Saturday 21 July 2018

REVIEW: Cinnabar, Hertford

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more
Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more
Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

I'm pretty familiar with my part of Hertfordshire, and every now and then I realise that there's a whole chunk of my county that I haven't explored much. Which is something that blogging locally is great for, because sometimes I get invited to review somewhere a little further afield. So when the nice people at Cinnabar Hertford got in touch, asking if I wanted to sample their menu, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to explore Hertford.

Cinnabar is a restaurant and cocktail bar combo, that does great cocktails plus hearty food, including burgers, tapas, pizzas and brunch. We went for lunch, but I imagine it's heaving at night - with the plentiful drinks menu, it's a spot where I could see myself having an excellent night out. There are Cinnabars in Hertford and Old Stevenage - funnily enough, the Old Stevenage one is literally opposite where I stayed at the Cromwell Hotel.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

Matt was very happy when we sat down, as they were showing the World Cup so I set about choosing our drinks and food while he stared at the screen. Ah, marriage. We both started with a G&T - they have over 25 gins on their menu, so I chose a strawberry gin with a bitter lemon tonic which was an amazing combo.

They have a huge menu, and being spoiled for choice, I went for the ultimate compromise food - tapas! It's a great way to try a little bit of everything, and there was sooo much on the tapas menu that I wanted to try.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

First out came the four cheese fondue, which I was desperate to try and it didn't disappoint. Mozzarella, blue cheese, goat's cheese and mascarpone fondue with warm focaccia bread... I'm salivating. It was fabulous - creamy, rich and delicious. I must admit I went at it with a spoon when all the bread was gone. You know me and melted cheese.

We also got the patatas bravas, which was spicy and flavoursome - I even detected a little cinnamon - the chicken and peppers skewers (good, but a little bland), and sweet potato fries (always a pleasure).

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

The other great thing about tapas is if you have different tastes, you can mix and match accordingly. This meant me ordering a mushroom thing, and Matt ordering a fish thing. Everyone's happy. My mushroom thing was a halloumi stuffed field mushroom with roasted peppers, which was delicious - the mushrooms were so tender, and the halloumi was... well, halloumi. Nothing can go wrong when there's halloumi involved.

Aaand Matt got calamari, because if you haven't noticed by now, that boy loves him some calamari.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

It was a good mix of dishes, and we were a nice level of full (hands up who's ever ordered so many small plates that the waiter has told you to stop...), and while I'm sure most Spanish people wouldn't call these tapas, I ain't mad - they were delicious, even if they weren't all super Spanish. And because we ordered a good amount, we had room for dessert. Hooray for dessert!

Matt got the dessert pizza, which sadly has just come off the menu. He really liked it - it was topped with chocolate and fruit (a little banana-heavy for my tastes, but then I don't like bananas). Sweet, filling and a little different... he was a fan.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

I got Eton mess, which is quite often my go-to dessert as I like to pretend all that cream is light, ha. They'd done a cool twist on it, serving it as a sundae with a berry sorbet, mascarpone and little chunks of meringue. It was refreshing and cooling on a hot day, and huge too - I couldn't finish it.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more

I liked the vibe in Cinnabar a lot - casual and friendly, with great service. While we were there, I saw a real mix of people come in - a family with a little baby, a group of guys watching the football and some couples. I always think this is a good sign, don't you? It shows that it's welcoming to everyone.

We had a lovely Sunday afternoon in Hertford, which is a really pretty town. We chilled in the sun by the castle for a bit, then hopped in the car and headed home with full bellies. Thanks for the excellent feeding, Cinnabar!

Cinnabar is at 88-96 Fore Street, Hertford SG14 1AA. The restaurant kindly paid for our meal in exchange for this honest review.

Review of Cinnabar in Hertford, tapas, pizza, burgers and more
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