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Cibo Bistro
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
4 reviews for Cibo Bistro
4 reviews in English
-
Review from Jenn C.
2/11/2012
Made a last-minute reservation for 4 on a recent Saturday night after looking for somewhere new to try in the downtown area. Was a little hard to find as I had never been to the old Tesoro Cafe, so I didn't know that the entrance was just off a walkway in the buildings. The restaurant is clean and modern, and set up to be an upscale restaurant.
The waiter was nice and knowledgeable despite being very young-looking. We split four appetizers: the charcuterie board, which had a delicious wild boar mortadella, duck prosciutto (which wasn't very duck-y at all), lardo (yum), and pickled peppers; goat ricotta cakes which were nice and crispy; an arugula-beet salad with pistachios and a delicious truffled vinaigrette, and the best appetizer which was a fried quail's egg on a large seared diver scallop laid over a slice of prosciutto with truffle shavings. The scallop was perfectly cooked and large enough to split three ways, and all the flavours were just awesome together. Especially the truffle shavings - which is why it came with a steep $17 price tag. But totally worth it.
For the mains, they were out of the braised beef cheeks that I so desperately wanted to try. The menu isn't huge and we all wanted to try something different so it limited my choices a bit. I ended up ordering the oxtail ravioli - 5-6 large ravioli (possibly homemade pasta) filled with unctuous, beefy oxtail. Delish. My fiancé ordered the pork chop, which was a thick bone-in cut - he loved it but the sauce had a little bit of that sweet barbeque sauce taste to it, which I don't really like. One of our dining companions ordered the osso bucco, which came with a fried piece of bone marrow - nice contrasting textures. The least impressive dish was the carbonara-sauce pasta - it was good but not extraordinary.
No desserts for us, and I'm not sure what the bill come out to but I bet it wasn't very cheap (including a bottle of red wine). I did like the atmosphere - there were two large tables of customers towards the back and a few other diners around us, and the food was overall quite good. But if they aren't going to be switching up the menu frequently, I'm not sure that I will go back since we tried pretty much every dish that I wanted to (except for the beef cheeks!). I still recommend it though! -
Review from Antonella C.
Edmonton, AB
12/19/2011
We went on the Friday night that the waitress mentioned it was almost the end of their 3rd week open, so for some things, I will forgive and yes, will go again....for other things, well, I have my culinary sensibilities given my background and will not be ordering the same thing again, unless they change the preparation.
As someone else mentioned, it is located in Oliver Square where Tesoro Cafe used to be and with the exception of changing the door (a nice entrance to be sure), they have maintained much of the internal architecture, though could have figured out a few spacing solutions (NEVER put a table for two less than an arm's length from where you keep cutlery, dishes AND the spray bottle and rags to clean the tables :-P! NOT nice AT ALL).
On to the meal. Our server was quite nice and attentive, and quite knowledgeable about the menu. For an appetizer, I shared with my companion the "Trio Bruschetta della Casa". It was for the most part, quite nice and we were able to share them since there were two of each. Of the three, the one that was the least impressive was the Eggplant bruschetta--it tasted like an eggplant tapenade you can buy from the jar (EEK, am I actually writing this?).
The way one refreshing thing: the waiter KNEW how to pronounce /brusketta/ vs. the rip out my eyes /bushetta/ :-]!
For my entree, given that it was a chilly night, I dared to order the Gnocchi. If you look at the menu today, they have changed the Gnocchi dish (thank goodness)....when I went on that chilly November 27th night, I had "Gnocchi with Sage Butter". The gnocchi were cooked (in water) and then sautéed in butter with sage...ugh.....(I know what you are thinking, "duh, that is what the menu said!"--but in this case it was Sage Butter with Gnocchi.... :-P) I ate some of them. TOO much butter and the sage was cooked vs. being fresh (which may not have helped given how much butter was in my dish). Unfortunately, I couldn't help myself but to tell the waiter my opinion when he asked.... If we go back and I dare .... the new Gnocchi dish is with "shallots and gorgonzola a la panna" (the "a la panna" bit is what I am unsure of since in Italian when you write "ALLA PANNA" it means there is cream...which I am sure it is what the writer of the menu meant, if he/she had checked how to spell it--I know, I know, I am a picky pain in the "sedere", however, as an Italian and the proprietors being Italian, I would like to hope that they too have the same respect for the language our parents and family members came with that they preserve it by spelling those few words correctly.
For dessert, I had the Apple and Polenta Cake vs. my companion who had the Chocolate Trio...his was a MUCH better choice as mine was more mild in flavour than I was expecting...the texture of the Cake was nice as the polenta meal flour gives it "personality" as it were....
One last thing important to know is that they do not have a fish option consistently. In fact, when I called to make the reservation, I did ask about this since my companion does not eat meat, but does eat fish. The person I spoke with was nice enough to say that "if we can good fish, we'll have it, if not, we won't be serving it for the evening." So, best to call for such a thing. In compensation, my companion had the Ravioli al Pesto, which was good, but not great....the ravioli were quite good, however the pesto was QUITE oily (and NO, pesto is not supposed to be OILY...it's supposed to be CREAMY...CREAMY is NOT OILY....you get the creamy from the pine nuts, NOT the oil you add or the cream you add). It's a waste of delicious basil which gives its little flavourful plant life to become pesto.
I am giving it a two star because I am not convinced that it is a two star spot....from the read of the menu and its aspirations, I think, believe and hope it will be a more star spot...hence, I wish there was a "needs another try" star as I plan to return to see if the two star stays or goes.... -
Review from Sarah W.
11/27/2011
Cibo Bistro is located in the space the Tesoro Cafe used to be, and I was pleased to walk in and see that they have maintained the beautiful atmosphere but made the most of it, which was one of Tesoro's flaws. It looks absolutely beautiful with the minimalistic decor, high ceilings, romantic lighting and candlelight.
The menu at Cibo is traditionally italian, and while I can see this adding to the upscale ambiance, I personally found it a little bit overwhelming and difficult to comprehend. The menu is very small and the ingredients are listed with foodie jargon - I found I had to actually google a few of the ingredients of dishes because it was not clear what they were. Call me ignorant, but hey, I admit it. I don't know what Chicken Conduto or White Bean Stufato is. While I was trying to mentally translate this menu into understandable terms, I found that that experience really took away from that feeling you get when you sit down at a restaurant, look at a menu and think "hey, that sounds good, I really want that." Maybe it's just me, I don't know.
The food itself was very good - obvious care and talent went into preparing it. I had the Guance Di Manzo - slow braised beef cheeks, arancini, wilted rapini. The beef cheek was braised to complete perfection and practically melted in my mouth. Arancini, for the record, is a crispy fried italian rice ball, and I found it to be a little gimmicky - would have been much nicer with some of the beautiful balsamic roasted potatoes they offer (for $7). My boyfriend had the brown butter and sage gnocchi and while it was very nice, I don't know if that alone was enough to warrant $18. Luckily, I found the beef cheek to be very rich, so he was able to eat half of that as his added protein. Our table mates had the gnocchi, bruchetta trio, which was very interesting but not your traditional bruchetta (warning - the eggplant bruchetta is very oily!) and the homemade ravioli. The homemade ravioli was the largest portion of the meal, made with house-made ricotta (note: unpasteurized, so pregnant girls can't partake!) and fresh pasta sheets.
Serving size is that of an upscale bistro - quite small. I feel that at $22, my meal was adequately portioned to warrant the price, but the pasta dishes (gnocchi and ravioli) were a little pricey for what you are getting. This is one of those restaurants where I really would have loved to have a complementary freshly baked roll to dip in balsamic and olive oil - the menu didn't offer a ton of appetizer options and I feel like it just would have been nice.
The service was very attentive but a little bit pretentious - tonight only one of us was drinking wine and hate going places and getting a little sneered at for not partaking. For the four of us, with four entrees, one small shared appetizer and a glass of wine, it came to around $110 before tip, which was quite pricey - and we still got a little feeling of disappointment from the server when we failed to order dessert. I feel like Cibo would be a great place to impress a date or celebrate an anniversary if you are an Italian food fan, but don't come here if you're just hankering for a taste of Italy. I feel like there are a few more options out there without the high price tag or need for menu translation. -
Review from Doug M.
Edmonton, AB
11/19/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Excellent food! Authentic Italian. Great decor. Friendly staff. Loved it & can't wait to go back.
