Restaurant review: Aperitivo Cicchetti serves up big tastes on small plates

‘I think we are in a Sally Rooney novel’ quipped my guest around halfway through our meal in Apertivo Cicchetti.

Given that Aperitivo is less than 100 metres from the Arts Block entrance to Trinity College and the fact that our fellow diners were all twenty-somethings, this was an astute observation.

The couple beside us were even dressed a little like Connell and Marianne and at one point were having strong words about something.  I really hope she was chiding him for turning up to their date in his football shorts — even Connell would never have done that.

Aperitivo Cicchetti is a lively new ‘small plates’ (cicchetti) wine and cocktail bar on Nassau Street from the people behind The Port House tapas bar.

The room is tiny but this also meant that the noise levels were high so the eavesdropping wasn’t as easy as you might expect.

The interior is aiming for ‘Italian swing joint in the 1950s’ they say, and they more or less achieve this — the lampshades made from Campari bottles being particularly fetching. The menu is a mixum-gatherum of familiar Italian dishes and cocktails with no particular region in mind.

We began with Classic Negronis (€11) because you’d have to in a place like Aperitivo — they were correctly made with a good balance of sweet and bitter. 

Similarly, our Bruschetta Pomodoro (€8) was a solid start to the food — slices of grilled crunchy Ciabatta piled high with sweet baby plum tomatoes coated in a punchy basil and balsamic dressing.

Fritti Misto Per Due (€14) could have served three such was the small mountain of fried fish that arrived next. 

This too was pitch-perfect and I can still taste the baby sardines (bianchetti) in their crisp, feather-light batter — not to mention the sweet matchsticks of fried courgette and plump Mediterranean prawns — the dish reminded me that sometime in my life I need to go to the ‘Fritto Misto’ festival in the Marche region — it sounds like heaven.

Tortellini with Spinach and Cheese (€7.50) was creamy and herbal and they slipped down easily — a nice contrast to the rich Rigatoni Carbonara (€8.50) which contained just egg yolks, Parmesan, and good quality, lightly funky, guanciale. Classic Tuscan Panzanella Salad (€7.90) also offered contrast thanks to a pleasingly pungent dressing, and again, the tomatoes shone strongly.

Now to a bum note, the only one of the night if we exclude some insipid garlic mayonnaise. Pollo Milanese (€7.50) — the Italian version of a Schnitzel — was practically inedible thanks to an unpleasant dense coating and poor quality chicken — this dish needs a complete re-think.

The drinks menu is almost exclusively Italian with a selection of cocktails starting at €7.50 for the (pre-mixed) House Negroni and other cocktails averaging €11-12. 

The wine list is fully Italian with no bargains, but our fruity and ripe-tasting bottle of Saladini Pilastri Rosso Piceno from the Marche was relatively fairly priced at €38.

Given our greed earlier in the meal we opted for lighter desserts to share. 

A lightly alcoholic Zabaglione (€8) had pleasing sweet custardy flavours offset by Marsala, while a self-assembly Affogato (€6) arrived as three scoops of ice cream with good quality espresso on the side. 

Two hours into our meal the room had warmed considerably — enough that the lad next to us had removed his geansaí and completed his sporty ensemble with a Brazilian football shirt. 

Noise levels had also increased exponentially — it had been fun but it was time to move on (as Connell said to Marianne — in chapter four I think).