Cinnamon bazaar is a new opening from the collective group of Cinnamon Indian restaurants. I missed the soft launch where they had 50% off but visit on a Friday night 2 weeks into the main opening. I have to say I did visit on a night where i was really tired from a long week at work and just wanted a chilled night. The place was buzzing and a bit loud, but it’s a Friday night in Covent garden so i can’t really have a moan.
Food
3 Chaats, Papdi, Watermelon and Aloo tikki. £4.50 each
Papdi chaat a mix of crisp wheat, tangy tamarind, yoghurt and chickpea vermicelli. Watermelon chaat, yep sounds strange – Pressed watermelon, amaranth seeds, date chutney, masala cashew nuts. Aloo tikki chaat, a spiced potato cake with curried white peas, chickpeas
The watermelon chaat was something that i have never heard of before, it was certainly different and fresh but an odd combination that didn’t work for my taste. The papdi chaat and aloo tikki were pretty good, nice balance of flavours and use of tamarind which i am a fan of. Prices are reasonable and the portion sizes just about right, maybe could be a tad more.
Mains
Kabuli kofta £10.00
We all shared food between us. Straight away I’m going to say that the Kabuli kofta which were basically spinach balls were really good. The accompanying tomato and fenugreek sauce was really rich in flavour and spice and went perfectly with the texture and taste of the spinach balls. 8/10
Lahore style kadhai chicken £10.50
The Lahore style kadhai chicken with pickled root vegetables was my choice and i liked the presentation, the dish was simple and light, the chicken well cooked but the overall dish lacked that punch. 6.5/10
Malabar boatman’s haddock curry £13.50
The fish dish was an haddock curry with kokum, green mango chutney, i found the strong natural flavours of the haddock overpowering and the sauce a bit too tangy. The least prefered dish on the night. 4/10
The service was okay, it got busy and hard to get the attention of waiters, when are main waiter was not available we tried to ask another waiter a question and he could not understand english very well. We ended up also asking for the service charge to be removed, as i think the priced up enough as it was and if the service is optional, then why would i pay extra if i don’t have to!
Overall, it was a okay food experience which left me thinking that recently the non meat dishes i’ve been eating have tasted the best.
With so many other places around I don’t think i’d ever come back. I was put off with the fact that there was pork on the menu, which i didn’t know prior to booking, had i known, i would not have come whereas its personally off putting.
