SquareMeal Review
Bronze Award
Cinnamon Bazaar spices up Covent Garden's foodie hotspot, Maiden Lane, with this appealingly vibrant and relaxed bonne bouche that is Vivek Singh’s [Cinnamon Collection] most casual format restaurant to date. The budget menu revolves around different sized sharing plates, snacks and chaats (street food), with sides such as creamy black dal, mopped up with roti or paratha. Dishes have settled into a consistently well-executed groove, with recent favourites including: papdi chaat topped with yogurt, watermelon chaat with amaranth seeds, date chutney and masala cashew nuts, and a heart-warming samosa that marries vegetables, curried white peas and a tangy tamarind chutney. For mains, we recommend double-cooked 'Koorg-style' pork belly, succulent and judiciously spiced, if it’s on the menu, and a melt-in-mouth lamb kebab with flaky saffron paratha. Other innovations include an Indian-style afternoon tea or chaat trolley, as well as cocktails, courtesy of star mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) – we loved the mango-infused Gin Julep. Colourful drapes and painted walls in the high room recreate the bustle of an Indian market, with plenty of noise and service that is kindly and knowledgeable even when busy.