Cinnamon Bazaar Richmond review
Cinnamon Bazaar Richmond review
Twist on Indian classics in a casual cafe
Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Bazaar has opened in Richmond, offering street food style dishes in a casual setting. The site, previously a Carluccio’s, is conveniently over the road from the station and has an outdoor space for warmer weather.
The interiors are a bright palette of pinks and greens and have been decked out with colourful Indian newspapers papering the walls, cheery artefacts, and neon signs, tapping in to the idea of a café in a bustling bazaar.
And bustling it was – we visited just a few weeks after opening in early March and word had already got around.
I was looking forward to seeing the chaat trolley in action (trolleys seem to be a big thing for restaurants in 2024!) but apparently it is still being perfected and will be operational soon. In the meantime, you can pick your Indian street food dishes from the chaat section of the menu.
A tomato and cashew chaat with poached cherry tomatoes and tamarind chutney was a tasty dish of spice, crunch and sauce, with a cold tomato sorbet alongside – a novel twist and excellent.
We absolutely loved our dahi puri chaat with tangy potatoes in a semolina shell. The idea is to devour them quickly before the delicate shell dissolves. They were divine bites of sweet, sour and spice.
For mains, we went for tandoori king prawns with a Goan curry sauce. The dish came with three perfectly cooked morsels and a delicious sauce alongside lemon rice. Ox cheek vindaloo was a dish of tender meat, in a well-balanced sauce with all the beautiful blend of flavours and vinegar tang of a vindaloo. In a nod to fusion, it is served with a masala mash and pickled root vegetables.
The house black dal was wonderful, comforting and plentiful and the crisp fluffy naan was just the thing to scoop it up with.
My slight niggle is that you do have to spend more here than you might think, given the casual interiors and ethos. Keep in mind that the cheaper ‘plates’ on the menu such as a pork belly (£14) that we spied on a neighbouring table are small dishes rather than substantial mains. Our vindaloo was £18 and the prawns £25 and while that includes staples and a veg with the dish, we did feel we needed the extra sides of dal and breads. However, the restaurant is currently addressing its portion sizes. The quality and execution of the cooking lives up to the prices but feels a little at odds with the atmosphere.
But this is a great new addition to Richmond. Service is friendly and helpful and it’s a fun spot for a lively night out.
31- 35 Kew Road, TW9
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH VIVEK SINGH
