Wales v New Zealand kicks off at 14:10 at the Principality on Saturday 14 November 2026. The earliest kick-off of the three autumn home matches — which means the Saturday starts fast. Noon on the dot. One hour thirty on the clock. Down the hill with ten minutes to anthem.
An early kick-off — noon on the dot
The maths is unforgiving. 14:10 kick-off, stadium gates shut at 14:00, ten-minute walk door-to-turnstile, which means out of the restaurant by 13:40. Which means ordered by 12:15, eaten by 13:30, paid and out. A thali or a biryani — the two fastest routes to a full table — is what we'd recommend for this one.
For the table of four or six: order fast, share widely. A Special Thali plus a Lamb Biryani plus a couple of small plates to kick off is enough food for four, on the table inside twenty-five minutes, done in fifty. Chai while someone settles up. Walk down Westgate.
Three lamb countries on one Indian table
Here's the thing about Wales v New Zealand. Both countries are serious about lamb. New Zealand is the world's second-largest lamb exporter after Australia; Welsh lamb has protected status and a reputation for salt-marsh grazing that gives it a flavour you can taste a mile away. Two sheep nations, meeting at the Principality.
What isn't talked about: India is the third country at that table. The subcontinent has more lamb and mutton cooking traditions than any other food culture on earth — Kashmiri, Rajasthani, Nizami, Hyderabadi, Awadhi, Mughlai. Every region has its own way of treating the animal, and the Indian kitchen at 15 High Street runs most of them. So on a day when two of the great sheep-raising countries are playing rugby in Cardiff, the Indian restaurant around the corner has the most comprehensive lamb menu in the city.
Three countries that raise lamb. One Indian kitchen that cooks it six different ways.
Rogan Josh, Laal Maas, Welsh salt-marsh
Rogan Josh. Kashmir. Black cardamom and dried ginger, a deep-red sauce that gets its colour from Kashmiri chilli, not from tomato. Slow-cooked until the lamb is giving up its own fat into the sauce. The sauce is the point. Eat it with naan.
Laal Maas. Rajasthan's red. Mathania chilli, lots of it — this is the hot one, the desert dish for winter hunting camps. Wear the right shirt. The only thing that cuts it is yoghurt or a plain roti. You'll remember it a week later.
Lamb Rogan Josh in Cardiff, in a city where Welsh lamb is the local lamb, is an interesting conversation. Welsh salt-marsh lamb is sweet, tender, with a mineral edge from grazing on the wet grass. Kashmiri cooking brings out the richness of any good lamb and asks very little else of it. The two are made for each other. That's what's on your plate.
And then there's the Nihari Lamb Shank — the Rugby Special on our match-day menu — at twenty-two pounds. A Lucknow dish, originally a breakfast for labourers and the Mughal court, slow-braised overnight. Different animal, different century, same principle. The shank goes into Nizami spices, it falls off the bone, you tear and scoop. On a Saturday with the All Blacks in town, it's the right thing.
After the final whistle
14:10 kick-off is about 16:00 full-time. From the stadium back to our door is eight minutes. By quarter past four, you can be back at the bar for a pint, a biryani, a cocktail, chai. The kitchen is on through dinner. Match-day Saturday afternoons at 15 High Street tend to be long and loud, and that's part of what we open for.
The next two home games — Japan last weekend and Australia next Saturday — are both at Principality. The hub post is here. See you at twelve.
Chai St Indian Bistro is at 15 High Street, Cardiff, next to Cardiff Castle. Three minutes from the Castle, eight from the Principality. Kitchen open from twelve, every day. Pob lwc.
Edited by Mel D'Souza, Director, Inspiring Restaurants Ltd.