Cottage Tandoori is a really popular Indian takeaway on Splott Road. It is a particular favourite…read moreof mine for a number of reason. Firstly, I tend not to go to any Indian takeaway or restaurant that hasn't got a tandoor oven, (and this one clearly has, or else it would most likely be called something else...!?!). I love all the food that is made in a tandoor oven, with my particular favourites being tandoori chicken and nan bread. This option will set you back less than £6.00 and is the second reason why I like this takeaway so much... the prices are really competitive! Lastly, the portions are massive and so you really get value for money. I have, on more than one occasion, ordered one meal for two at Cottage Tandoori; something that is entirely feasible unless you are excessively hungry, or just plain greedy! (Although it has to be said that the food is very moreish!)

See, they are at it again! It's the multiple name game being played on Albany Road... come on down!…read moreBut at least the Tandoori Mahal Balti have integrated all of their names into a string that helps identify it for what it does, which is more than can be said for Yaus House, Chinese Kitchen, Chop Suey etc etc... In fact, they have practically created a sentence, how coherent is that? All they need do now is throw a verb at it, and Bob's your Uncle, (or, Kumar is your first cousin once removed, who you might be marrying if your parents can scrape enough dowry together to make love a reality!). Bah boom! Excuse my slight consternation... but I feel that someone should tell these businesses about the importance of clarity and unique identity... Ah dam it.. they all need a lesson or two on branding! It's becoming increasingly important to distinguish one business from another. With the advent of the internet and subsequent emergence of social media, where user content is paramount, it is easy for a business to be misrepresented beyond all recognition, and banished into the realms of obscurity, purely and simply because people will easily give up trying to make sense out of the disparate information, and will order their takeaway from the simply defined business with a coherent description of what's on offer. The irony is that multiple mentions should actually affirm the business, but if they are all saying different things and using variations on the name, it makes a nonsense of everything! That aside, Tandoori Mahal Balti is a rather fine traditional Indian Restaurant and takeaway, that is very reasonably priced. Service is great, and the staff are as friendly as you like. The Good Eating Guide have seen fit to award them with a certificate of 'Outstanding Achievement' which is displayed in the window alongside the 'Roll of Honour' certificate from Master Chef, (whatever that may mean!)

I don't know how impartial I can be about Indian restaurants, as I always favour the ones that have…read morea tandoori oven, which the Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant obviously does! In fact, it ticks most of the Indian cuisine boxes! And, if you read the signage, you'd be excused for believing that this Tandoor house was at least three different businesses.. but at least you would appreciate the range of food on offer! The main hoarding sign reads Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant, whereas the protruding sign is entitled New Himalaya Balti Cuisine, and if you let yourself loose on the internet... well... you'll scoop up a few other variations on the same theme... bless 'em! Like so many eat-ins that offer a take-away service in Cardiff, Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant is doing everything to ensure the upkeep of throughput. The recession has seemingly hit this town hard... or the people of Cardiff seem less willing to trust in the future, and so they have tightened their belts accordingly. People are eating out less these days, and small low end restaurants like this one are seeing a significant dip in custom, perhaps with the exception of the higher end establishments. Usually patronised by people on a low to midrange income, even the take-away side of small restaurants have been severely affected. Thankfully the Himalaya are doing okay, and are offering enough special deals to coax their loyal customer base to prize their wallets from their pockets. Students get a 20% discount if they eat in, everyone can eat as much as they want for £6.95 between 6.00pm and 11.00pm on a Sunday, and they offer a whooping 30% discount on menu prices for take-out meals when you come to collect. And the food

I haven't eaten in here (I have never visited inside the shop in fact because my boyfriend went to…read morecollect it) but I had some food from there under duress. He really wanted it - however, had I seen the state of this place (which I saw when I came to take my pictures for this week) I would have fought a lot harder. So, given that, I was surprised (and am further surprised having seen quite how dingy it looks) how nice the food was. It was quite stodgy but absolutely delicious. Definitely not a light meal for the weight-conscious. For a blow out, though (which we all need sometimes) it was great. Don't let the, quite frankly, skanky - sorry, but I can't think of a better word - exterior put you off. The food's pretty good.

We came by the Purple Poppadom on a family visit and it was far and away the best food we had in…read moreour four days in Cardiff. It serves elevated Indian cuisine that is beautifully made and creatively presented. This isn't your standard Indian take-out. The dining room is casual but stylish, the cocktails were terrific and the food top notch. Service was very welcoming and efficient. Had we been hungrier we would have gotten the tasting menu with the wine pairings. Highly recommend.

This is easily one of the best meals I have ever had, anywhere in the UK. This is Indian dining…read moredone well! Go as hungry as you can so you can try everything! For starters, we had the Aloo tikka chat (5*), the Bombay chat (5*) and the creamery (4*) plus poppadoms with the trio of dips. For mains our table had: Chicken Nawabi - easily the best dish I have ever tasted. The chicken bhuna in this dish is NEXT level. 5 stars does not do this plate justice! 5* Tiffin sea bass - their signature dish and also delicious! 5* Nadal khozi curry - fragrant, deep flavours. Probably one of the best curries I've ever had but it had tough contenders in the other plates! 4* Raman Akhbari - the lamb leg with mash. Amazing. 5* For dessert we had chocomosa anand and the grilled pineapple dish. Do not think you can share played as the portions are small. The little choc filled pastry delights were melt-in-the-mouth crispy parcels filled with warm melted chocolate, on a bed of caramelised banana. These guys are outstanding. Do not let the exterior and street fool you. This is memorable.

Bombay grill Indian restaurant situated in city road, and to be honest does not give a good…read moreimpression to those passing by. But inside is a complete different story, the interior has been imaginatively decorated, a complete contrast to its slightly rundown look from the outside. The food is excellent and very good value, and for a large restaurant, it is surprisingly intimate. Certainly one of the best Indian in the area.

We are so glad we stopped by here. Upon walking in, we were promptly greeted and told to sit…read moreanywhere. After ordering, our food came out very quickly. Since I could never pick just one dish, I opted for the Chai Street Thali. The taste of the daal and the curry took me right back to India.

Really nice modern but authentic Indian spot with tons of vegan options. I stopped for lunch and…read morefound it hard to choose from all their nice-looking options. I decided I'd ultimately get the vegan thali (£13.90) so I could try a bunch of dishes. The thali came out in about 10-15 minutes, and let me say that this was a very high-quality thali -- none of the dishes seemed lazily thrown together, or like cheap versions of a better dish; I apparently got their A game. The main dishes included a delicious daal, a spicy veggie curry, a very spicy chole (chickpea curry), and a spicy potato curry. This was served with white basmati rice, bread, and pappadams. Huge amount of food and all delicious. Very comfortable environment, good service, and a super central location. This was a great find.

First off, for those of you that like a beer to wash down your curry, beware: this place does not…read moresell or allow alcohol on the premises. If that doesn't bother you, however, the food is really pretty good. Mirchi is a family-run independent restaurant serving traditional Indian and Pakistani cuisine, and they now do home delivery. Some of their best selling dishes include the simple but tasty Tandoori Grills, and their Karahis and Biryanis, but they also do some more traditional dishes such as Nehari, Paya, Haleem and Falouda, as well as glasses of refreshing Mango Lassi. For vegetarians, this is also a good option because there are plenty of veggie dishes to choose from. They have some price busting promotions, too - such as chana biryani for just £3.99, or their special student meal deal of a plate of boiled rice with Chicken or Chana Curry for just £3.50 (until 7pm) - they may not be the most exotic meals on the menu but they are such good value, for cash strapped students it's got to be worth a try!

Mirchi opened its doors back in 2006, offering a comprehensive Halal Indo-Pak menu. Since then it…read morehas received a number of awards, along the lines of 'Welsh Curry House of the Year' etc... the evidence of which is adoring the walls inside. These awards are all a little surreal... there seem to be so many of them liberally handed out with gay abandon, but with often very little information to tell us who by... even Mohammad the owner was none the wiser when I asked him about them on a recent visit... curious! Nevertheless, Mirchi does deserve recognition. It is a large eatery that serves good food accompanied by decent service. Prices are reasonable for main meals, and they do a selection of really affordable fast food options that are well worth trying, like the Mirchi Special Roll made with Tandooried Chicken Tikka rolled in a nan bread with salad and sauce for £3.50. They also do a good range of really reasonably priced Byriani's, a favourite of mine, starting at £4.90 for the vegetarian option and ending with £8.00 for the prawn Byriani. And, best of all, they do Chai for £1.00 a cup! There's all the usual student discounts, and they have just started doing home deliveries.

I haven't been here for a while but when I did go it was a great indian restaurant with friendly…read morestaff and amazingly tasty food.

The 1st time I visited Kismet was 2am on a Saturday night…read more I walked in and there on the floor in the middle of the restaurant rolling about laughing like a maniac was a drunk man. The staff seemed to carry on around him. We got served by a smiling waiter who seemed not to notice it was 2am in the morning or if he did it ddn't seem to bother him. Just before the foods arrival my friend pointed out to the waiter that his plate was a little dirty. The waiter picked it up blew on it, gave it a rub with his napkin placed it back under my friends nose, winked, smiled then walked off. We just laughed. Anyhow - you'd think after this experience I would give it a bad review - but no - every town needs a curry house exactly like Kismet which caters for the drunks when all other places have shut down and their chefs gone home. Plus its cheap, plus the food was good.

Really this place should get five stars just for the effort they put into creating meal deals. As…read moreyou can see from the picture, there are just loads. What is there? The £2.95 buffet (I know; we couldn't believe it either...), £5.95 for the 4 course set meal and all drinks buy one get one free. Absolute craziness. The service we received was just great. I went there with my housemate Rachel (who you can actually see in this picture!) and we had an excellent time. Our server was friendly, engaging in conversation rather than just delivering information. The food itself wasn't the BEST indian that I've ever had but it was pretty darn good, especially considering the outrageously low prices of everything.

I've had about 10 take aways from here and eaten in three times (not on the same night) - only once…read moredid I have a problem with my curry (it was slightly cold) the rest of the times it was very nice indeed. The service is efficient the staff friendly and the atmosphere is warm. It's always quite busy - testament to the how nice the food is. I'm not claiming it to be the best curry I've ever had but its certainly tasty and worth the money.

For many years I lived just along the street from The Cinnamon Tree, and for many years my walk…read morehome was made magical by the aromas pouring out of this place. In Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', Charlie stands outside and just smells all the chocolaty goodness. This is exactly what you have to do outside The Cinnamon Tree. Although slightly pricey, the food is prepared and presented to a high standard and is invariably delicious. I usually stick to a safe Korma, but the expressions on friend's faces tell me other dishes are pretty good too. This restaurant has a good reputation for its service, which, through my experience, is very well deserved. This is an excellent place to have a get-together; it's just out of the centre of Cardiff, so feels a lot more intimate. It should, however, be noted that Monday-Saturday The Cinnamon Tree is closed from 2pm-6pm between their lunch and dinner service. Take-away is also available, and must be tried!