The Cinnamon Club's new spin-off, Cinnamon Kitchen may be hosting a huge launch party tonight, and in fact opens the day after, ready to gather in local spenders. But right now it looks like a building site, with toilet cubicles missing most of the lacquered wood panelling. We had a great time picking our way over the drills and spirit level measures just to have a pee.
Like its mummy restaurant (pictured) that's well-placed in Westminster to gather in politicians in search of an upmarket curry - and with vague colonial overtones that also appeal, Cinnamon Kitchen is targeting the wealthy and powerful too. In this case it's the bankers who like the macho implications of curry, but want to spend a bit more.
However, who's spending now? An upmarket curry house might have seemed a great idea when planning a year ago - in the flashy new Devonshire Square development too - but bankers don't have a great deal of money right now and, worse, there are far less of them.
Anyway, the man himself, Vivek Singh "didn't want to think in that way", and was surprised when we suggested that there might be a few closures in the restaurant sector after Christmas. Did we let you down gently Vivek? Private rooms, the once great money-spinner of the £80-a-head restaurant, have been in serious non money-making vein recently but at least Cinnamon Club's version wasn't pokey like some. It had a vast view onto the kitchen, and felt a part of the restaurant, not a tagged-on license to up GP.
Singh admitted bookings were down in Westminster, but that more people were just showing up to take up the slack. Sensibly, the 'Kitchen', isn't planned to be one of those direct replication formulas that get rolled out everywhere in the same mould, but with elements, as Singh saw it, that could be duplicated. In other words he could take the grill for much smaller Cinnamon place. Or perhaps just bring the bar element somewhere, adding in street food-style dishes.
Anyway, regardless of whether that's the right idea now or not, the food is at the level of Cinnamon Club. 'Red deer' and Rajasthani spices with mushroom was the highlight - huge chunks of venison with smoky spices, although kulfi ice cream was outstanding too. It's the tandoori-style smokiness in his savoury dishes that Singh does so well, appearing again in a vast Indian Ocean prawn, alongside a tiny haddock fillet portion. To accompany there were buttery, sweet potato-filled Nan breads with more of that delicious barbecue-esque taste. Good luck Vivek - hopefully the pre-Christmas covers will cover a quiet January.
London's Cinnamon Club to open sister restaurant in the City >>
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