Kismet

On this trip to Cardiff, the first three Indian restaurants we tried had closed down — finally, Kismet offered us warmth and salvation. Sadly though, the heating seemed to be off — but the food would surely be hot, right?
Before I even looked at the prices on the main menu, we saw that £6.95 got you a poppadum with pickle tray, starter, main course, side dish, rice, naan bread AND either dessert or coffee. I had to read that a few times to let it sink in. They also offer an all-​you-​can-​eat buffet for £2.95 as well, but I couldn’t even comprehend how that was possible.
We ordered and our food came out quickly. Each dish was small — a single poppadum each with our pickle tray, for example — but there were so many that I’d easily eaten enough by the end. So much so, that I didn’t need dessert or that coffee.
So there’s a lot of food for not much money. As good as that sounds, the obvious result is that the food was below average. My chicken tikka starter came on a warm plate but was straight out of the fridge. My friend’s was hot on the outside and cold inside. Both our main courses were warm, but not hot, and somewhere along the way the flavour in my curry seemed to have gone missing, along with some chicken — I had a mere 4 chunks in a bowl of sauce.
Still, cheap mid-​week curry and no one got sick. Provided you’re ready to complain if your food seems uncooked, and know what you’re getting for your money, then no harm done. It does perhaps explain why we were the only customers for an hour though.

We were at first very surprised when we entered the restaurant, as it goes much deeper than we first thought.
For some reason, the owner came to chat with us, and it was very pleasant to learn about the restaurant, and to get suggestions on the food menu.
The amount of deals you have there is great (6.95 Dinner menu, 2-​for-​1 bottles of house wine, etc.).
I can personally advise having the Sikandari Chicken, as it’s one of the tastiest curries I’ve ever had. The naans are great as well, and so is the Mushroom pullao.
I would come back here more often, if I lived closer to Cardiff ;)

We were just wandering about on a Friday afternoon trying to find somewhere to have lunch that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg (and wasn’t a sandwich) when we came across Kismet’s £2.95 buffet that goes from 12−7pm.
It wasn’t the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten in my life but it really did the trick!

The food is decent and great for the price. I had no problems with the service, and the offers look very hard to beat. We ate like kings and rolled home (back to the hotel) afterwards. Difficult to fault.

Rodger. Why comment for others? Good food, cheap prices great after a night out open until early hours. Friendly staff, they know you if your a regular! There are better places for quality of food but for 5.95 you cant moan!

This is one exceptionally late opening restaurant and I get why the waiters sometimes seem as if sighing, it’s because they work long hours and are actually yawning.
If you want to be served relatively cheap Indian food at all hours then you could drop by for a takeaway or eat in meal. It’s quite a strange place as not many restaurants are willing to opening into the early hours of the morning.
The only down side to this is that they cannot compete with the raft of other Indians that serve much better food that tastes better and that they don’t stand a chance in competing with.
As cheap as a cheap meals can be with the current trend to offer meal deals, this place has lost its way, they may still appeal to students and those pinching the pennies but for anyone out there that enjoys a well cooked meal that has good ingredients with culinary tastiness then back away and try the next place down.
The only reason to go here is to cash in after a nights drinking to cheap food that fills your belly.

Late night drinking? A rumble in your tummy? Visit the Kismet Tandoori for some reasonable food for an ultra cheap price.
I am a true believer that honesty is the best policy so here it goes…
I visited this restaurant after a night drinking. It was not my first choice by any means but it was the only restaurant willing to seat 8 of us at 1 o’clock in the morning. On entering the restaurant you will not be blown away by the décor but the friendly smiling waiter that greeted us more than made up for it.
We ordered dish after dish after dish and ended up with enough food to feed an army. The food itself was ok, some dishes I would even stretch into saying were good but none were mind blowing.
As for the service. This was tip top, admittedly I was drunk but everyone seemed to be smiling at me and when I asked for directions to the toilet it seemed like I had a team of willing escorts to take me there.
Overall if I was marking out of ten for food alone it would have to be a sorry ⁵⁄₁₀ HOWEVER the service on top of that would take the score to a whopping ⁹⁄₁₀. Good effort by all!

The 1^st time I visited Kismet was 2am on a Saturday night.
I walked in and there on the floor in the middle of the restaurant rolling about laughing like a maniac was a drunk man. The staff seemed to carry on around him.
We got served by a smiling waiter who seemed not to notice it was 2am in the morning or if he did it ddn’t seem to bother him.
Just before the foods arrival my friend pointed out to the waiter that his plate was a little dirty. The waiter picked it up blew on it, gave it a rub with his napkin placed it back under my friends nose, winked, smiled then walked off. We just laughed.
Anyhow — you’d think after this experience I would give it a bad review — but no — every town needs a curry house exactly like Kismet which caters for the drunks when all other places have shut down and their chefs gone home. Plus its cheap, plus the food was good.

I know a lot of people who feel a great sense of loyalty to the Kismet because it’s served them so many tasty, filling curries over the years at such incredibly cheap prices — most of them during their student days when bargain meal promos were of the utmost importance. It’s changed little over the years, and that’s what they like about it.
This place undersells itself in many ways by advertising cheap promotions on equally cheap, garish posters in its window, and by neglecting its rather tired interior décor. But as low price curry houses go, at least the food here is better than that you’ll find at most. It’s not sophisticated, and it’s not the type of place to go to impress someone on a first date, or for a big celebration — but it’s fine for an after-​pub meal or an informal curry with your mates.

The Kismet has a reputation that is thoroughly undeserved. It is afflicted by a complaint that affects the reputations of many companies that don’t deserve the scorn, and that is the snobbery that is caused by a company providing its service for an incredibly cheap rate.
Much like Metros cheap drinks, or a charity shop’s clothing section, there is the misconception that being cheap means there is something inherently wrong with a product, and the Kismet is happily waving a banner that proclaims this is simply not the case. Whilst the food is by no means an exceptional example of Indian food, it is both tasty and plentiful, as well as being incredibly cheap. £5.95 for a four course meal is fantastic quality; especially when the food actually tastes good.
I could understand the scorn if the food was legitimately rubbish, but the reputation seems to be built on the idea that if a restaurant is this cheap, it must be serving pigeon and roadkill. Well, if pigeon and roadkill taste this good for this cheap, I don’t mind one bit.

I came here on a work do last year, and before visiting, some of my colleagues had playfully teased me on numerous occasions that I was in fact too «posh» for this place. As I am by most peoples’ standards not at all «posh», I practically convinced myself that a visit to Kismet would end up with me getting food poisoning!
What a shock I had! Though in some ways I understand what my colleagues were on about; the décor is not exactly fancy, and before eating I wondered why the prices are so low, the food itself is very good. Whilst as Laura said it’s not the best Indian food in the world, with a set menu for £5.95 you can’t really go wrong.
I had a right laugh at Kismet, and although I wouldn’t recommend for a special occasion, if you’re after cheap, good quality Indian food, this place is just the ticket!

Really this place should get five stars just for the effort they put into creating meal deals. As you can see from the picture, there are just loads. What is there? The £2.95 buffet (I know; we couldn’t believe it either…), £5.95 for the 4 course set meal and all drinks buy one get one free. Absolute craziness.
The service we received was just great. I went there with my housemate Rachel (who you can actually see in this picture!) and we had an excellent time. Our server was friendly, engaging in conversation rather than just delivering information.
The food itself wasn’t the BEST indian that I’ve ever had but it was pretty darn good, especially considering the outrageously low prices of everything.

Kismet is ok if you’re after a cheap curry They have a 4 course meal deal for £8.95 which basically consists of a starter, main, rice and naan. The food is mediocre, what you’d expect really for the price. One thing that did let this place down is the service. The staff aren’t very helpful, and rush you to order a meal, whilst making minimal effort to converse. One waiter even made a massive sigh whilst serving our food.
This place is alright if you’re after cheap and cheerful, but there are many other places on City Road which are of much better service and quality for a few pennies more!

Cheap and cheerful curry house which was open until 2.30 on a Friday. Service was very quick but the food does taste cheap.

I’ve never eaten here although many of my friends have but i’ve been a bit put off seeing plates with food from the night before stacked on tables the next day when passing. Great for students as it’s so cheap but the service is uninviting and the food can be very oily and greasy.