One of the very first bloggers I ever met was Melanie from Sunny in London. Back in the early days of blogging we had a little group of fabulous ladies, and we would all meet up every so often for glamorous cocktails and dinners.
I hadn’t seen Melanie since before I moved to Australia three years ago, so when she invited me along to test out the Indian Afternoon Tea at Cinnamon Bazaar in Covent Garden, I spent the week excited to catch up with one of my oldest blogging friends! And not only was the company brilliant, but the afternoon tea was pretty delicious too…
I’m quite fussy with afternoon teas as I’m actually not the biggest fan of scones (I know right, my Cornish and Devonshire ancestors are rolling in their idyllically-set graves), so it needs to be a really special tea for me to agree to it.
Thankfully the Afternoon Tea at Cinnamon Bazaar is one that I fell in love with – it was so refreshing to experience an afternoon tea so different to the usual style! Not to mention the gorgeous restaurant space…
The Cinnamon Bazaar afternoon tea was created by Vivek Singh and Great British Bake Off star Tamal Ray. They’ve come together to create a modern, Indian-inspired take on the quintessential classic afternoon tea, with the menu being inspired by the duo’s shared family roots in Kolkata.
We started off with a glass of prosecco each, and tea – White Peony for Melanie, and Fresh Mint for me – in the most beautiful tea pots!
Then it was onto the food. We started with the Chaat, which included Puchka/Pani Puri (Semolina shell with tangy sweet & sour water), and Papadi Chaat (Crisp wheat, tangy tamarind, yoghurt and chickpea vermicelli). My favourite was definitely the Papadi Chaat, as I found the Puchka/Pani Puri a little too spicy for my bland English taste-buds.
Next we moved on to the nibbles, which consisted of a delicious Fish Finger Sandwich with tomato chutney, and the Chicken Katti Roll-in pastry with mustard & pepper (another favourite of mine)! Unfortunately the bread for the Fish Finger Sandwich was quite stale and dry, and again I found this one quite spicy.
The desserts were INCREDIBLE! I absolutely loved the Macaron with cinnamon cream, the Mishti Doi (Baked/steamed yoghurt with mango curd), and the Pistachio Cake with a rosewater marshmallow.
We had the loveliest afternoon at Cinnamon Bazaar and I really recommend it if you’re looking for something a bit different to the traditional English afternoon tea!
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
