The other day I drove to the ends of the earth. I had to take my Passport with me. I needed a map. Padkos. I put petrol in my car and checked the tyre pressure. Boy, Canal Walk is far away.
I’ve lived I Cape Town for 6 years, but I’m still a Durbanite at heart. It’s hard enough trekking to the other side of The Mountain (ie. Southern Suburbs) but on this chilly Winter evening I visited CinCin in Milnerton. Why? Because I heard that I needed to try one of their specialities:
A dee-lee-shi-ous pie.
CinCin, pronounced Chin Chin, is in the Colosseum Hotel. This relatively small, yet sophisticated restaurant runs 24 hours a day and can seat up to 60 guests.
To start I had spicy chicken and prawn ravioli (R65) served in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce. The ravioli itself was perfectly thin without disintegrating and the filling was very simple seasoned, which worked perfectly with the deliciously rich sauce. It wasn’t a huge portion, but was absolutely perfect because I knew what I still had coming my way.
Marvin decided to go for the fresh local mussels in a creamy, white wine sauce and for only R45 – the portion was enormous! So often restaurants overcompensate for tiny little frozen mussels with a heavy, overpowering garlicky sauce. These mussels were fresh and flavourful, and (thankfully) weren’t overpowered by the incredibly light sauce. I loved my own starter, but I must admit that I had a smidgen of food jealousy.
For my main I had the big boy of the menu: slow-cooked lamb shank and vegetable pie topped with golden brown puff pastry (R140). An entire shank rested in the dish, surrounded by seasonal veg and gravy. The lamb was so tender it (for lack of a better term) fell off the bone and the puff pastry was light and crispy. It was totally worth the drive.
Marvin took the burger menu for a ride. A beef burger topped with Pepperdew jam and Camembert (R45) and skinny chips (R12). The patty was perfectly pink in the centre and tasted homemade – rather then those awful, grainy store-bought burgers that some restaurants try to get away with. And the chips? Oh, the chips – skinny and crispy and perfect. But let’s be honest, potatoes almost all their forms make me happy.
There are items on the menu that are on the affordable-side and those which are more pricy. There are dishes that are more heavy, and the more healthy (a dedicated part of the menu is titled “For the Health Conscious. So then, not me?). CinCin really does have something for everyone. It’s a hotel restaurant with a difference.
Go find your Passport. Pump up your car tyres. And try something different.
