Chai Indian Bistro, Wellfield Road, Cardiff

Chaiholics on Wellfield Road has been building a solid following and strong reputation for the last year and a half now. I've not visited often: my tastes in tea veer toward the unrefined. A mug of Yorkshire tea- let down only by the fact it's not named after its more illustrious and much-missed neighbour- is about my limit and very firmly my preference. Less Michelin star, more Michelin tyre. If tea's your bag (I'm here all week...) then there are blogs far better informed and informed on the subject than mine. Cardiff In A Tea Cup, for example.

But Chaiholics, with its array of speciality teas and lunchtime snacks, has just taken a step into the unknown. From 6pm, Monday to Saturday, it is now an Indian bistro. And not just any old Indian bistro, for this is the new home of Chef Pramod Nair. Regular readers may recall my admiration for what Pramod was doing at Caroline Street's Spiceberry (so much so, I've written about his menus twice) and his vision of bringing the flavours of the Malabar region to Cardiff.  So when I got a tip that he was bringing his cooking to Roath, it became a must-visit.

The menu is not split into 'starters' and mains, but rather a selection of six 'small plates'. That strikes me as a subtle but adroit shift in emphasis- this is somewhere you can come for a 'proper' three-course sit-down, or drop in to graze on a selection of smaller portions with a cocktail. Given my heritage, I hesitate to use the word 'tapas'- but you get the idea. The mood is low-key, relaxed; service likewise. Although these evening openings are new territory for owner Ray Sandhu and his staff,  service was accommodating, unfussy, attentive but unobtrusive. They were even amused by my one-year-old's fascination with rearranging their careful display of chai tins and offering them to fellow diners, bless them...

The menu is smallish but well-considered. I could bemoan the absence of thara kuttanadan, that dense, fragrant duck dish which was a favourite at Spiceberry and made my Joy of Six earlier this year- but others are present and correct: Truck Stop Chicken is a case in point. A selection of three burgers seems incongruous on an Indian menu, but I can't help feeling intrigued. You'd expect it to offer some twist on the typical: it's a fairly safe bet we'll be back to sample these fairly soon. Clearly there is some deviation from the Keralan-only principles at Spiceberry, though Pramod's heart is obviously firmly with his homeland.

A mix of small plates and a main to share seemed an ideal angle of attack. They made for a visually appealing quartet.

We were in no mood to stand on ceremony, so all dishes were brought together. Lemon and pepper prawns were served with an earthy, warming beetroot purée which meant these fell into the category of  'scarfed down'.

 

 The Mangalore fishcake had a hint of the sweetness of crabmeat: looser-textured than you often find them, they were light and herby. Which was good, because the next two portions were big meaty hitters in the flavour stakes.

The Black Pepper Fry was thick with slow-cooked red onions and curry leaf, hot with green chilli and ginger. It was a generous and surprisingly filling small plate, the meat dense but tender.

Last up was the Keralan Fried Chicken, an amended version of the Spiceberry dish. A substantial portion of bite-sized pieces coated with rice flour before frying, it was spiked with sliced green chillies, crushed red chillies and Kashmiri chilli powder. Unsurprisingly it came across as punchily spiced. 

The crisp fried onions were strangely moreish and will have you fork-jousting loved ones for the chance to snaffle the last scraps. You have been warned...

A note on the alcohol on offer- I'd not come across Bulmers' Indian Summer cider but its hints of ginger make it an ideal companion to this menu, and at a 2.4% ABV it's a featherweight.

Unexpectedly full after these four dishes, I was almost regretting ordering a sharing main. Almost. 

Four fat, meaty tiger prawns, marinaded in lemongrass and ginger and butterflied, their shells blackened from the searing heat of the grill. However full you're feeling, there's never a good time to pass up the opportunity to get stuck in to seafood like this. It's get-your-hands-dirty stuff, this, that sweet white meat the prelude to winkling every last scrap of flesh from the shells. 

Bliss.













A few spoonfuls of a creamy chai brulée, subtly fragrant with cardamom under a beautifully brittle crust, left not a smidge of space. Full, tired, happy. Perfect.

I make no apologies for my enthusiasm- tubthumping, even- for Pramod Nair's food. It's a case of 'those who know, know' for many, and it's heartening to think he might reach an even wider audience in this location. Those who already know him are no doubt already beating a path to the new venue; hopefully, plenty are yet to make their acquaintance with this superlative cooking. The idea that this food will now reach a wider audience, is something that makes me happy.

Quite bluntly, not enough people have been eating this stuff. It always perplexed me- irked me, even, that Spiceberry would have empty tables while a hundred yards away, there would be queues for the bland identikit franchises of the city centre. The find-ten-like-them-in-any-city-centre joints.

With Chaiholics' location, and with scant competition for nighttime diners in the immediate area, let's hope more and more drop in to sample what's on offer here. It was busy when we visited. Rightly so.

Now, about those burgers...

Chaiholics
Unit 6
The Globe Centre
Wellfield Road
Cardiff
CF24 3PJ