Cinnamon Kitchen

Five of us decided to try this new sister restaurant of Cinnamon Club for lunch. As soon as we entered Devonshire Square, we were welcome by the Christmas carol service and the open-air market selling freshly baked bread, cheeze etc., and the restaurant was located at the northwest corner with a large terrace at the entrance.

The dining room was spacious with a very high ceiling exposing the vent pipeworks, giving the place a contemporary look and feel. We were shown the table at the very back close to the grill counter - great location to admire what is happening in the restaurant. The lunch set menu was short and simple, with meat/fish/vegie choice for starter and main. A good number of side dishes were also available.

We started with the basmati rice coated croquettes on a skewer which made a flavoursome aperitif together with cinnamon and gold leaf infused bellini. I ordered pork as starter, probably the first time to try pork in an Indian restaurant, and was very pleased with my carnivorous choice: juicy, tender and delicately seasoned. My fish main didn't betray my expectation either, but the "sweet & sour rice" accompanying my friend's chicken made me curious as well as the chick pea "gnocchi" in the vegetarian option. The home-made mango sorbet with red coullis was delicious and paired well with sparkling wine. To finish, all of us followed the waiter's recommendation to order the spiced milk tea. The accompanying petit fours were an icing on the cake with a subtle Indian twist.

Not only the food and venue being excellent, all the staff were friendly and attentive without being intrusive (the maitre d' turned up at the perfect timing to ask whether everything was all right). All in all, a highly satisfying experience and will definitely come back soon.
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Anne
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, December 22, 2008

Hoping to enjoy an Indian meal with a bit more refinement and authenticity rather than extremely calorific tinned sauces, my boyfriend and I opted to visit the Cinnamon Kitchen on Saturday and what a fabulous experience it was! Reluctant at first to visit on a weekend, purely down to the city location we were pleasantly surprised to find a fairly busy restaurant!

The restaurant is large and airy with a separate bar area to your left. You have the choice of sitting at a normal style table or in the kitchen bar style area where the chefs prepare food on the grill. The tables are large and well spaced out. The staff are friendly and professional and there to tend to your beck and call without that awful hovering feeling you can sometimes experience.

Onto the food... after our drinks order was underway we were presented with a delicious vegetable curry style appetiser which certainly impressed and had us looking forward to the next courses! For starters my other half indulged in a traditional minced kebab style dish which was yummy and I had a cinnamon and honey glazed duck breast which was ample in quantity and flavours alike!

For mains, I had grilled king prawns, with a seafood rice/risotto style dish which was superb and my other half had grilled haddock with a spiced crust served on a bed of rice with a delicious fish curry sauce drizzled around it. Both meals were equally delicious.

A point to mention is that the menu does have quite a large amount of fish on it, although there are meat alternatives for those who are not keen.

To finish off, being a self-confessed chocoholic I thought it only fair to sample a dish from the desert menu and opted for the Chocolate fondant - again delicious and beautifully presented.

The head chef and I believe part owner, also took the time to greet guests and have a quick chat which was an additionally nice touch.

All in all a very pleasant evening at a very reasonable £110 including service charge. A great place for business or social gatherings and a great location for the summer with the outdoor seating area!

We will be back!
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Nicola
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, December 22, 2008

Went here yesterday on a friends advice. I can say that I found the whole experience faultless. From the greet and seat staff, to the grill chef ( get a seat at the table grill if you can, but only up to 3-4 people or you will be to spread out) The menu is there as a guide really the chef basically takes the underlying product, IE duck, scallop etc and will then mould this to your exact tastes. Comes as a entree, then starter, then main. The dishes come enthusiastically presented, with all sauces created in house from fresh ingredients, None of the dishes were heavy, I had Seared Scallop, perfectly cooked with an array of dipping sauces followed by a fantastically prepared duck breast, pink not bloody and followed by haddok, in a crumb... everything was very very good.. I will be back without question... I may even bring my wife up to town one weekend.. something I rarely do as I just cant be bothered at weekends. But this place is worth it.. enough said really
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Liam Tomkins
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, December 10, 2008