Our annual visits to London
are often centered on sampling the outstanding
Indian cuisine that the city is known
for. Despite the new and exciting restaurants
that have popped up over the last few
years and elevated the notoriously dismal
restaurant scene, we still have to include
at least one Indian feast during our time
in the city. As an added benefit, Indian
restaurants often offer a welcome retreat
into more reasonable tabs from London's
exorbitantly high prices.
On our last visit, we checked
out three spots:
The Cinnamon Club is housed in the ground
and basement levels of an historic library
building near Westminster Abbey. The clean,
elegant, serene interior includes restored
parque flooring, handpicked art pieces,
and imported Indian marble and stone.
The menu tantalizes with
dishes like the Zucchini flower stuffed
with corn and mint appetizer, and entrees
like seared duck breast with sesame tamarind
sauce, grilled wild prawns with coconut
and mustard sauce, and seared calves liver
with tangy potatoes and spiced onions.
After much dithering, we
settled on two appetizers – smoked
lamb kebabs which were beautifully seasoned
and prepared to tender perfection, and
rabbit loin stuffed with cottage cheese
and dried fruits. Both dishes, especially
the rabbit, were artistically presented
and delicious.
More dithering, and then
entrée selections. Rogan Josh lamb was
deeply colored and just spicy enough,
with tender chunks of lamb and served
with a tasty rice pilaf. For a vegetarian
choice, we sampled the delicious baby
eggplant in a finger-licking-good peanut
sauce spiked with fresh mint.
The fun and adventurous
wine list is short, too the point, and
carefully selected. Prices entirely reasonable.
Service was friendly and efficient.
All in all, Cinnamon Club
was a hit with us. Prices are moderate
to high, with appetizers running $8-13,
and entrees $16-37.
The Old Westminster Library
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BU
020 7222 2555
www.cinnamonclub.com
Bright, attractive, friendly, colorful
– Mela was a welcome breath of fresh
air on a dreary London winter day. Located
off Charing Cross Road in the West End,
Mela offers authentic Indian food at prices
that are so reasonable, especially given
the location, that we found ourselves
wondering why we would bother going anywhere
else.
We were there for lunch
and so had the opportunity to sample the
Indian-styled sandwich selection. You
get to choose your bread and filling –
they end up very much like a panini, but
with Indian flavorings. The mixed vegetables
in the Roomali flatbread were terrific
and jazzed up with mint and cilantro chutney.
Savory chicken samosas were
perfectly cooked, hot and tasty and made
a perfect appetite-enhancing starter.
We then moved on to entrees,
including super-tender chicken kabobs
(Murg Khasta) that had been marinated
in heady spices and yogurt and then roasted
in the tandoori oven. Tawe ki Bathak was
perfectly cooked duck breast with coconut,
cilantro and cumin, and garnished with
fresh mint. It was slightly spicy, but
not overly so – everything in this
dish worked in perfect harmony.
We would go back to Mela
anytime, and certainly plan to make it
a regular stop on our annual trip to London.
Service was friendly. Ingredients were
fresh and of the highest quality. And
at prices like this (most appetizers $6-9,
most entrees $10-18), Mela shouldn’t
be missed.
152-156 Shaftesbury Avenue
WC2H 8HL
Tel 020 7836 8635
www.melarestaurant.co.uk/
Zaika is a great looking place. Recently
opened at one end of Kensington High Street,
the room is a contemporary palate of subtle,
moody lighting, elegant neutral tones,
and dashes of high impact color. The menu
is a fusion of old and new styled Indian
cuisine, with artful presentations. The
food itself is hit and miss – at
fairly high prices.
We were first served a basket
of crispy flatbreads and an assortment
of chutneys, some better than others.
Next up, a trio of scallops appetizer
was attractive and tasty – including
sesame seed coated, spiced, and poached
in coconut milk – a lovely way to
begin the evening, especially when paired
with a glass of bubbly from the New World
influenced wine list.
The Zaika Platter starter
is a sampling of dishes, the best of which
were the succulent and nicely seasoned
salmon kebabs. The chicken and duck rolls
were fair, as were the samosas.
Entrees faired somewhat
better, especially the Lamb Birani, served
under a flaky crust, with delicious yogurty
sauce. We could have, and should have,
just ordered that. Crab Risotto was an
uneasy fusion of spiced and roasted prawns,
seared tuna, and crab meat risotto that
left me cold.
The vegetable side dishes
were outstanding – an assortment
could make a perfectly good (and much
less expensive) meal. Masala cumin potatoes
were spicy and tender, with a slightly
crispy edge.
Service was not too impressive.
We waited a solid half hour for our first
round of cocktails to appear – a
wait made all the more lengthy by our
full view of the not busy bartender arranging
glasses rather than preparing our drinks.
After a complaint to the manager (who
apologized but conspicuously failed to
offer the drinks on the house), service
picked up a bit but was never particularly
attentive.
I’d be open to going
back, should the occasion arise, to enjoy
the beautiful room and enjoy every last
bite of the Lamb Birani and side veggies.
And that’s about it.
1 Kensington High Street
W8 6NP
020 7795 6533
www.zaika-restaurant.co.uk
