Restaurant review: Cinnamon Soho

Cinnamon Soho is the latest opening from celebrity chef Vivek Singh follows in the footsteps of Cinnamon Club and Cinnamon Kitchen, located in Westminster and the City respectively. Taking a side-step from his traditional Indian cooking, Vivek’s menu here reverberates with fun as he plays around with Anglo-Indian favourites and sprinkles some spice onto classic Brit meals.

The menu is split into all-day dishes, small plate-style bites, starters and main courses. Of an evening time, you could do worse than get a selection from across the board to share, though kid-in-a-sweetshop syndrome may well kick-in and leave your table – and waistline – straining.

Curried cullen skink gives an Indian twist to the classic smoked fish pie, with a creamy masalaspiced sauce creating as soothing a comfort dish as could be imagined. A hot-sweet shrimp ‘kichri’ is Cinnamon’s version of kedgeree, taking this dish back to what is beleieved to be its original roots. Lentils are mixed with the rice as is traditional, offering a pleasing textural contrast, though the spicing is tame to the point of non-existent.

Offering a menu section entitled ‘balls’ has to be something of a USP for Cinnamon Soho, but it’s worthy of more than just a chuckle. Spherical highlights include a beautifully gooey-yolked spiced Scotch egg and a succulent take on a shammi kebab, formed of ground chickpeas as well as fi nely minced beef to create something between a meatball and a falafel.

Ox cheek vindaloo is another memorable moment that blends British and Indian influences. Being a traditional vindaloo sauce rather than the curry house bravado version, it’s deep and richly flavoured rather than blow-your-head-off spicy – though the sheer tenderness and multi-layered taste of the meat may just blow your mind.

If there have already been some very clever dishes on the menu, none can match the brains which have gone into the bheja fry curry. Its main ingredient is lamb brains. Put any squeamishness to one side, because very good they are too. Both taste and texture are similar to bone marrow, with the melty mass just about held together by a crisp outer batter to form some nutritious neuro nuggets that could rival any fast food outlet for moreishness.

Under most circumstances it would have been brains that left the lasting impression, but there’s another dish which is so simple yet brilliant that takes the crown. If you haven’t tried haleem, a kind of thick dhal with finely minced lamb mixed in, then you have your reason to visit. It’s creamy, meaty, unctuous lusciousness might just change your life. Or at least your eating habits.

Cinnamon
5 Kingly Street
London
W1B 5PF
Underground: Oxford Circus