Cinnamon Culture Review – Modern Indian Food in Bromley

The Game Menu at Cinnamon Culture, Bromley:

A menu combining modern Indian food with a variety of game is heaven for anyone with carnivorous inclinations but a regard for their health. Most game is free-range and organic by default (there are exceptions, like quail and rabbit which can be farmed) and as a result it tends to be leaner and lower in cholesterol.  In the case of the menu at Cinnamon Culture all the game was sourced from Stour Valley Game, a local Kent supplier, other than the Grouse, which came from Yorkshire Game (due to availability).  And the rich but light cooking MUST have made this magnificent feast a healthy one.  Well, that’s what I am working on convincing myself.

Perhaps the rather delicious signature Cinnamon Cocktail wouldn’t quite make it onto the ‘Healthy Eating/Drinking’ top 100, but it was definitely worth allowing myself the indulgence.

I honestly wouldn’t have chosen a bourbon, bitters and fruit juice based cocktail. Champagne is usually more my style.  But it was warming and perfectly balanced.  A great way to start the meal.

We had three different starters to sample, all from the Cinnamon Culture game menu.  Pickled Rabbit tikka, a venison kebab and quail two ways.  Each dish came with its own particular accompaniment, all perfectly matched to bring out the flavour of the meat.   My instinct would have been to pick the quail, but my personal favourite from this spicy trio was the Lahori venison kebab.

Of course there were mains still to come.  A rich,dark wild boar kurumulagu  was meltingly tender and paired wonderfully with the khajoori naan.  I normally try to avoid eating naan, but this was not greasy, light and crispy on the edges and stuffed with sweet dates.  And of course just a little wouldn’t be bad at all, would it?

The mallard proved to be quite a tricky bird to carve.  I sometimes cook this at home and love the sweet but gamey dark red flesh but I haven’t yet found a way to dissect without fingers, which would have been rather inappropriate in the elegant setting of Cinnamon Culture.  Paired with an aubergine mash, this particular dish would work well for anyone looking for the most delicate of Indian spicing.

Red leg partridge from the tandoor came with a side dish of mushroom rice and a creamy methi sauce and the dish of pan grilled grouse was served with a chickpea and grean pea tikki and root vegetable stew.  It was a real showcase for the versatility of the Cinnamon Culture kitchen.  Everything delicious, perfectly presented and paired elegantly with wine.

I probably would have done well to pass on dessert, but a dainty Gulub Jamun came with an almost palate cleansing coconut ice cream.

It was indeed a Game Banquet.  Manpreet, the owner of Cinnamon Culture, comes from the Punjab in Northern India, where wild meats are popular.  And, these dishes are his (rather special and very unique) intepretation of the dishes he remember eating as a child

Cinnamon Culture may be off the beaten track for those of us who live north of the river but it’s worth making your way to Bromley to experience this or one of the other special menus that they serve.  I know there’s a three course Diwali menu for the 3rd of November only at just £20 and set of rather wonderful Christmas Party menus with two courses starting at just £20 and three for £24, if you miss the Game Menu, which finishes at the end of this month and is priced at just £30 a head.  Worth travelling for!

Many thanks to Cinnamon Culture for the invitation to review.

Cinnamon Culture. 
46 Plaistow Lane, Bromley BR1 3PA
0208 289 0322