I can think of few more opulent surroundings in which to celebrate a birthday, especially your first, than the Queens Hotel in City Square, Leeds. This is the most iconic hotel in the city and a part of City Station, which has just had a facelift and is now also looking magnificent – from the outside! This piece of information is not only to help strangers find Cinnamon Kitchen, but also explain why it is where it is.
Chef Vivek Singh, whose brainchild this is, took his culinary inspiration from an epic rail journey through 12 Indian states, during which he sampled and collected traditional recipes from each one. In 2001 he opened the first Cinnamon Kitchen in London where he modified the dishes to utilise modern techniques and local produce. When he saw the restaurant, in which we gathered round to hear him tell his story, he said it reminded him of a plush Indian first-class railway waiting room, so was like coming full circle. After adapting it to meet his needs, he made it his first foray into the North of England.
Tariq Ghumman – Head Chef, Cinnamon Kitchen, Leeds. He has every right to look happy.
The party consisted of a six-course tasting menu with wine pairing, constructed like a concept album, if they still have those, highlighting various aspects of their first year of trading. To add ambience to the night there was the South Asian Arts Jazz Band providing a similar vibe to the food, playing traditional Indian songs with a very western cool jazz adaptation. There was even the odd riff of a Van Morrison classic interwoven with a folk song to help the mood along.
The first course was ‘Opening Night’, which was taken from the original launch menu. It was Hakka Paneer Stir-Fry with Honey, Sesame, Soy and Chilli. This set the tone for the night as it was beautifully cooked and presented. As well as the sublime taste, the thing which impressed me most was that they had kicked off with a brace of stir-fries. The restaurant comprises 57 covers and appeared to be full, the patrons all being served simultaneously. Two of the most challenging things to get right are mass catering and stir fries, the latter of which has to be sent to the table straight from the pan, the former making it very difficult for this to be pulled off successfully. I was fascinated by watching the front of house manager who was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, giving orders to the waiting staff like an NFL head coach conveying the intricacies of the next play, to get everyone on the same page. She did this so efficiently and calmly that the whole process went like clockwork, and even though I was farthest from the kitchen, my food arrived within a minute or two of those who were attended to first.
The paneer was lovely and firm, without being rubbery, the flavour enhanced by the contrast between the honey and chilli. It produced an effect which I can’t remember experiencing before, in that the taste of the wine, a Californian Merlot – Clos du Bois – was enhanced by the food, it took on a very much more pleasant, smoother after taste than my first sip before eating.
The second track on the LP was ‘The One You Kept Ordering’, which I am sure you will gather has been a favourite throughout the year, and was Chettinad Shrimps Stir-fried with Cracked Pepper and Curry Leaf.
Once again a stir fry done to perfection with the shrimps, or prawns, being toothsome but not chewy. The cracked pepper lifted the flavour to make the fish piquant, with a small pool of mango compote adding a sweetness complemented by the Rongopai Rosé from Marlborough, New Zealand, with its strawberry/peachy taste.
Taking us to the end of side one – ‘With Thanks’ – was from the original London Cinnamon Menu of 25 years ago. I must say that this was the one dish of the night I was not very keen on. It was Spiced Shallot-Crusted Sea Bream with Green Mango and Coconut Chutney. The rosé was meant to cover both the previous course and this.
On the face of it this should have been a fairly tame combination, the Sea Bream was cooked to perfection, the coating providing just the right enhancement, but the innocent sounding Green Mango and Coconut Chutney, a roulade of which was atop the fish, had something added which gave it a kick like a mule. The yoghurt-based tartare-style sauce was needed to calm it down a bit, as was the chilled wine. I don’t know what the thinking behind adding something so potent to such a subtle-flavoured ingredient is, but the Japanese do the same by serving Wasabi with Sushi. Here the flavour was so intensely hot that it lingered through half of the next course, such a shame.
The ethos of sourcing ingredients from local producers was the subject of ‘Yorkshire And Proud’, me too, which consisted of Tandoori Sykes House Farm Chicken Breast with Zingy Korma Sauce. The wine was a, thankfully well-chilled, white from Alto Minho, Portugal – Graça da Pedra Alvarinho, which extinguished the remaining embers on my taste buds.
As someone who remembers a time when there were no Indian restaurants in Leeds, in fact very few Indian people, the only one I came across before a Sikh lad arrived at my grammar school in 1963, was a teacher at primary school, who told us how her family would eat their meals with bread rather than cutlery, something which puzzled this seven year-old, as I would get told off for doing that. I suppose scooping up a piece of lamb with a chapatti is rather different to mopping up the tomato sauce from your baked beans with a slice of Wonderloaf and butter.
The reason for that diversion was that anyone in those days who said they had never had a curry, was advised, nay, commanded, to try a korma as it was not too hot. The problem was that it was invariably blander than the aforementioned baked beans and put some people off for life. This version, however, whilst still not being hot was, as described, zingy. It was a perfect foil for the succulent chicken and, as you can see, the added texture of peanuts. Superb.
The penultimate course was ‘Year Two’, an item from the forthcoming menu, taking the establishment into – you guessed it – year two. It was Clove-Smoked Lamb Saddle, Caramelised Onion, Keema Saag and Saffron Roganjosh Sauce. A red wine, in the form of La Joya Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Colchagua Valley, Chile, completed the well thought out pairings.
This looked like a traditional meal with accoutrements of naan bread (no baked beans) and rice, but again there were twists in the flavours.
I love lamb, as it doesn’t just get coated in marinade or the liquid in which it is cooked, but absorbs everything, giving it depth of flavour. This was no different, wonderfully punchy without being overpowering – a perfect balance. The meat had obviously been cooked separately on a skewer as the tell-tale hole was present, which I presume was part of the smoking process. There wasn’t that familiar strong barbecue smoke taste, but a dusky background flavour. The sauces, both on the plate and in the bowl, made this the fitting grand finale to the savoury part of the meal.
As you have probably gathered from the state of the chair opposite mine, I was at a table for one – no change there then – which suited me fine as I could keep my notebook handy and shuffle the plates around to take the photographs. The downside was that the bread, rice and bowl of sauce were the same sizes as the ones delivered to those with double occupancy, and everything was so delicious I am afraid that, whilst I didn’t totally clear all the plates, just the lamb, I rather overindulged, so was feeling rather full as a result. Oddly I didn’t get a double helping of wine, which, on reflection, was probably just as well.
Full or not, I never refuse a pudding, well, it would have been rude and I also have a job to do. It was ‘Many Happy Returns’, comprising Saffron and Pistachio Kulfi.
This was a great way to end a wonderful meal, with a bonus that the wine waiter brought a glass of Sauternes, which went very well with the dish – or rather what was in it. For those who have never had the pleasure of sampling this desert, it is like ice cream but the full fat milk is slowly cooked, so that it reduces and caramelises as it thickens. This gives a more dense texture and distinctive taste. The saffron and pistachio did the rest.
Despite my one carp, or sea bream, this was a meal to remember for all the right reasons. The imagination and proficiency of the cooking, along with excellent service and general cheerfulness of the staff, some of whom, we were told by Vivek, have been with him for the whole 25 years, made everything so very pleasant.
The magnificent kitchen staff.
I would like to thank Cinnamon Kitchen for my invitation and I wish you all the very best for, not only the year to come, but the many which will surely follow.
For more details about Cinnamon Kitchen, please go to https://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/leeds/#the-restaurant The Taste of Cinnamon offer looks especially good.
By the way, it was my birthday a month ago but the spread was not quite so sumptuous
Still, there’s nowt wrong with a good pork pie!
Photographs by Stan Graham
