• Home
  • Restaurants in Wales
    • Cardiff
    • Abergavenny
    • Brecon
    • Merthyr Tydfil
    • Newport
    • Swansea
    • Vale of Glamorgan
  • Restaurants in England
    • Bath
    • Birmingham
    • Bradford-on-Avon
    • Bristol
    • Cheltenham
    • Hereford
    • Liverpool
    • London
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Recipes

Calendar

August 2022
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Jul    

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • December 2013

Categories

  • Abergavenny
  • Bath
  • Birmingham
  • Bradford-on-Avon
  • Brecon
  • Bridgend
  • Bristol
  • Cardiff
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheap Eats
  • Cheltenham
  • Deliveries and Takeaways
  • Hereford
  • In Praise of Pork
  • Liverpool
  • London
  • Merthyr Tydfil
  • Newport
  • Powys
  • Reading
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants in England
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Restaurants in Wales
  • Rhondda Cynon Taf
  • Swansea
  • Thoughts
  • Uncategorized
  • Vale of Glamorgan
The Plate Licked Clean
  • Home
  • Restaurants in Wales
    • Cardiff
    • Abergavenny
    • Brecon
    • Merthyr Tydfil
    • Newport
    • Swansea
    • Vale of Glamorgan
  • Restaurants in England
    • Bath
    • Birmingham
    • Bradford-on-Avon
    • Bristol
    • Cheltenham
    • Hereford
    • Liverpool
    • London
  • Restaurants in Spain
  • Recipes
Cardiff . Cheap Eats . Cheap Eats . Deliveries and Takeaways . Restaurants in Wales

Ceylon Spicy Pot, Broadway, Cardiff: review

On July 23, 2022 by The Plate Licked Clean

Sri Lankan food is having ‘a moment’ in Cardiff right now. A sudden proliferation of pop ups and permanents means there are more chances than ever to enjoy flavours which are close cousins of Southern India but still proudly their own. Here on Splott’s Broadway, Ceylon Spicy Pot is the latest to take up the challenge.

It’s a familiar menu, stuffed with crowd pleasers. Mutton rolls, hoppers, curries, sambols, biryanis: there is no shortage of choice if you don’t eat meat, either. There are whole prawns in a brittle batter, dark with red chilli, and chicken bites, both topped with what I can only assume was a good deal on a couple of hundredweight of raw white onion.

The meat rolls are handmade here, and filled with chunks of boiled potato and mutton. If they fall some way short of the best locally- Tukka Tuk, by some distance- they are a bargain at just £2.50 for two. With the bulk of mains topping out at around six or seven pounds, you’ll struggle to spend more than about £20 a head here.

The eggs filling the hoppers are just a touch overdone to make them much use for tearing and dipping that crisp filigree. (They do string hoppers too, those long glutinous strands, but only by pre order: ditto, sadly, the lamprais. Traditionally cooked and served wrapped, it’s a glorious thing when done well, a banana leaf enclosed package of meat and rice and sambal, a Greatest Hits compilation of good things.) Those hoppers are a steal at £1.50, though. Whatever criticisms I have about this place- and they are on their way- the pricing isn’t one.

From a small drinks menu, the pick is a mango lassi, thick and rich enough for a Cabinet post. We order two of the chicken kottu, a generous tumble of chicken and vegetables which is lighter on the shredded roti and egg than others you’ll find; but it does make for excellent comfort food, the sort of thing we are glad we double-ordered. The same goes for the seafood version, with its tomato sauce, hot and smoky-sour with paprika and that telltale tamarind sourness. There’s more of that raw onion too, if you’re inclined to be gastrically delicate.

Mutton curry suffers from the meat being a touch overdone, though the sauce is exactly what we are after: heavy with clove and garlic, it’s easy to keep dipping back into it.

The offer of crab curry is too good to pass up, though prospect trumps reality. The body comes cleaved into rustic hunks, in a brick-red, uncompromisingly robust sauce which hasn’t been unduly toned down for domestic tastes.

Now, every man should have mastered certain essential life skills if he’s going to call himself a proper grown up. Knowing how to cut and smoke a good cigar, for example. Or how to give the perfect foot rub. Picking a crab clean is on that list, though here it’s a challenge. There are no tools provided, just standard cutlery, so you’ll have to chivvy and winkle the flesh out from every crustacean crevice, a messy business as the crab debris builds. It’s a lot of effort for a disappointingly meagre reward. Feel free to insert your own punchline here.

There’s a moment’s confusion when the mutton stew turns up. We were expecting it to be rather soupier, rather than this dry stir fry of onions, peppers and meat, though there is a little jug with yet more of the sauce we’ve already met with the crab, (no bad thing in itself) served separately.

That’ll be because they have brought us mutton fry by mistake, then.

Sadly this is far from the only issue with service. There are significant problems on both occasions. We have to go searching for another copy of the menu, rather than pass one between three, and a couple of items aren’t what we have asked for, or in the right quantities. The second time I ask our server to write down our order to avoid any confusion. The delay for drinks rivals the wait for tangible Brexit Benefits. It’s jarring and disappointing when this home-style food is so inexpensive and fully-flavoured.

A friend who was with me both times, and who knows what he’s talking about, has ordered at home. He tells me the food arrived promptly and correctly, and was one of the best deliveries he’s had recently. Clearly, there are issues here with the basics and they are going to need resolving if they are to show what they do in the best light. That said, if you can ready yourself for those delays, there’s enough here to make Ceylon Spicy Pot an interesting place for a well-priced meal.

10 Broadway, Cardiff CF24 1NF

5-10pm, every day

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:

  • Keralan Karavan pop up, Cardiff
    Keralan Karavan pop up, Cardiff
  • Wadadli Kitchen by Andi Oliver- nationwide delivery
    Wadadli Kitchen by Andi Oliver- nationwide delivery
  • Tiger and Pig, Brixton Village Market, London
    Tiger and Pig, Brixton Village Market, London
  • Falafel Wales, Cowbridge Rd East, Canton, Cardiff
    Falafel Wales, Cowbridge Rd East, Canton, Cardiff
Tags: Cardiff, Cardiff Restaurants, independent, Splott, Sri Lankan

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Subscribe to The Plate Licked Clean

I'll never try to sell you anything or spam your inbox, but to get an update via email when a new piece is posted, register here:

The Plate Licked Clean

This blog is a very simple thing.

I won’t try to sell you any hand lotion, exercise programmes, coffee syrups or Patagonian nose flutes.  You won’t find tips on dating, ‘wellness’ or yoga mats.

I write because I love it (and food, as indicated by my increasing girth). Greed happens to be my Deadly Sin of choice, but at least it is never shy of providing me with subject matter. 

A simple thing, then: all you get is me wittering on semi-coherently about places I’ve eaten at; hence a ‘restaurant blog’ rather than a ‘food blog’, although there are a few recipes scattered throughout. 

From mezze to Michelin ‘fine dining’ and all points in between. 

Recent Posts

  • Hadramowt Yemeni restaurant, City Road, Cardiff
  • The ‘Full Parador’: breakfast at Asador 44
  • Ceylon Spicy Pot, Broadway, Cardiff: review
  • Marmo, Bristol: review
  • Tío
  • Steak and Stamp, Pencoed, Bridgend: review
  • Fat Hippo burgers, Cardiff: review
  • Cotto Wine Bar and Kitchen, Bristol: review
  • Sonny Stores, Bristol: review
  • Caper and Cure, Stokes Croft, Bristol: review

ISB Certified

Influencer Standards Board

© The Plate Licked CleanThe Plate Licked Clean 2022