The Cinnamon Club

We came here for the Bombay Burner, supposedly the “hottest” curry in the world, but was dismayed to find that they have taken it off the menu. Nevertheless, we had a very enjoyable meal.

Food

There was a pleasing list of cocktails, but we stuck with the good old lassies. The Perfect Lassi (£6.00) - Lassi yoghurt, peach, orange blossom, cardamom, honey was beautiful, well balanced and fresh. In contrast, the Very Berry Lassi (£6.00) - Fresh berries and cranberry juice, lassi yoghurt was very boring, tasting like a not so sweet smoothie.

We all settled for the set menu, as it offered enough appeal and variety. I was surprised that we were given an amuse to start, not that I am complaining. The Dried flour ball with yoghurt and sauce was nice, with tangy sauce to get the taste bud going. The sauce again was the highlight to the Tandoori chicken thighs with fenugreek leaves, but the chicken was also very tender. The Braised pork sparerib with garlic and honey was melt in the mouth soft, with a pleasant and not too sweet sauce. Char grilled baby peppers filled with spiced cabbage and raisin actually turned out to be my favourite, imaginative, sweet and spicy, and a bit unusual.

Mains brought more surprises, I was pleased that thePan seared grey mullet with Bengali ‘dopyaza’ sauce was not another piece of fillet, but actually had some flavour. Fiery Rajasthani lamb curry with pulao rice was not really that fiery, but had some heat to make it very tasty. As with the entrées, the best dish turned out to be the vegetarian Selection of char grilled mushrooms with green pea pulao the mushrooms were juicy after soaking up that wonderful sauce.

Desserts kept the vibe going. Sorbet of the Day – guava, green apple, berry in a tuile basket was probably the most boring, there was nothing outstanding about them, but they weren’t done badly either. Saffron poached pear with cinnamon ice cream was more special. The pear was poached so that it still had bite, and the cinnamon ice cream was lovely. The best of all was the Chocolate and cumin tart with ginger ice cream, very rich chocolate, made special with the addition of cumin, add to that great pastry. Creamy and luscious ginger ice cream. You can’t ask for any better.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

I really like the setting, inside an old style library. The ceiling is very high, with the top level filled with walls of books. There were quite a few groups there, so noise level was quite high.

Rating - 2

Service

The waiters were all very nice and friendly, some seemed to have more of a grasp of things than others though. Our drinks took ages to arrive, and they calculated our bill wrong. It took ages before we got their attention to order. But the delivery of the food and the manners of the waiters were very professional.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

2 courses for £19 and 3 courses for £22, for an excellent meal, including a free drink!

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 14

Info

The Old Westminster Library
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BU
Phone +44 (0) 20 7222 2555
Website