Cin Cin

Several months ago, I had dinner at the well-known Cin Cin (used to be known to have constant A-listers in attendance, before the boom of Yaletown). It's been years since I've been there, but a friend suggested it, and it was high time to revisit. 

I knew I was having pasta as my main, so I chose a meat dish for my appetizer. Their carpaccio is made with Black Angus beef and the meatiness does come through. They were a little too liberal with the mustard aioli, but the fresh greens and parm made up for it. You could see just how well marbled the meat was too!

The other appetizer we ordered was the caprese salad, most of the variations I have tried usually consist of sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. It was a delight to see heirloom tomatoes being used and the buffalo mozzarella unsliced. Very rustic in presentation and flavour. I really enjoyed this. 

Whenever I see Buccatini on a menu, I am immediately drawn to it. Sorry for the messiness of this dish, but we stirred up the pasta before realizing I hadn't taken the photo. Simply done in an olive and spicy tomato sauce, the crispy pancetta really stood out. And as I said before, I love buccatini...how do they get those holes in there!?

My other favourite pasta is the garganelli, (Yew at Four Seasons does an amazing variation too). Done with braised veal cheeks, the sauce was richly flavoured with loads of mushrooms, both porcini and trumpet ones.
Simple hearty fare if you are in the mood for pasta...The two pasta dishes we ordered were both "main" sizes...but we managed to finish them easily. Their appetizer portion might be worth a shot next time, if I was in the mood to have three dishes instead.