Ambitious Indian food - if only it had the ambience to match

Spice Merchant certainly puts itself about. Does anyone know who the heck that funny chap is who wanders around town looking frozen to death in his chintzy robe handing out leaflets? And even if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing him you might well have experienced the boss touting his business at endless food shows. It can't be easy running a curry house. Tart your food up and the rugby boys won't be interested. Lurch down-market and you're playing into the ghee-soaked mitts of umpteen competitors. Spice Merchant takes option one, and does seem to get at least some of it right.

The food ain't half bad, in fact there's a real freshness to it. Try the Chicken Tikka Rogan (none of your slimy synthetic sauce here, more of a light tomato dish), or the Balti Fish Tikka (big chili whack, packed with fresh coriander, tender chunky fish). The Rogni Nan is a great side dish with its spectacular red hue, and you'll enjoy sprinkling the yellow spiced coconut on your papadums too. As Bangladeshi-style curries go, this is probably as good as it gets in Cardiff.

Oh to enjoy it in a nicer atmosphere though. Spice Merchant is all too often dead. Even when the tables are occupied an air of reverence seems to descend. Are they scared of spilling something on those frightfully nice tables? Or maybe it's the head waiter they are worried about. The rest of the staff certainly seem pretty wary. Has the slightest smile ever permeated his countenance, could he ever bring himself to share something so unthinkably informal as, er, a joke? This is clearly a man who takes his restaurant seriously, so seriously he's forgotten that we're actually there to enjoy ourselves. By all means go and try out the food, but whatever you do don't be happy in the process.