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My friends have been going on about an Indian take-away service nearby – apparently it’s the best in SE London. However, I’ve never tried it as I don’t do take-aways. I either cook or go out.

Over the last year I have observed the remodelling of a small house on my way to & from work – it took so long that I started wondering about what on earth they’re doing there. One day it just turned into a rather inviting looking restaurant. It was called Cinnamon. Obviously I became nosy and I checked out the interior immediately. It looked quite nice – east-meets-west sort of decoration. Then I read the menu – it offered modern Indian cuisine. I put 2 & 2 together – could this be the place everyone has been banging on about???..

Although the interior looked inviting, the restaurant always seemed empty when I passed by it. OK, the timing of this would normally be between 6-7pm, which is a quiet time for most restaurants. But I was still suspicious – I’ve been to far too many hyped-up or phoney restaurants.

But a couple of weeks ago I decided to give it a go and invited a friend along. We were the first customers in that evening, which I always find a bit daunting, but at least we’ve found out about the story of the restaurant. Their main business is still the takeaway service; they want to build up the restaurant slowly, through a learning experience. This is quite a refreshing approach, particularly these days, when the main concern is to make quickly as much money as possible in order to keep the banks & investors happy.

So Cinnamon decided not to advertise in the local papers, they prefer to build up their clientele by word of mouth. This must be rather risky these days, when new restaurants are popping up all over the place. But I admire them for it because this is the way good restaurants should operate.

Whilst munching through a nice selection of chutneys with papadoms, we asked about the food. The friendly manager told us that it was Indian “fusion” cuisine influenced mainly by food in Goa. We ordered Bilashi, a chicken speciality from Goa, a Tandori mixed grill, onion bhajis and a vegetable curry. Everything was sensational. The food was beautifully presented but not in a precious kind of way that makes one worried about touching it. In fact it was really inviting you to tuck in. The spices and the sauces worked very well & subtly – providing a much more interesting palette of flavours than the average Indian restaurant. The accompanying nan was the best I’d ever had.

My friend, who travelled around India for a year and developed an acute taste for Indian food, said that it was the best Indian meal he’d had in England. So that says something.

For all this and a bottle of Cobra and a bottle of very reasonable rose wine we paid just £35.00 including service. I call that good value! And there was so much food I had to ask for a doggy bag. My next day’s lunch was sorted.

By the time we finished our meal, other customers have stated to fill the space. The room actually isn’t very big, it can take perhaps 25 people. It’s an ideal place to book for private parties or to go out for a quiet & authentic dinner.
 
Back to the decoration - it is certainly not decorated in the usual pub-like Indian style, it’s modern with touches of some Indian furnishing. The quality of workmanship leaves something to be desired, I thought - but I look at details from a designer’s perspective and tend to be a bit over critical.
 
I would certainly recommend this place to anyone who likes Indian food. It is in Brockley, just off Lewisham Way – about halfway between Goldsmith College & Lewisham College. The nearest stations are New Cross, St Johns or Brockley & Deptford Bridge DLR.

Details: 

Cinnamon

10 The Parade
Upper Brockley Road
SE4
Tel: 020 8694 1010

Do try it and let us know what you think.