — SarahKate (Mi Casa-Su Casa)    Jul 25, 12:43 PM    #
    
    

13. wow applewood smoked bacon sounds pretty good! no idea what it would taste like but it sounds delish ^^” heave heard a fair bit about this place and how they make their own pastas etc

    — Vivian - vxdollface    Jul 25, 02:57 PM    #
    
    

14. yummy fries!!

    — tastyfoodsnaps    Jul 25, 09:26 PM    #
    
    

15. Handmade pasta is a must at any self respecting Italian restaurant. I love your choices. And I have to mention, the fries alone make me want to go there!!

    — Amanda@chewtown    Jul 25, 11:00 PM    #
    
    

16. Hi! I’m Italian and I had never seen before fries with parmigiano!

    — simona    Jul 26, 06:27 AM    #
    
    

17. Yum the meringue looks incredible!!

    — Cappucino    Jul 28, 05:25 PM    #
    
    

18. OMG Yum! Everything looks great especially the freshly made pasta. drool

    — Erin@TheFoodMentalist    Jul 29, 12:15 PM    #
    
    

19. Everything looks amazing.I would eat many serves of that pasta!

    — Jules    Jul 29, 04:34 PM    #
    
    

20. I visited Cibo years ago and I’d really love to go again. I love stumbling upon good local restos!!

    — vegeTARAian    Jul 29, 07:25 PM    #