Baejhi, Pontardawe

I went to the Baejhi Indian restaurant in Pontardawe by mistake really, as I normally use two other Indian restaurants in the village, but I thought I'd try this out, as my wife spoke highly of it - she'd been there on a couple of occasions on a night out "with the girls".

The Popadoms and chutney tray was good, and we all tucked in happily. My wife had two starters as a main course - chicken chaat & a mushroom dish - both delicious. I went for the Meat Pathia, which was hot and spicy, but not so much so that it "hurt". Full of flavour, including that of the lamb. The kids polished off a Chicken Borisha between them, and of course we had the rudimentary Peshwari Naan and Pilau Rice.

Not so much a memorable meal, as in "that's the best I've ever had", but one full of flavour and quality, and amazing value for money.

During our meal we spotted the proprietor popping around to regulars' tables showing them a piece from the local paper. I asked him what that was about, and he showed me that they had been nominated as South Wales' Curry House of the Year 2007.

Having expressed our joy at their award and paid the bill of under £25 (two main courses, two starters, two Pilau rice, one naan, 4 pops and chutney tray, plus soft drinks, two glasses of wine and a large bottle of Cobra!!), we left carrying a complementary bottle of wine home.

Going back? See you there over the weekend! Good luck to them - great to see great service, hard work and decent cooking paying off, especially when you read many of the reviews on this site!

Baejhi Curry House, High Street Pontardawe. I have no financial interest in the place, but I do recommend it. Mind you, I also recommend our other two great restaurants - the Indian Cottage and Cardamon. What a lucky chap I am...!