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Cinar 18-20
St James St London, E17 7PF map Tel : 0208 520 2783
At the time of writing the Cinar was a new restaurant to the area, billed as Anatolian cuisine - expect Turkish. Cinar (pronounced chinar) is a barbecue restaurant and meze bar. Forget those Sunday afternoon sausage-burning events - the food here is exceptional. The eating area is large, nicely decorated and the atmosphere relaxed, with very helpful staff. The hot meze starter was preceded by a complimentary humus and yogurt. The meze was deep fried and a little rich, but the humus and yogurt were very pleasant. Hot pita was served with every course, whether you thought you needed it or not. Despite the rather tempting sheep's testicles (always a crowd pleaser) we had the grilled sea bass, a snip at £10, and a sizzling lamb kebab (well, when in Turkey). Both were very good, the sea bass probably the best I have eaten, a real taste of the ''E17'' Mediterranean. Complimentary fruit was served along with a very reasonable bill. Highly recommended and fairly priced, there is also a rear terrace for those balmy evenings. Give the Cinar a try.
Posted
3rd November Cinar is a reasonably new restaurant to Walthamstow (opened summer 2008) and occupies the site of the former Nat West bank near St .James overground station. It is a welcome addition to this side of Walthamstow market that at present holds few attractions with the exception of the International Supermarket, the Windmill Café, The Spice Lounge and the Bengal Curry House. St. Jamesıs Street has been rundown for years so itıs great to see a new business taking off. The decor is faithfully Anatolian and has a high-end tasteful homely/rustic feel with its own barbecue and bar. Exceptionally attentive staff who are only too pleased to help you, and greet you as walk in. Between us, we tried the lentil soup, kalamar (fried squid), Hellim (haloumi), humus, a selection of salads (Anatolian style) which were lovely, pida (flat bread), grilled kebabs, roast chicken and a barbecued sea bass which was perfectly cooked and fresh. The total bill was £93 between seven; this includes starters, main courses and drinks. Iım keen to visit this restaurant again and explore the menu further. The obvious danger is that the restaurant will be overlooked because its not central and not in the village, or will be perceived as a glorified "Kebabish" but Cinar is more than this. Itıs worth making the detour if you are curious to discover Anatolian cuisine for yourself. Cinar (pronounced chin-ar), as explained to me by the waitress, means the trunk of the tree more specifically the part that is left behind when a tree is cut down.
We went here yesterday around 5pm. The staff were very friendly and the food was very good. They were kind enough to give us a desert on the house.
This
is the second time we have been here, the first time was when they had
just opened and we were not that impressed, but said we would give
them a second chance, as they must have just had some teething
problems. So glad we did. Will definitely be going back again.
Foodie |
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