db Eats: Cinnamon Bazaar

The Hanging Gardens of Cinnamon Bazaar – how do you imagine they water the plants?

The concept: The bazaar – that kaleidoscopic shop front from which goods, gossip and insults have been traded since time immemorial. Vivek Singh has become known for applying western (really, French) cooking techniques to ingredients and his Westminster curry institution the Cinnamon Club is a go-to for politicos hankering for haute cuisine curry. Cinnamon Bazaar is his fourth London venue (the other two are Cinnamon Kitchen, in the City, and Cinnamon Soho). Here he’s dialled right down the fine dining fanciness and added some hearty, soulful street food cred to the gastronomic equation.

The décor: Bazaar-y, I suppose. Exotically coloured, with lush coral-coloured ceiling drapes and various dangling bits of verdure (how do they water those plants without getting water all over the floor by the way?) It’s Changing Rooms does Arabian Nights – but on a good day. The five wood-framed booths against one wall are cosy for family/friend groups, while the rest of the dining area, serving around 40 covers, is very comfortable – neither suffocatingly cramped nor dispiritingly segregated.

Chaat show – the vibrant, zingily flavoured sharing plates at Cinnamon Bazaar

The food: Vivek Singh explains that both the food and drinks draw inspiration from ingredients and dishes that were popular in bazaars on the various spice routes over the centuries, with the aforementioned street food a clear theme.

The menu is split into Snacks (very eclectic – eg, Keralan-style whitebait; chana masala hummus with fenugreek-scented nimki (fried wheat crackers)), Chaats and Bazaar Plates, with sharing very much encouraged. For those unfamiliar, chaats are savoury street food snacks, which come in many forms, many of them involving yoghurt and tangy chutneys of coriander and tamarind). Cinnamon Bazzar presents them on a special chamiya (a moveable cart) so you can pick what you want as you would from a dessert trolley. Whatever you choose, from the crunchy wheat, tamarind chutney and chickpea vermicelli of papdi chaat to the pungently spicy samosa chaat, expect vibrant colours, flavours and textures.

The Bazaar Plates, as the mains are called, are inspired by food loci all along the ancient spice routes, with the odd nod to colonial dishes (eg, roganjosh shepherds’ pie), so you’ll see Kolkata spiced cod, Lahore chicken leg with pickled root veg, Keralan Malabar boatman’s haddock curry; even Bazaar shrimp fried rice with stir-fried bok choi.

Pricewise, you’re looking at an average of £20 for a chaat and a main.

The drinks: It can’t be easy to create a wine list for an Indian restaurant, particularly one so eclectic in its food offering. So many spices, so much chilli – that counts out a lot of reds (tannin and heat just don’t like each other) and any wine whose charms are of a subtle or delicate sort. If you’re going for a red, soft and fruity would be my advice, or maybe a chilled Beaujolais.

It looks like a wine list that’s heavily weighted towards one supplier (Liberty Wines), but there are definitely some interesting wines here – how about an Areni Noir from Zorah in Armenia? Or the ‘Chakalaka’ red blend from South Africa’s Spice Route (picked as much for the winery name as anything else but a good wine nonetheless).

Whites might be your best bet for refreshment however – Domaine Laroche Chablis is a welcome sight (its ‘St Martin’ 2015 is on by the glass), as is Fred Loimer’s ‘Langenlois’ Grüner Veltliner. As with the Armenian red, you’ll find hints of the exotic among the whites too – a dry Slovenian Malvazija, for example. Two Proseccos (Ca’ di Alte Extra Dry and Rosé Extra Dry) and two Champagnes (Sophie Baron Brut Grand Réserve and Devaux Cuvée Rosé) are also on by the glass.

Of course, you don’t have to drink wine – there’s  a good selection of lagers, Pilsners and hipster pale ales, and not forgetting the pretty little menu of bespoke Cinnamon Bazaar cocktails, a collaboration between Vivek Singh and in-demand mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan). The Bazaar Old Fashioned is mixed with coconut sugar and sprinkled with burnt cinnamon (a good thing), while the Gin Julep combines Star of Bombay gin, mint, amchoor green mango and black cardamon. I got the impression it was tasty but that was as much as I got because the crushed ice kept getting stuck in the bottom of my straw. Which is when I moved on to the Laroche.

Who to know: General manager Regi Devassy will be able to fill you in on the culinary traditions on the spice route which inspired the dishes.

Signature dish: According to Regi, the ox cheek vindaloo and tandoori lamb fillet korma really fly the flag for the place. The tandoori lamb fillet korma is made up of super-tender pieces of Kentish lamb fillet cooked pink, with mint chilli korma, while in the richly flavoured ox cheek vindaloo (the heat’s totally bearable – a low green-chilli hum provoking not even a single bead of sweat for this chilli novice), the cheek is as tender and unctuous as it could possibly be; the rich garlic potatoes that accompany it almost too rich.

Don’t leave without: Indulging in a sweet treat. After a huge and powerfully flavoured dinner here, a cubeb (allspice-like pepper berry) kulfi (unchurned, milk-based ice cream) ‘lolipop’ really does the trick.

Cinnamon Bazaar, 28 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7JS