Kebabish Original, Cardiff restaurant review

I take my hat off to anyone who has the guts to set up their own business.

For me, the nine to five and its monthly pay packet seems far more conducive to a good night's sleep. Just the mere thought of worrying about turning a profit and being responsible for other people's salaries gives me palpitations.

This brings me to BBC Wales' recent fly on the wall documentary about City Road and the story they followed of a Glaswegian called Amjid who moved his family to Cardiff to open a restaurant. As you watch the refurbishment hit delays and Amjid put his house on the market to cover spiralling costs, it terrified me. Here was a man who risked everything and looked nearly broken by the whole process.

Thankfully, Kebabish Original finally opened a few months back and last week Mrs G and I visited for a midweek dinner.

Kebabish Original is a franchise of a national chain of Indo-Pakistani restaurants - their menu is dominated with grilled meats and a smattering of curries. Armed with recommendations from a friend, I knew exactly what to order.

Mango lassis (£2.99) were ice cold, creamy and fragrant with fruit - the perfect chilli tempering drink.

A complimentary salad served with mint raita and fiery chilli sauce made for a lovely palate cleansing appetiser as we waited for our starters to arrive.

A quartet of chicken shish kebabs (£4.50) were heady with coriander, a good whack of chilli and a lick of char. However, pieces of chicken tikka (£4.99) were tasty yet unremarkable - the meat was well flavoured yet a touch overcooked.

A karahi lamb curry (£7.99) knocked it out of the park. Heaps of yielding meat were bathed in a potently aromatic sauce heady with ginger and chilli and dotted with pieces of tomato.

A lamb biryani (£7.99) was also a thing of beauty. The mound of fragrant buttery rice was spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and chilli amongst others and flecked with a liberal amount of fantastically tender lamb.

Finally, a tandoori naan (£1) was pillowy soft - the perfect mop for all that spicy curry.

The curries and grills at Kebabish Original are cracking and it's a relief to see the restaurant buzzing on a midweek night after all the sweat and tears that went into getting the place open.

Just one final note, everything we ate at Kebabish was pretty frigging spicy (a good thing in my book). So, I'd have a word with the friendly serving team if you like your food a little milder.

The Details:

Address - Kebabish Original, 29-31 City Road, Cardiff
Telephone - 029 2048 0597