There is an Indian restaurant in a small Welsh town which has in recent times garnered quite a reputation for itself among food lovers. This was rubber-stamped earlier this month when it took home the chef of the year 2022 award for Wales at the prestigious Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA) - described as the Oscars of the curry industry.
Elaichi sits right in the centre of St Clears on the western end of Carmarthenshire around nine miles from Carmarthen. It was one of only four Indian restaurants in Wales to be nominated for one of the ARTAs, which were announced at a glitzy ceremony in London on October 2. Another eatery in Port Talbot was crowned restaurant of the year for Wales – you can read our review of that here.
Despite being a lover of a sit-down Indian meal I had never been to Elaichi. I had driven past it countless times and heard good things from others who had dined there but when it comes to restaurants I make no apologies for tending to stick to what I know. However, when its chef was crowned the best in Wales, I decided I had to see what all the fuss is about. To get the latest What's On newsletters from WalesOnline and keep up to date about where you should be eating click here.
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I like to be thorough with my food reviews so let’s start with the essentials: there was parking right outside the front door, which may seem like a trivial detail but could well come in handy if you have a tendency to overeat (more on that later) and want to avoid a long walk back to your car. Inside the restaurant there is ample space on two separate sides as you enter through the front door.
Thankfully the polite waiter explained that any empty table was up for grabs rather than insisting that we sit next to the bar or the toilet, which annoyingly sometimes happens at restaurants. As soon as my co-diner and I sat down the aforementioned polite waiter was quickly over with some poppadoms and the obligatory chutney tray.
Now then – the menu. Well, it was more like a small book. It’s important to have choice in any restaurant but we had to tell the staff about three times that we weren’t ready to order yet as we were only on page three of the never-ending list of options we had been presented with. There are 25 starters available at Elaichi, ranging between £3.95 and £6.95. There are then more than 80 main dishes available, priced between £6.95 and £15.95 and made up of Elaichi specials, the chef’s exclusive specials, seafood exclusive specials, old time favourites, balti dishes, biryiani dishes, tandoori dishes, and vegetable options. There are 16 different types of rice, 17 types of bread, and don’t forget the chips.
After catching up on my reading we were ready to order. Between the two of us we decided to have the sabzi platter – an extravagant assortment of vegetable spring roll, onion bhaji, and vegetable samosa – priced at £4.50 and the prawn puree – prawns cooked with a hint of herb and spices served on Indian fired bread – priced at £6.50. Both dishes were nice and everything about them was fresh, well-cooked, and tasty. The service too, I must stress, was excellent throughout the evening.
We were served by two different members of staff who were both thorough, attentive, and left you with the feeling that they couldn’t do enough to make your night as enjoyable as possible. But thus far I wasn’t totally bowled over, which isn’t to say the food wasn’t nice. It was, but it was nothing that I had not tasted before, both locally in Carmarthenshire or further afield. It was fine, at this point, but that’s all it was. Then we waited for our mains.
Now, I am often ridiculed among friends for always placing what they claim to be a “boring” or “safe” order whenever I visit an Indian restaurant. I tend to, more often than not, go for the chicken tikka. You heard me right, not chicken tikka massala, but chicken tikka. You get more chicken for your buck this way and it doesn’t get lost or drowned in a vat of creamy sauce which could disguise how tasty (or otherwise) it is. But I decided that when in Rome (or St Clears), and for the interests of reviewing a restaurant, I should branch out. So between the two of us we went for chicken kochi – chicken in a “medium with a kick” sauce – priced at £10.95, and chicken tikka, priced at £7.95. I didn’t say how much I intended to branch out.
We also ordered a portion of special fried rice and a portion of keema peas rice (£3.75 each), a side of sabzi massala – mixed vegetables cooked in butter with tomatoes, onions and green peppers (£4.95) – and a garlic nan bread (£3.25). Dishing up a bit of everything onto my plate, I got ready to tuck in and see what Elaichi was all about. And if I didn’t quite 'get it' during the starter I most certainly did almost immediately as I began to devour my first mouthful.
This was truly delicious: everything from the kick of the kochi, the succulent flavour of the chicken, the gorgeous taste of the rice, the way the vegetable side complemented everything else on the plate, and the fluffy and soft texture of the nan bread. This was as nice a main meal as I have ever had in an Indian restaurant. My only slight concern was that the kochi, described as having a kick on the menu, turned out to have more of a wallop for my individual palate. It was delicious but hot.
The poor waiter has never been back and forth to a table with jugs of water like he was on this night. If there hadn’t been a large family gathering on the table next to us I would have unashamedly asked for a pint of milk. But despite being hotter than what I would normally order I would not hesitate in asking for this exact same dish on my next visit to Elaichi. It, together with everything else we had as part of the main course, was truly outstanding and it is clear to see why this modest-looking-from-the-outside restaurant sandwiched between a chippy and a salon in a small town has the reputation it has.
By the time we cleared our plates our mouths were hot and our tummies were full but I felt somewhat duty-bound, from a professional capacity you understand, to try a dessert. It would be unfair to judge a restaurant, their award-winning chef, and hard-working staff without at least giving them the courtesy of ordering a three-course meal.
With that in mind we ordered a chocolate brownie between the two of us (we’re not animals) which came with a side dollop of vanilla ice cream (£7.95). The brownie was hot, the ice cream was cold, and it created the perfect culmination to a wonderful meal at a wonderful restaurant.
The excellent staff, who had been friendly and diligent all night, brought our bill which came to a very reasonable £53 between two people who wouldn’t need breakfast the following morning. As mentioned previously I had never been to Elaichi before but I will certainly be returning soon to see what other delights the best chef in Wales has to offer. Having tried just a few of his dishes it’s clear that the award is more than deserved.
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