Cinammon Bazaar

I’m in Richmond on today’s conquest and I’ve decided to head down to Cinnamon Bazaar which is owned by renowned chef and restaurateur Vivek Singh who also owns the famous Cinnamon Club in Central London.

Firstly, the interior of the restaurant is brilliant. Very relaxing, almost like an upmarket cafe. Despite the mounting traffic, I thought it would be easier to sit outside as to not disturb other diners.

I ordered the Lamb Roganjosh Shepherd’s Pie (£18.00) which is their signature dish and rated as TimeOut’s top 100 best dishes in London – we shall see about that. A very unusual dish to find in an Indian restaurant. I also ordered the Bazaar Chicken Makhani (£17.50) which is their take on butter chicken with pilau rice as a side. The Chicken Tikka Naan (£7.00) was staring at me as I’ve never tried it before, so I thought I’d give that a go too.

The Lamb Roganjosh Shepherd’s Pie was bizarre. The mince lamb was tasty but the chunks of lamb were a tad overcooked for my liking and rendered the meat quite dry. I was expecting a lot more of a punch from the dish itself which I felt lacked any spice at all. Overall, a good fish but I felt slightly underwhelmed. The Bazaar Chicken Makhani on the other hand had my taste buds tingling. An exquisite dish, easily one of the best curry dishes I’ve had on the channel so far. A hint of spice with the tomato sauce and overall, a fantastic tasting butter chicken.

The Chicken tikka naan was far too greasy for my liking. The naan was too floppy and the grease made the bread quite unpleasant to eat. I also didn’t like the mix between the naan and the dishes. My fault? Perhaps.

To finish off? Chocolate & Paan Mousse with palm jaggery and nutmeg ice cream (£7.50). Absolutely delicious.

Overall I found the experience a little bizarre. Some good things, some not so good things. Would I go again? Yes, but only for the Chicken Makhani. The bill came to £50.00 overall which I think was fair given the amount of food ordered.