THAI ASIAN DELISH

Central Market, St Mary Street, Cardiff

Food: **** Atmosphere: ***

For a writer, research is usually a necessary evil. It’s often arduous and tedious. But occasionally it can be delicious. Suffice to say that visiting Thai Asian Delish three times in three weeks, each time with a different dining partner, all in the interests of sampling as much of the menu as possible, was very much a pleasure rather than a chore.

Reviewing the kitchen in early 2016, shortly after it opened, Cardiff-based food blogger Gourmet Gorro expressed his hope that more street food stalls might follow, rejuvenating the Central Market and helping to attract new visitors. Four years on, it can boast the likes of Ffwrnes, Franks and Noglu, with Anand George’s Indian canteen Dosaa opening soon. Thai Asian Delish may not have the sharp contemporary branding or social media visibility of the recent arrivals, but it can certainly hold its own in their company.

You’ll find it close to the St Mary Street entrance – just listen for the clatter of woks and look out for the queue. Be sure to line up right next to the serving hatch, though, if you want to avoid incurring the wrath of the stallholder opposite.

I’ll be honest: I was smitten from the very first visit, and a beef massamam that was remarkably generous with both meat and sauce. A subsequent garlic and pepper beef just sealed the deal. One companion’s prawn pad ped had a pleasing piquancy (perhaps a liberal interpretation of the one-chilli rating, mind). Another’s penang looked deceptively similar to a massamam but hit with the sort of fiery heat that coconut milk might have doused, but a Hard Lines coffee couldn’t. Every time we marvelled at the exceptional value for money, with most dishes comfortably under £6.

‘Eating in’ involves perching at a shelf round the back amid the midday market bustle. Even on a chilly day there’s no chance of your dish going cold, though – scoffing rapidly is not a problem. Alternatively, you could take your bounty back to the office in a takeaway tub, but if envious looks could kill, you’d be dead before you could tuck in. BEN WOOLHEAD