Cin Cin, Hove, Italian restaurant review

Bowie, Beirut, The Flaming Lips and The Shins.

Does a restaurant which has good taste in music also have good taste in food?

Using Cin Cin’s above playlist as an unscientific sample of one means the conclusion is a resounding yes.

Having opened in central Brighton in 2016, this seasonal Italian small plate and pasta restaurant expanded to Hove in 2018. Last year, the Brighton mothership picked up a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its cracking yet good value counter top cooking and interesting selection of Italian wines.

We visited the Hove branch where there wasn’t the slightest whiff of a melon with parma ham or tagliatelle carbonara.

Kicking off the meal were all three small plates on offer (3 for £20).

Cleansing discs of raw kohlrabi “ravioli” were stuffed with rich and meaty mackerel tartare dotted with fragrant dill oil and punchy capers. Blobs of vibrant yellow saffron aioli added a luxury tang.

A pile of gloriously tender, lightly crumbed sweetbreads were sat on a nut brown, big flavoured roasted celeriac puree.

A bready chickpea flour pizzetta was topped with light and creamy stracciatella cheese, sweet and tangy blood orange marmalade and a faintly sweet pistachio puree. It was perfectly pleasant but the sweet and creamy notes veered dangerously towards dessert territory.

Mains were both great pieces of comfort food.

Gnocchi (£14) was one of the finest iterations I've had. Light, squidgy and humming with savoury gorgonzola, they were bathed in a creamy tomato sauce flecked with fatty fragrant fennel sausage, fennel slices, and topped with gooey melted cheese, savoury parmesan and the crunch of toasted breadcrumbs. Woof.

I’d never heard of cresc’tajat pasta or Indo-Italian cooking before but Mrs G’s main course (£12) was a big hit. The sauce-grabbing, firm-textured pasta (traditionally made with leftover polenta) was well coated in an aromatic and tangy curry sauce with a big hit of shellfish and dotted with plump mussels and sweet golden sultanas.

To accompany dessert, we both had a glass of deliciously different Bianchdudui moscato under flor (£6.50). Like sherry, this wine is aged under a flor of spontaneous yeasts but without the addition of fortifying brandy. The resulting wine was dry, savoury, peachy, and a little bit funky.

A lovely selection of creamy young pecorino; seriously creamy, salty and funky gorgonzola; and a well aged crystallised parmesan (£8) were joined by thin cracker shards and a sweet and tangy tomato and pear chutney.

A pair of unadorned scoops of textbook salted caramel gelato (£4.50) were thick, salty and vanilla-flecked with a big toasted caramel note.

Including service and a decent amount of booze, our bill came to a very reasonable £44 quid a head. We had a lush dinner at Cin Cin and I reckon there’s definitely a gap in the market in Cardiff for an innovative pasta joint along the lines of London's Padella, Bristol's Pasta Loco or Cin Cin - I wonder if Giovanni's Pasta Piatto in Cardiff Bay or Victoria Park's Mastri Pastai will provide the answer?

The Details:
Address - Cin Cin Hove, 60 Western Rd, Hove BN3 1JD
Web - https://www.cincin.co.uk/
Telephone - 01273 726047

The Lamb and Flag, Wick, Vale of Glamorgan pub review

After a beautiful but blustery morning’s walk at Ogmore-by-Sea, a hearty Sunday lunch was always going to be on the cards.

 
When it comes to country pubs, the Vale of Glamorgan really holds its own. Aberthin’s Hare and Hounds and Llancarfan’s Fox and Hounds are both excellent. And I’ve heard good things about the Bush Inn in St Hilary and the Lamb and Flag in Wick.

It was to the latter that we headed this time, Wick being only a short hop from Ogmore-by-Sea. 

With its roaring log fire, the Lamb and Flag appears to be a traditional, cosy and slightly gloomy local village pub. And its laminated menus and lack of web presence don’t give much away in terms of the quality of the food they serve.

However, the fact it’s owned by John Cook, former chef patron of Arbennig and current owner of Dirt and Hoof, means you know you’re going to be in very capable hands.

 

Whilst waiting for our food, I tucked away a pint of bitter shandy (£3.30) made with a lovely Glaslyn Ale from North Wales’s Purple Moose.

Our starters were all delicious. A prawn cocktail (£6.50) was thankfully not presented in its namesake glass. Instead, a mound of sweet prawns coated in piquant thousand island dressing were loaded onto a heap of fresh iceberg.

  

Crispy chicken fillets (£5.25) saw big juicy pieces of bird coated in a light and crisp batter joined by a sweet chilli mayonnaise which added complexity to the dish. 

 
My fried cheese and beer croquettes (£5.95) kicked serious ass. In fact, they’re one of the nicest bits of comfort food I’ve had in a while. Super-crisp golden crumbed croquettes were loaded with an oozy, gooey, fluffy, cheesy, beery and savoury potato mix. Oofh. Whilst they could have conspired to be too rich, a tangy and sweet onion marmalade cut through the richness beautifully. 

 
Onto mains and a pair of roast dinners were both excellent.

Roast chicken (£11.95) saw hunks of tender poultry accompanied by a nicely herbed stuffing. 

 
Beef brisket (£11.95), supplied by Cardiff’s legendary Martin Player butcher, was fall apart tender and packed with flavour. Both plates were accompanied by crisp and fluffy roasties, thick gravy and whopping textbook Yorkshire puds. 

A generous bowl of well-buttered vegetables were the only minor let down. Whilst the cabbage was nicely al dente, a mix of potatoes, swede and carrot were a little on the soft side. 

 
Additional respect goes to the jug of extra gravy which was brought without request. There’s nothing worse than a stingy pour of gravy on a roast dinner. 

My fish and chips (£10.95) was another cracker. A beautifully flaky fillet of fish was coated in a light and thin batter and joined by proper marrowfat mushy peas. 

 
But, the triple cooked chips were the kicker. Stupendously golden, rustling with crispness and fluffy on the inside, they were a damn fine example of their type. 

A chocolate brownie Sundae (£5.95) was a handsome fellow. Warm, soft, gooey, chewy and crisp brownie pieces were joined by a thick chocolate sauce, scoops of vanilla ice cream and perhaps a little too much squirty cream. 

We had a lovely lunch at The Lamb and Flag. If you’re looking to combine a quality roast and a lovely walk in the Vale of Glamorgan, then it’s definitely worth checking out.

The Details:

Address - The Lamb and Flag, Church St, Wick, Cowbridge CF71 7QE
Web - https://www.facebook.com/lambflagpub/
Telephone - 01656 890278