The library bar
Library bar: a cocktail of books
Last night we celebrated a trio of birthdays – two recent and one looming – at the very recently refurbished Cinnnamon Club in Westminster. We started with some complementary Bellinis in the Library Bar – two of the Proseccos with mango juice and one flavoured with cinnamon. Both worked well.
The first new Saturday night was not fully booked
out despite appearances
2011 il Molino di Grace, Chianti Classico £41
As you might expect while the wine list is interesting and has some tempting bottles it is easy to broach a £100 and more, it takes some searching to find reasonable value. We opted for the excellent 2011 il Molino di Grace, Chianti Classico at £41.
Tandoori breast of Anjou squab pigeon, pumpkin chutney and peanut £15.50
Absolutely delicious!
Spiced herring roe on toasted cumin brioche £7.50
Railway style vegetable cake with beetroot and raisin, kasundi mustard (v) £7.50
A Chianti view of the refurbshed Cinnamon Club
Shared dish: whole rack of Romney Marsh lamb, corn and yoghurt sauce,
black lentils, pilau rice and hot garlic chutney £75
(above and below)
Sorting out the rack of lamb – which was wonderfully succellent
and just to the right degree of pink
Cabbage and kale porial £5.00
Rajasthani sangri beans with fenugreek and raisin £7.00
Menu design
Celebratory finale: two recent birthdays and one looming
Overall: the three of us had a very good evening and were looked after very well with our little 'Birthday Cake' a good surprise. We were almost too well looked after as there were a lot of staff on as we were told that before they closed for refurbishment they did twice as many covers on a Saturday night as they did last night – around 300. We had a succession of staff offering to fill our wine glasses at frequent intervals. I assume that on a busy evening this would not have happened.
The Anjou squab pigeon was truly delicious – perfectly cooked and pink in the middle. It reminded me that it is too long since I cooked pigeon. The rack of lamb was equally a standout dish – roasted just as we wanted.
The bill came to around £200 for three – so clearly to be reserved for special occasions. Is it around four times better than the Lahore Kebab House? Very difficult to compare! I don't think the food is four times better, although it is considerably more ambitious. The Lahore's cadre is basic without anything like the same number of staff – though they are often admirably efficient. Also the Lahore is BYOB so naturally the bill is very substantially reduced and if you want wine glasses you have to take your own.
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