Eating Out
Restaurant
Reviews
The Cinnamon Club
30-32 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BU
Telephone: 020 7222 2555
Maybe it’s just me, but when I heard about
the Cinnamon Club I had visions of one of
the many London Clubs that exist in our fair
capital or a secret society like the ‘Riot Club’,
rather than a fine dining Indian restaurant
serving high quality dishes a stones throw
from the Houses of Parliament, but a fine
dining restaurant it is.  The Cinnamon Club
is the venture of Iqbal Wahab and executive
chef Vivek Singh, with a vision to bring
sophisticated Indian food to London.
The Cinnamon Club is conveniently
located near to the Houses of Parliament and
Westminster tube station, (although when I
visited I didn’t see any politicians of any party
or lobbyists, but I am sure this is a favourite),
on the site of the old Westminster library.  Be
warned, if you are not eagle eyed as you will
almost certainly miss the entrance, as the only
The Cinnamon Club
external evidence of the pleasures to come was
a small plaque by the door.
The red bricked exterior bristling with
Victoriana gives way to a compact entrance
hall where you choose to go downstairs to
the contemporary bar, or right into the main
library, sorry dining room! The bar is a real
contrast to the Grade II listed building and
is minimalistic whilst boosting a unique glass
projection screen which runs the whole length
of the back wall, and it is here you can relax
sipping a Lychee Bellini or Dehli Mule, setting
the scene for the main course in the main
restaurant above. Despite the lure of the bar,
my companion and I decided to go to our
table and on entering the main dining room
I was struck by the light and airy feel.  With
its high ceilings, parquet floors and the high
brown leather seating around the edges, this
could have come straight from an English club
in India in the 1920’s, although there is still a
slight hint of library as the upper balcony is
lined with books, and I suspect it was this that
encouraged me to whisper and look behind
me for the strict librarian to tell me to 'shush'.
Indian cuisine encompasses a wide variety
of regional cuisines which vary significantly
given the range of diversity in soil type, climate
and the availability of the locally available
spices, herbs, vegetables and fruits, and the
Cinnamon Club chefs use all their expertise
to take the best of all, even if it is in the heart
of London rather than the best part of four
thousand miles away.
If you hadn't realised by now that this is not
your usual Indian restaurant, a quick glance
at the menu will convince you.  Here there
are no onion bahjis or chicken tikka for your
appetisers, instead your taste buds are treated
to the perfectly spiced Bombay style vegetables
with cumin pao pickled red onion (£8), or
Green spiced Norfolk free ranged chicken
breast with tandoori chicken rillettes (£9.50),
or my personal favourite, and the stand out
dish on the whole menu, is the Spice Crusted
Kentish Lamb Fillet with smoked paprika
raita and coriander chutney (£10). The lamb is
exquisite and literally melts in your mouth and
the lightly spiced raita provides the perfect foil.
The main courses continue the ‘around
India theme’ with the Goan Sorpotel of
Iberico pork presa with Goan spiced pork
dumplings (£35), which was accompanied
not by the usual sanna (a spongy white and
slightly sweet steamed rice and coconut
bread), but a steamed wine rice cake which
had a similar texture, although the pork was
cooked to perfection, the vinegar taste was a
little too overpowering for this critic's taste
buds, so be warned. Other dishes worthy of
noting are the Spice Crusted Halibut with
tomato tamarind sauce, ginger jaggery pickle
(£25) where the tamarind provided just
enough sweet-sour tang to the dense and firm
texture of the halibut, and the Tandoori Wild
Spencer Gulf King Prawns with malai curry
sauce, dried shrimp rice (£20). All of these
were accompanied by Pilau rice (£3), and a
selection of breads (£7.50), which includes
naan, paratha and roti.
What I also like about Indian food is that it
caters well for the vegetarian and The Cinnamon
Club doesn’t disappoint here. A pan seared
aubergine steak (£16) or the tandoori paneer
with padron pepper and root vegetables (£17),
were innovative and certainly not afterthoughts
like many vegetarian dishes seem to be.
Dessert is also a treat, and we selected the
Gulab jamun and passion fruit tart with lime
and mint sorbet (£7.50), and the Original
Beans milk chocolate and pecan nut pudding,
bitter chocolate mousse and thandai ice cream
(£9.00), both fine ends to a lovely meal.
The wine list is extensive and will cater for all
tastes and pockets, and is cleverly chosen to truly
accompany the delicate flavours of the food,
but there is also a wide variety of beers for those
who prefer. The Cinnamon Club has already
passed its tenth year in London, and that is true
testament to the quality of the food and service,
which ensures that it continues to be a firm
favourite with diners after all this time. Another
reason is that the menu continues to change and
evolve which keeps the restaurant's dishes fresh
and contemporary, as it continues to use the
freshest ingredients available season by season.
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Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant
Bubba Gump Shrimp
Restaurant
7-14 Coventry Street, London, W1D 7DH
Telephone: 020 3763 5288
As a well known character once said ‘ Life is
like a box of chocolates, you never know what
you’re gonna get’. This quote comes from
one of the best loved films of the 1990’s and
is widely thought of as meaning life is full
of surprises and you never know what you
will encounter until you try, but in the case
of Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, I don’t
think you need worry, as when I looked at the
menu there wasn’t an orange fondant (my least
favourite flavour of chocolate) to be seen!
The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
Restaurant is a seafood restaurant chain inspired
by the 1994 film Forrest Gump, and although
there are many in the United States, there is
currently only one in the UK, which opened in
2012, as the owners are very careful to ensure
that each restaurant maintains the high standards
that have been delivered since 1996 when their
first restaurant was opened in California. The
name comes from the surnames of two of the
main characters, Forrest Gump and Benjamin
Buford “Bubba” Blue, who in the film were to go
into the shrimping business but for the untimely
death of Bubba in the Vietnam War.
This first restaurant in the UK occupies
a prime location near to Piccadilly Circus
in the Trocadero, and although enormous
inside, still maintains a cosiness and warmth.
The restaurant is divided into two large
interconnecting areas interspersed with
corrugated iron, primary-coloured booths
kitted out with Americana and Forrest Gump
memorabilia, including fishing nets, car
number plates and acres of planking. It was
on a Thursday in half-term that I took my
children to Bubba Gump’s and after passing
through the doors we entered the world of
Forrest. After passing through a shop where
you can buy Forrest memorabilia, you go
up the stairs to the first of the large main
restaurant rooms dominated by an American
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1950’s diner style bar with chrome and multicoloured leather seats.
The menu is unashamedly geared towards
kids and is predominantly based around
shrimp. Putting it into the words of Bubba
from the film, ‘shrimp is the fruit of the sea.
You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it,
and sauté it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp
creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fried, deep fried,
and stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon
shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp
soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and
potatoes, shrimp burger, and shrimp sandwich'.
'That - that's about it' as Forrest would say and
that explains all of the dishes you can have at
Bubba Gump’s! Appetisers are extensive and if
you fancy something different from the above
shrimp dishes (you can even have Shrimp shack
Mac and Cheese) try the Frizzled Onion strings
(£4.50) or Crab stuffed Mushrooms (£5.95).
The portions are generous and my family opted
for the Run Across America Sampler which
gave a selection of all of the starters and was
plenty for all 4 of us, with a portion of frizzled
onion strings which come with dippin’ sauces.
The mains were more of a difficulty to choose
as there is an extensive choice with the menu
split into 4 sections. The first provides a variety
of sandwiches (the Texas cajun sandwich is a
favourite of mine from previous Bubba Gump
restaurant visits in the US) and burgers which
you can customise to suit your taste. The
second is Bubba’s shrimp specials where you
can elect to have shrimp any which way you
want. The third is ‘Jenny’s Catch’ (Forrest’s
girlfriend) where pan seared Tilapia laid over
mash potatoes with a creamy Lobster butter
(£15.95), rub shoulders with Steamed Crab legs
(£22.95), and finally comes Forrest favourites,
with Southern Fried chicken (£13.95), or the
Jambalaya (£15.25), which nearly turned my
head, but I eventually plumped for the fish
and chips (£13.95), as I always like to see how
well a supposedly simple dish is served and I
wasn’t disappointed. My daughter selected the
burger which she declared was ‘lovely’ and was
impressed that the restaurant had tailored the
type of cheese and the no salad request so it was
exactly how she wanted. My wife plumped
for her favourite dish, which coincidently is
Bubba’s as well! The Dumb Luck Coconut
Shrimp, which I think, from recollection, she
has had every time we have gone there, with
the faintly sweet coconut complementing
perfectly the shrimp and the Cajun marmalade.
My son was on a shrimp mission and as a selftaught expert!, selected the Shrimper’s Heaven
(£19.50) which isn’t for the feint hearted. This
selection of hand breaded coconut shrimp,
chilled peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, fried Shrimp and
Japanese style tempura shrimp were served
in paper cones branching out from a bespoke
metal container nestling on a vast portion of
fries. A true feast, which even my 16 year old
son struggled to finish, and believe me he has
an appetite of someone twice his size!
Desserts are well worth leaving room for, and
we opted for the Key Lime Pie (£5.50) and the
Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae (£6.25) the
latter being the ‘best dessert I have ever had’
(a quote from both my children), and I had to
agree, as the cookie was so deliciously gooey
within a crisp outer shell and was smothered
with ice cream, peanuts and chocolate sauce.
The thing I love the most about Bubba
Gump is the small touches, that although not
essential, just add to the theatre of going out
for a meal. The signs on the tables with Run
Forrest Run if you don’t want a waiter to stop
at your table or the Stop Forrest Stop if you do,
the drinks menu put on table tennis bats (those
who have seen the film will understand), and the
genuine memorabilia from the film are things
that make going out for a meal so different
from eating at home, and it is this that makes
eating at Bubba Gump’s exciting and different.
The waiters are attentive without being ‘in
your face’, and if you do want to impress your
children when you go, mug up on the Forrest
Gump film beforehand, as you will be tested on
your knowledge by the waiters, and as a parent
there is nothing better than looking intelligent
in front of your children! Unfortunately, both
my children knew more than me, and neither
was born when the film came out!
With regards to drinks, the kids are spoilt
for choice with Speckled lemonades, secret
mango quenchers and frozen slushies,
where you can take the light up glass with
you. Parents are equally well catered for
with a multitude of cocktails and well
priced wine for the centre of London
(wines start from £18).
All in all this is more than just a restaurant,
it is an experience which your children will
love, and you will love taking them to. It has
something for everyone and is very well placed
for the theatre district as well as the children’s
attractions around Piccadilly Circus, and is a
piece of the USA in the heart of London.
Ametsa with Arzak Instruction
AMETSA WITH ARZAK
INSTRUCTION
Halkin Hotel, Halkin Street, London SW1
Telephone: 020 7333 1234
Based within the trendy boutique hotel, The
Halkin, situated in Belgravia, lies the one
Michelin Star Spanish restaurant, Ametsa
with Arzak Instruction, which was opened to
replace Nahm, just over two years ago.
Ametsa with Arzak Instruction is a unique
collaboration between Elena Arzak – voted
Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef in
2012 – along with her father Juan Mari Arzak,
and Mikel Sorazu, Igor Zalakain and Xabier
Gutierrez. Ametsa’s approach is rooted in the
traditions of ‘New Basque Cuisine’, pairing
the earthy flavours and techniques of Spain’s
Basque region with modern, surprising twists
featuring locally sourced and organic produce
from land and sea.
The unique interior of the restaurant was
designed by London-based Ab Rogers Design,
who took inspiration from the raw aesthetic of
the original Arzak restaurant in San Sebastian,
Spain. The focal point of Ametsa is a wave-like
ceiling, created from 7,000 glass receptacles
filled with a variety of different spices. The
evening we were dining found the restaurant
quite busy but the atmosphere was relaxed.
There is no table turnaround, so diners can
enjoy their meal at their leisure, without being
rushed; quite an unusual, but very welcome
feature in a Michelin Star restaurant.
Apparently the best way to experience the
menu here is via the Tasting Menu (£105 per
person, £154 with 5 glasses of wine paired
specially by the sommelier). There is, of course,
an à la carte menu available, but as the Tasting
Menu included a fish and meat dish from the
à la carte menu, it seemed like a good idea.
The journey through the tasting menu
began with a scene-setting selection of
“aperitivos”, beautifully crafted on their
platters and platforms. The aperitivos are
delivered at the same time, as a piece of
cleverly constructed artwork, which takes
up the whole table. Each mouthful provides
something to delight the taste buds, with a
variety of flavour combinations; from onion
and anchovy to mango and chistorra; these
morsels were quite delicious.
The entrées followed – ‘Scallops at Home’
is a variation on a classic dish that proves
eternally popular, and with good reason; the
scallops were among the best I have eaten.
This was followed by Langoustine on a Bed
of Lichens; another winner in my eyes, being
a great seafood lover. Finally, in this section
was the ‘Graffiti Egg with Green Sauce’. This
dish was not to my wife’s liking, accompanied
as it was by cold mussels. Whilst I enjoyed it,
the contrast provided by the soft poached egg
was certainly surprising, but then ‘surprise’ is
something they do very well at Ametsa, as we
were to discover.
We both agreed that the fish course was the
highlight of the meal so far. My wife opted for
the John Dory with Crispy Beetroot Sauce,
and I enjoyed the Grouper with beans. We
couldn’t fault these dishes; delicious in their
pairings, and with a soft flaky texture that
makes good fish effortless to eat.
The meat course offered a choice of Ox,
Suckling Pig, Lamb and Beef fillet. My wife had
the Suckling Pig on Carob Crumbs, a surprising
combination, but one that worked. The empty
plate was testament to that! I went with my
curiosity and ordered the Lamb with Cottage
Goat’s Cheese. The lamb was medium rare, and
very tender. Combining it with cottage goats
cheese was certainly unusual, but that is the joy
of Ametsa: a willingness to be bold and different.
Creativity is clearly in the blood.
The menu, which had been presented to
us at the beginning of the meal in our own
envelope, gave a brief description of one
element of the dessert as ‘Mead Fractal’,
this was a mystery to both of us. The only
knowledge I have of mead is as an old English
drink. The dish that was presented was a gift to
the senses. A piece of art unfolds before your
eyes as the dish is completed in front of you,
and the result was a light, sweet clear soup,
with a fruity addition. The Clove Custard,
Toasted Milk and Pineapple Ice Cream that
followed made this a most memorable and
delicious dessert, but sadly one that I know
I would never be able to recreate. You have
the sense that each of these dishes has been
through a rigorous creative process involving
experimentation that only a truly passionate
professional would be prepared to undergo in
order to come up with something new.
Naturally, the menus at Ametsa change
to reflect the seasons, but without doubt,
you could expect the same surprising twists
at any time of the year. This is combined
with friendly service from a staff that are
visibly passionate about the restaurant and
seem genuinely excited about the cuisine.
Their knowledge of the menu and the wines
is extensive, which is useful when you are
sampling something out of your normal
comfort zone!
Ametsa with Arzak Instruction showcases
an interesting Basque cuisine. The menu is
highly creative and entertaining. Next time, it
would be nice to enjoy a little of that Spanish
sunshine too!
5
The Chancery
9 Cursitor Street, London, EC4A 1LL
Telephone: 02080228501
Up until a few days ago I would not have
associated the area between Hatton Garden
to the north, and the law courts to the south,
as being anything other than where Robert
Maxwell used to preside over the Mirror
newspaper, and where I was trained as an
accountant, but now having revisited the area
it is experiencing a significant change with
new developments springing up everywhere.
Amongst this change, nestled in one of the
narrow side streets, is The Chancery, which,
although having been there for a while, is
undergoing a significant change with the
arrival of new Head Chef Graham Long, (ex
Pied a Terre and Gordon Ramsey), who joined
approximately 6 months ago. Graham brings
a new creative menu which expertly challenges
even the most jaded of gourmets’ palates, with
dishes using the freshest seasonal foods which
are almost too good to eat!
How fitting then, that the definition
of a ‘Chancery’ is a building that houses a
diplomatic mission or embassy, as my mission
(should I choose to accept it), on a cold
January evening, was to see if fine dining had
finally reached this part of London, and I am
pleased to report that it has.
The Chancery is situated on the corner of
Cursitor Street and is small enough to be intimate
whilst spacious enough to allow generous space
between tables, so if you are looking for a relaxed
dinner for two, or a discreet business lunch/
dinner, this place is ideal, and as I tucked into
my freshly baked bread which was warm and
comforting on the inside and suitably crunchy
on the outside, I looked around wondering if our
neighbours at adjacent tables were going over the
details of a particularly gruesome legal case, as we
were just a stones throw from the Law Courts.
As mentioned before, the menu changes
regularly in line with the availability of
ingredients, but whatever is on the menu is
both a visual and delicious treat.
The à la carte menu contains 5 starters and
5 main courses (enough to allow you ample
choice without having too many dishes for the
kitchen to prepare well), with a wide variety
of choices to suit everyone. In fact, it was so
difficult for me to actually choose I ended up
electing for the seven course tasting menu,
accompanied by the flight of wines! Having
forced myself to stop eating the terribly
moreish bread, my partner and I settled down
to our first course of a salad of heirloom
carrots, radicchio, crème fraiche, black quinoa
and corriander. Well, I really didn’t know that
carrots could taste so good, and also come in so
many different shapes and colours. The basic
orange carrot was joined in the ‘heirloom’ by
purple, red and yellow ones all with distinct
tastes and textures and perfectly accompanied
by a Visintini ‘Ramato’ Pinot Grigio, providing
a mineral tinge via its copper hue from the
skin of the grape. What a start, and the joys
just kept coming. Next marinated raw hand
dived scallops, cucumber jelly, avocado cream,
sesame filo and shiso dressing, where the watery
smoothness of the scallops and cucumber jelly
combined effortlessly with the texture from
the sesame filo, and the slight minty flavour
of the Shiso. Again the dish was accompanied
by a generous glass of a Portuguese Viognier,
which is one of the delights of taking the flight
of wines as you get to try different styles and
vintages you would not have considered if
you were selecting a bottle. Our third course
was a tartare of holstein beef, English wasabi,
smoked yoghurt, crisp rye crackers, capers and
a cured egg yolk, which again was exquisite.
I love clever combinations that have been put
together not to be clever, but because they
truly go together, and make more than the
sum of their parts, and the first three dishes did
just that. The taste was only matched by the
presentation and attention to detail which has
clearly been ingrained into Graham working
under exacting head chefs in the past. After
flirting with a torchon of wild halibut with
spiced cockles and roasted cauliflower, which
combined the sharp vinegary cockles with
the ultra low fat clean taste of the halibut, I
was beginning to wish I had refused that extra
slice (or two) of bread, but true to my original
mission I hadn’t totally proved that there was
a culinary life in this part of London so I had
to continue.
Next there was crusted loin of venison,
crapaudine beetroot, date, walnuts and dried
goats cheese. Venison due to its very low fat
content does go well with cheese, but adding
dates and walnuts is a combination which
would not usually appeal to me and I wouldn’t
expect to work, but in a crazy way it did. It
is at this point that for those who are serious
gourmands, there is an optional British cheese
course (additional £5), and I would heartily
recommend it, as it picks what I can only
describe as some hidden gems.
To wrap up my culinary mission in
Holborn there are two ‘sweets’, one a light
and fruity fromage frais mousse with poached
rhubarb, cranberries and ginger, followed by
an altogether more indulgent dark chocolate
and lime. Both were a fitting end to what
was a wonderful journey down memory lane
for me, and proved once and for all that fine
dining has definitely come to this part of
town. The next pleasant surprise is the value
for money, for what for me was a marvellous
2 hours for the price.
The seven course tasting menu is priced at
£68, with an extra £5 for the cheese course, and
if you want the flight of wines it will be £95. The
à la carte menu is equally competitively priced at
£39.50 for 2 courses and £46.50 for 3.
n
The Chancery
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