Not one, but two Indian restaurants, currently hold the title of the best in Wales.
Representing Cardiff, Purple Poppadom recently scooped the award for Best Restaurant in Wales at the British Curry Awards 2021.
Meanwhile, The Grand Sultan in Port Talbot was named the Asian Restaurant of the Year for Wales at the Asian Curry Awards 2021.
Read more: We review the Cardiff takeaway which has been named among the best in the UK
With two different verdicts on who’s the best, we thought we should find out what they’re like for ourselves.
Here’s how we got on.
Purple Poppadom
Cardiff’s Purple Poppadom recently celebrated its tenth birthday and the restaurant’s longevity is a testament to chef-owner Anand George’s huge impact on Indian cuisine in the city.
With a listing in the Michelin Guide, multiple awards already under their belt and a glowing review from a national restaurant critic, Purple Poppadom is probably already Cardiff's most acclaimed Indian restaurant before even picking up its latest accolade.
At Purple Poppadom, Anand serves coconut and curry leaf fragranced cooking from his home region of southern India, but there are also high-end versions of dishes from across the country.
To coincide with the restaurant’s tenth anniversary, Purple Poppadom has had a bold new look. Gone are the pinks and purples and in is golden lighting, exposed brickwork and splashes of neon. It’s a much more fitting style to go with the modern Indian cooking being served at the restaurant.
Crisp, grease-free poppadom shards (£3.95) were accompanied by a trio of excellent chutneys - tangy lemon, fresh and fragrant mint yoghurt, and sweet mango spiked with mint.
Pidi with tharavu (£9.95) was a deliciously different starter compared to familiar dishes like samosas and bhajis. Tender pieces of richly-spiced slow-cooked duck were accompanied by steamed rice dumplings with a bit of bite, bobbing in a rich and creamy coconut sauce. A topping of crispy shredded duck added a good crunch to the dish.
A trio of pieces of chicken tikka (£7.95) were as good as I’ve eaten. The gorgeously tender meat, with a lovely lick of char, was bathed in three different marinades - warming kashmiri chilli, aromatic basil, and creamy yet mild cheese.
Onto mains, and a pair of fish curries were both superb.
Tiffin seabass (£17.95) is well-deserving of the title of Anand George’s signature dish. A pair of crisp-skinned fish fillets were joined by silky, curry leaf fragranced mashed potato and a rich and slightly tangy raw mango and coconut sauce with the warmth of ginger.
A Malabar fish curry (£16.95) was chock-full with meaty and flaky pieces of halibut. Its sauce was equally impressive, heady with chilli, smoky and sour tamarind, curry leaf and coconut.
Sides kept up the impressive standards. A bubbly and crisp naan (£2.95) was dotted with a fine dice of green and red chillies and plenty of coriander. Pilau rice (£3.95) was impeccably fluffy, buttery and fragrant with saffron.
A side of nadan vegetable curry (£5.95) would have been a worthy centrepiece in its own right. An assortment of vegetables, including butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower and green beans, were coated in a mild coconut sauce with plenty of spice.
Desserts remain unchanged from the day Purple Poppadom opened ten years ago. But what a chef's selection (£9) lacked in new excitement, it made up in deliciousness. Sweet Tandoori pineapple was delicately charred; a creamy crème brûlée, fragrant with rose, was reminiscent of a Turkish delight; and a chocomosa was filled with a rich chocolate ganache and sat on a piece of toffee banana.
Anand George’s food has bags of technique, spice and flavour and it’s served in a classy setting with excellent service. In my book, Purple Poppadom thoroughly deserves the title of best Indian restaurant in Wales.
Ed Gilbert
The details:
Address - 185a Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff CF11 9AJ
Telephone - 029 2022 0026
Grand Sultan
This Indian diner has been packing in the awards for years and the latest trophy added to the cabinet is from the Asian Curry Awards for Welsh restaurant of the year.
Based on the outskirts of Port Talbot and set next to a golf course overlooking a lake, the Grand Sultan was opened six years ago in the former club house.
With bare brick walls and comfy booth-style seating, the restaurant is cosy and welcoming - but what about the food itself?
The extensive menu is split into everything from starters and a main course 'connoisseur collection' to chef's recommendations, seasonal chef's specials, grills and traditional dishes.
As someone who doesn't deviate much from a korma it could have been a tad overwhelming but our friendly waiter was more than happy to run through it with us and I soon pushed any thoughts of a korma aside.
While going through our choices we ordered plain papadoms (90p each) and a chutney tray (£2.50) which featured four colourful chutneys in small white china dishes.
The pops themselves were perfectly crisp and not at all greasy while the chutneys are among the best I've tasted, a delicious mango, sweet coconut and freshly-sliced onion among them.
Starters were an easy choice for us; my partner never really strays from his final ever meal of choice - chicken tikka. But he plumped for the pimped up version called Haryali Chicken Tikka (£4.95) while I went for the onion bhajis (£3.80) as I always like to save one to go with my mains.
The chicken tikka had a delicious barbecue coating and came with a delightfully-zingy pot of fresh mint sauce. The bhajis contained plenty of shredded onion and were beautifully crisp on the outside. Both starters were garnished with fresh salad that added to the dishes rather than a token piece of limp lettuce that can so often happen.
Onto the mains and after much deliberation we both opted for dishes from the 'chef's recommendations' section of the menu - the Kashmiri Murgh and the Gosht curry (both £8.50), which is offered as a lamb dish but can also be made with chicken.
The latter featured chicken cooked in a medium spiced sauce and was garnished with fried onions, garlic and chopped ginger. The chicken was tender and the onions added texture while the spices gave the perfect bite without blowing your socks off.
My Kahmiri Murgh - a mild delicacy from the valley of Kashmir - was not too dissimilar to a korma if I'm being honest as the once-again tender chicken was generously covered in lashings of rich creamy sauce. The only difference is that this dish had pieces of banana in it and while I like mixing sweet and savoury and the flavour was spot on, the texture of the banana didn't quite work for me.
We shared a portion of tikka rice (£3.80) which was fluffy and had tiny chopped pieces of chicken tikka which gave my sweeter dish a little extra spice and meant the other half could continue enjoying his favourite food with his mains too.
We also ordered a peshwari naan (£3.20) to mop up the sauce, which was soft, fresh and packed with almonds and raisins.
Overall, this was a winning meal and combined with the super-friendly and efficient service, the Grand Sultan is well deserving of its latest accolade.
Karen Price
The details:
Address - Water St, Eglwys Nunydd, Port Talbot SA13 2PA
Telephone - 01639 892223
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