In spite of living in this area for many years, I’d never got round to sampling any of the restaurants down Shepherds Bush road (unless you count the ‘Kebab Machine’, which I definitely don’t). I decided it was about time I remedied this oversight and so we headed to Le Cinnamon India Room.
The reason I chose this restaurant first is because of its stunning reviews. Go to London Eating and you will see people raving about how it is the best curry they ever had. It sounded way too good to be true to me but I was curious.
On the outside, the restaurant doesn’t look any different from your standard curry house. In fact, the only reason I noticed it before was the slightly daft name. The decor inside isn’t totally stunning but it felt a lot more classy than a standard high street Indian. This was reflected in the music they played and in also the attitude of the staff, who were phenomenal throughout the meal. Usually you have to be paying £50 per head to get staff with perfect timing like this, but the prices at Le Cinnamon go nowhere near that.
Seriously, this place is CHEAP! In a good way. The starters are around £3 each. In a way I think this may have worked against the restaurant as I found myself thinking ‘Hang on- crab for £3.50?. There must be something wrong with it!’ It actually put me off ordering the crab and the duck starters because I just couldn’t believe you could do them properly for that price.
In the end I had the deep fried paneer with chutneys and Goon had the duck. In my opinion the duck was a bit dry. The paneer was pleasant but nothing very special.
However, when it comes to main courses this place really stands out.
I ordered a goan fish curry which came with rice and cost only £6.50. This was absolutely superb. The fish was perfectly done - just cooked through without losing any of its moisture. The curry was hot but not overpoweringly so and the lovely spice flavours came through beautifully. Goon’s lamb korma was equally good. Mild, creamy with lovely flavours of cardamom and cinnamon.
Even the wine was near perfect. We had a gewurzaminer with had a lovely floral flavour. However, although it didn’t taste acidic, I got the feeling towards the end of the meal that it was giving me a bit of heartburn.
One downside to Le Cinnamon is that the menu is fairly small. However it is clear that they have chosen to do a small selection of things very well and I do not think this is really a bad thing.
I thoroughly recommend this restaurant. While the starters are nothing special, the mains are superb. It is one of the few places I would go to in preference to making my own curries.
In spite of living in this area for many years, I’d never got round to sampling any of the restaurants down Shepherds Bush road (unless you count the ‘Kebab Machine’, which I definitely don’t). I decided it was about time I remedied this oversight and so we headed to Le Cinnamon India Room.
The reason I chose this restaurant first is because of its stunning reviews. Go to London Eating and you will see people raving about how it is the best curry they ever had. It sounded way too good to be true to me but I was curious.
On the outside, the restaurant doesn’t look any different from your standard curry house. In fact, the only reason I noticed it before was the slightly daft name. The decor inside isn’t totally stunning but it felt a lot more classy than a standard high street Indian. This was reflected in the music they played and in also the attitude of the staff, who were phenomenal throughout the meal. Usually you have to be paying £50 per head to get staff with perfect timing like this, but the prices at Le Cinnamon go nowhere near that.
Seriously, this place is CHEAP! In a good way. The starters are around £3 each. In a way I think this may have worked against the restaurant as I found myself thinking ‘Hang on- crab for £3.50?. There must be something wrong with it!’ It actually put me off ordering the crab and the duck starters because I just couldn’t believe you could do them properly for that price.
In the end I had the deep fried paneer with chutneys and Goon had the duck. In my opinion the duck was a bit dry. The paneer was pleasant but nothing very special.
However, when it comes to main courses this place really stands out.
I ordered a goan fish curry which came with rice and cost only £6.50. This was absolutely superb. The fish was perfectly done - just cooked through without losing any of its moisture. The curry was hot but not overpoweringly so and the lovely spice flavours came through beautifully. Goon’s lamb korma was equally good. Mild, creamy with lovely flavours of cardamom and cinnamon.
Even the wine was near perfect. We had a gewurzaminer with had a lovely floral flavour. However, although it didn’t taste acidic, I got the feeling towards the end of the meal that it was giving me a bit of heartburn.
One downside to Le Cinnamon is that the menu is fairly small. However it is clear that they have chosen to do a small selection of things very well and I do not think this is really a bad thing.
I thoroughly recommend this restaurant. While the starters are nothing special, the mains are superb. It is one of the few places I would go to in preference to making my own curries.
