The last time we were in Barbados was about eight years ago, and boy have things changed, definitely for the better. At that time, everything was in Bridgetown, a 45 minute drive from the hotel, something I do not want to do on vacation. In those days, everything had the old English aura. The best of the best were not known for great food. While in NY I made all of our dinner reservations. Someone had mentioned that CinCin was one of the better restaurants on the Island. I booked it early into our stay just in case we wanted to return. I sent them an email. I received an email back quite expeditiously, stating that they received my email and this was not a confirmation of our booking. They would get back to me in a day or two with an email to confirm the reservation. I was impressed. It was efficient and very professional. Definitely in the 21st-century. I was remembering Barbados from our last trip......very old Caribbean......and stuffy. CinCin was quite a surprise. Location wise it was about ten minutes from our hotel. A plus. We took a driver to the restaurant, but I was impressed to see that they had valet parking. Did not expect to see what I saw upon entering. Place was beautiful. We walked into a very chic new modern restaurant on the sea. It had a very loungey atmosphere. The decor was white and contemporary. It was bright. It was not your typical “Island” restaurant. There was music playing. There was a beautiful bar along one wall (with real mixologists). The entire front of the restaurant was glass looking out to the dining deck where all the outside tables were overlooking the sea. We had drinks at the bar while waiting for our table. I was not happy with the table we were given. It was outside along the rail, overlooking the sea, but it was too close to the busing station. Too much noise. We told the manager. And five minutes later he moved us to an appropriate table, although it was not at the water, it was set back about 5 feet back and it was very doable. They have a fabulous rain canopy that runs across the entire restaurant, but not in the traditional way of running an awning from the building towards the sea. This awning ran across the entire length of the dining area. It ran from side to side. And at the first sight of rain (and it rained every day and every night at least five times from 10 to 20 minutes each time......and that’s why the island is so green) a group of waiters began pulling on a pulley system, and in a matter of seconds, the entire restaurant was covered by this beautiful white ruched canopy. Now let’s get to the food. We wanted to try everything. And they did not disappoint. The food was incredible I know there was a beef carpaccio on the table. There was a chilled seafood salad. There was fried calamari. There was a roasted beet salad. There was a chicken liver Parfait, and the mahi-mahi was the catch of the day. Everything was cooked and plated to perfection. The delivery of the food was perfect. After dinner, I had no room for dessert but they insisted we try something, and so we did. Great. Great. Great. I swore I was not going to eat for a few weeks, but on the way out we made a reservation for 3 nights down the road......and all week I looked forward to going back. We did return three nights later. This time there was live music and the place was even more jumping than before. Maybe this was a weekend night. The restaurant is frequented by tourists in the know, and many locals. The management, the wait staff, the bartenders, and every other person who worked there, could not have been nicer or more professional. This came as a tremendous shock to me, again remembering Barbados from eight years ago.
And CinCin........here’s to them
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