Classy Indian street food cafe, good prices, just needs to relax

I think I may have an apology to make. It's not that I'd fallen out of love with Indian food, just that I was wondering if it was really capable of the subtlety and variety of its European equivalent. It was Gordon Ramsay's 'Best Local Restaurant' challenge that did it. The Indians' approach seemed so narrow - whatever the task, whatever the ingredients, they'd just marinade them in spices and serve 'em up with a dal or two. Where were the casseroles, the confits, the pies, the reductions, the pastries of sub-continental cookery? But now I've discovered there are some great happenings on Whitchurch Road. I may have seen the light.

Chai Street is the 'street food' offshoot of the much-respected Mint and Mustard. (You'll notice the lack of a link to our review there. It's not that we haven't tried, just that M&M is almost impossible to get into without planning yours life two decades in advance.) The proposition is simple: breakfast and lunch from a mini-menu, at reasonable prices, but with the cooking aspirations of its bigger brother.

It's also a dream cafe for the indecisive. Your best bet is the thali, £5 for the basic or £6 for the full two-courser, and if you're not mightily impressed with what turns up you might as well stop reading this and buy yourself a year's McDonald's vouchers. The delicacy with which the flavours are balanced is astonishing - few chefs could get spices to blend so beautifully, each dish premiering one distinctive foreground with a backdrop of pastel shades. This really was Canaletto in food form. There was a rich, aromatic spiced potato accompaniment too, impeccably baked breads, and perfectly textured rice the like of which you will find no where else in the city. Remarkable for a fiver.

If there's a hint of a complaint, it's that the staff let the food do all the talking. Smiles are not on the menu, in fact you'll do well to get much of a conversation at all. They've gone a bit nuts on the Bollywood interior too. And as for the chocolate wallpaper, that might have been better left on a TV home interior show.

But these are trifling complaints. Chai Street and its bigger brother are rapidly redefining Indian food in Cardiff. And there's a loyal following in the making too - you'll find plenty of local Indians, up-market foodies, and broad-minded locals all clammering for a lunch space. This is proof that good food sells, and you'd do well to make sure you're one of the ones buying.