Wednesday 7 December 2016 at 04:36 with ≡
Hello! Ok have recently realised I have issues spelling cinnamon like instinctively I type cinammon instead. How embarrassing. Anyway! I've been looking forward to this opening for awhile, because Vivek Singh! I haven't gotten round to trying his other places, but I guess Cinnamon Bazaar was a good place to start. So when the dates for the soft launch came out I had to find someone to go with me, and thankfully J was free on a weekday lunch!
As usual I asked our server for some recommendations, and she gave us a couple in each sections (chaats, starters, mains). I'd also like to mention that she was exceedingly friendly and warm which really made our meal there that much more enjoyable.
We eventually decided on the watermelon chaat (because WATERMELON - my fav fruit ever btw) from the chaat section. Plenty of other interesting ones as well, but this was pretty interesting because it was sweet from the watermelon, savoury from the spiced puffed rice (i think thats what it was?), tangy from the dressing and crunchy from the nuts so basically it was lots of flavours in a single dish.
THIS crab bonda though! Calcutta spiced crab with beetroot in chickpea batter, according to the menu. Fried dishes always have a special place in my heart, and this was light but well-seasoned so that the crab flavours really came through (-: I just wish there was more of it sobs because 2 each is so not enough! Would eat all 4 on my own
Okay, I'd like to pause to apologise for the trashy photos that are way too warm-coloured but I'm slightly too lazy to edit them all so we'll just have to live with it & I hope it doesn't make the food look any less appetising.
Now on to the mains! J wanted the haddock curry, and at first the Roganjosh shepherd's pie and shrimp fried rice caught my eye (actually so did everything else on the menu - the grilled aubergine & char-grilled cauliflower sound yumz too, if you're vegetarian! unfortunately there aren't a lot of dairy free options so I won't be bringing YH here) but she recommended the ox-cheek vindaloo (which I admit I was also eyeing because ox!cheek!) and the double-cooked pork belly (she did also recommend the lamb fillet and shrimp fried rice, if I remember correctly, but these are the two we went with! I also insisted that we get a garlic naan because I was afraid I wouldn't be full. Or maybe I just wanted naan heh.
I'm glad I did get the naan though because it was so good I could've eaten it on its own (which is like the hallmark of a good naan) - the amazing smell of freshly toasted (for the lack of a better word) naan that is crispy but fluffy and garlicky ooo i could do with some naan now, it's a bad idea to blog on an empty stomach )-:
The ox cheek vindaloo with masala mash! The masala mash was pretty interesting! It's obviously not as creamy and smooth as those fancy mashes you get elsewhere since its sitting there on the plate in that cute little shape, but I liked the flavours and spices incorporated in this. The ox cheek could've been just a tad more tender but it was a good dish overall.
The pork belly was the more impressive dish though - tender but not falling apart so you still get some nice meaty feel, complimented with the fats on the pork belly (i luvvv the fats) that was all complemented with the sweet onions/spicy chillis/curried yogurt/chutney. I'm not sure how I could possibly describe it (due to poor knowledge of exactly how that pork belly is cooked, apologies) but it was good, and I ate every single piece of onion (and chilli, after which my mouth was on fire and being embarrassed I tried to pretend as though nothing happened)
DESSERT TIME (-: I'm not sure what I was expecting with this carrot halwa roll with clove iced double cream, because I had no idea what halwa was, but this spring roll-esque dish was pretty interesting! It's like a sweet carrot spring roll with mango sauce at the bottom, and the clove ice cream was refreshing! I love spices in my dessert because it really brings out a different flavour and isn't overly sweet.
J got the cubeb kulfi, and kindly cut it up instead of just biting it off the stick like I might've done, so that I could try some! We googled to find out what cubeb was (type of pepper), but the taste wasn't strong in the kulfi, just enough to be interestingly savoury. The nutty flavour of pistachio came through more, and I really liked it (and wished I had gotten my own)
It was a good indian meal - kinda different from the traditional indian food, but in a good way! I can see why they've been so successful with the other restaurants as well, and I'd love to get around trying the others. Good service + good food + a nice ambience (the hanging colourful drapes were gorgeous) - I might just return sometime (for breakfast, maybe?)
p.s. we paid 12.50 each after the 50% from the soft launch (;
Cinnamon Bazaar
28 Maiden Ln
London WC2E 7JS
Labels: coventgarden, indian, london, november2016, viveksingh
