DESTINATION BROMLEY: CUSTOMER RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2012
Destination restaurants are few and far between and need to be treasured when they are discovered. Just such a restaurant is Cinnamon Culture in Bromley which I visited recently to hand owner Manpreet Dhingra the award as National Curry Week Customer Restaurant of the Year 2012. I had been there twice before and considered the food very good but understood things had moved to a new level under new Head Chef Suresh Pillai whose background includes stints at Veeraswamy and Purple Poppadom in Cardiff.
The restaurant has already been recommended in Michelin 2013 and the stylish but relaxed interior creates a good first impression.
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Former Victorian pub transmogrified into a smart Indian restaurant where the cooking is undertaken with care. A plethora of menus include Tasting and Vegetarian options, as well as a monthly menu focusing on one region.
INTERVIEW WITH HEAD CHEF SURESH PILLAI
Indian-born chef Suresh Pillai grew up in Kerala, in the south of India, and spent his childhood surrounded by people catching, preparing and cooking seafood. He spent four years working with a local restaurant group before moving to Bangalore-based Coconut Grove, a restaurant specialising in traditional coastal dishes, in 1998. However, Pillai was then snapped up by luxury Indian hotel group, Leela, which he credits with changing the course of his career forever.
Eventually, in 2006, Pillai moved to the UK to work at the renowned London-based Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy, restaurant group Masala Zone, and most recently, Welsh Curry House of the Year, Purple Poppadom, in Cardiff. Now Suresh has moved on to be head chef at Cinnamon Culture in Bromley.
I caught up with Pillai to find out how he got into the industry, what diners can expect from the menu at Cinnamon Culture and where he enjoyed his most memorable meal of all time.
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On approach, it becomes plain that this used to be a pub, and even still functions as one in some respects, offering a pleasant large beer garden and bar snacks at reasonable prices. It’s harder to tell once inside though as the décor and layout is open and refreshing. High ceilings well lit with windows that skirt the entire dining area the scene was set and accompanied by a light jazz soundtrack that seemed perfect for a sunny afternoon.
The main idea behind the food at Cinnamon Culture is to present Indian cookery with a more authentic, cared-for feel than your average Saturday night takeaway, and we have to say we think they pulled it off very well. The presentation of the dishes is the first thing to strike you; it holds the influence of French cuisine and the use of complementary colours and sparse garnishes make each plate look very appealing indeed.
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CINNAMON CULTURE, BROMLEY’S BEST RESTAURANT
It’s definitely worth the journey to get to this hidden gem, and what is surely Bromley’s best Indian restaurant. Housed on the site of a former pub, Cinnamon Culture has been open for 18 months. We were taken aback by how swanky it is inside – high ceilings and lots of white, open space that give you the feeling you’re in for a quality dining experience, which is precisely what you get. While we deliberated over the menu we whet our appetite with a selection of poppadoms and chutneys – tamarind and raison, mango and chilli (huge chunks of mango combined with chilli to give it a bit of a kick) and pineapple. Our favourite chutney of the trio was the unusual pineapple chutney, made from fresh pineapple and chilli. It was pleasantly refreshing and not as sweet as I was anticipating it to be.
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Light, airy, elegant… Not words you commonly associate with an Indian restaurant. Rarely fitting epithets for the way you feel post-curry, either.
Housed in a former Bromley boozer, Cinnamon Culture’s bar still offers tired commuters and leisurely weekenders a place to gossip and graze, with a decent list of spirits – heavy on the whisky, as is the Indian predilection, skilfully crafted cocktails and bar snacks like spiced whitebait or grilled paneer - a cut above the ubiquitous peanuts of dubious provenance.
Provenance is clearly important, with the diverse menu rolling with the seasons and showcasing unusual ingredients…
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CINNAMON CULTURE: VEGGIES VS. MEAT – EATERS
Anyone who has ever done some research into travelling around India will have heard one piece of universal advice, repeated again and again and again: don’t eat the meat. Unless you want to shed half of your body weight in one sitting (pun totally intended), it’s best to stick to the vegetarian options, given the typically insouciant attitude that the food vendors have regarding temperature control. Besides, vegetarian dishes are just as flavoursome, if not more, right?
With this in mind, we travelled to Bromley to visit Cinnamon Culture, a superb local Indian bar and restaurant that is decked out in fine dining restaurant décor, yet has a beer garden and a well-stocked bar so as not to put off people who just fancy a quick curry and a pint. We opted for the 7-course tasting menu with individual wine pairings, yet we matched the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian against each other in a culinary battle that would finally answer the eternal question: do we really need to eat meat?
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This regal looking restaurant in the back streets of Bromley is definitely worth a visit if quality Indian food and exotic ingredients are your thing.
The Venue – ‘Serene’ best describes the décor — this grand building’s previous incarnation as a pub of dubious repute is indiscernible. Sleek black and cool cream create a chic dining room, with spotless white napery and elegant chandeliers. Light pours in through vast windows, but it would be a warm and comforting space in winter, too.
The Atmosphere – On an early evening in high summer, however, Cinnamon Culture is flooded with light — heavy rain, alas, means that no one is sitting in the charming garden. The restaurant, while busy, is not full, so the ambience is chilled rather than buzzing. There are tables of couples and foursomes and the charming waiting staff flit between them with efficient aplomb.
The Food – This is Indian food, but not as we know it, with a menu featuring classic dishes given a modern twist or two.
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