What's new in the world of restaurants
Throughout May, Cinnamon Club chef Vivek Singh will be sharing the skills he gained in Hong Kong and Indonesia, with a special menu. Combining the fragrant flavours of Oriental dishes with the robustness of Indian cuisine, the menu includes Cantonese-style stir-fried king prawns and Malaysian seafood laksa. Cinnamon Club, The Old Westminster Library, Great Smith Street, SW1 (020-7222 2555).
Last week saw the opening of Inn The Park on the site that was the Cake House in St James's Park. The new, contemporary restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu will feature the best British produce with an emphasis on home-made food. The kitchen also makes ice cream and bakes the cakes for tea, with more grown-up dishes such as beef Wellington, crab with apple salad, and pot-roasted chicken appearing on the dinner menu. Inn The Park, St James's Park, SW1 (020-7451 9999).
Roka is scheduled to open early in June. This new 80-seater is sibling to ultra-trendy Zuma just off Knightsbridge and takes over the site that was Villa Carlotta. The resto will have a robata grill and will offer stylish but accessible Japanese food. Roka, 37 Charlotte Street, W1.
There has also been a good deal of refurbishment at the restaurant previously known as QC. When this resto opened the critics loved the food, and the chef, Jun Tanaka, but hated the dining room. The plan is to re-open in early May as Pearl with a sleek new dining room featuring a curtain made from a million hand-strung pearls! Oysters, anyone? Pearl, 252 High Holborn, WC1 (020-7829 7000).
