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The ghost of Dishoom looms large at this Battersea branch of Vivek Singh’s modern Indian chain-in-waiting. It might lack the D’s loving post-colonial look – with a gargantuan open kitchen and acres of bare brick, the aesthetic at Cinnamon Kitchen is more ‘algorithmic restaurant generator c.2016’ – but the menu is a similar mix of grills, breads and zhuzhed up street food (plus a few globally-influenced mains). And the vibe is comparatively hip.
Culinary highlights were plentiful. Take the vada pao, part of a micro-platter of Bombay street food. Fried potato dumpling, crammed into a soft bread roll – this was proof that carbs-on-carbs is legit cultural nuance and not just gluttonous mania. Or the ‘tak a tak’, a Pakistani dish of earthy, dry-fried duck livers and hearts, here served as a side (and a steal) at £7.50. But if you order only one thing, make it the keema litti: charred, chewy little doughballs – not unlike Iraqi kubba – crammed with fragrant lamb, buzzing with cardamom and lubed up with a dippy coriander chutney. The blog hype will come.
Lowlights: a main of spiced chickpea ‘gnocchi’ was cakey in texture and blandly underseasoned. There was also a profoundly disappointing chicken tikka and cheese-stuffed naan, which was mealy and curd-free where it should have been a thing of unctuous, pillowy beauty. Worst of all was our waitress, whose tableside manner segued from disinterested, to brusque, to outright sniffy. Since our visit, we’ve heard similar reports: great food, terrible service (and not just that waitress). Come on CK: you can do better.