Tiffins

151 St Michael's Hill, Kingsdown, Bristol, BS2 8DB. Tel: 0117 9734834.

Thank God that's all over. After divorce and bereavement, moving house is said to be one of the most stressful things in life but not even I thought it could be that bad.

I have just moved house for the first time in seven years and I had forgotten quite how stressful it is.

Now I can see why so many people don't move for decades, and I certainly have no plans to leave here for at least another ten years.

The stress started to reach epic proportions as soon as the removal men knocked on the door at 8.30am. During what felt like the longest day of my life, my blood pressure must have reached dangerous levels as I watched everything I possess being carried from old house to van, driven across Bristol and unloaded into the new house.

And it's not as if I was even doing any of the hard work. The two chaps in the red Kwik Move shirts worked like Trojans and barely broke into a sweat as they lugged sofas, beds, wardrobes and about 1,000 of my books up and down flights of stairs.

I was exhausted just watching them and I broke out into a sweat simply stirring the spoon for the endless mugs of tea.

When the move was finally complete, the white van drove away into the darkness and we were left alone with more than 100 cardboard boxes and nothing to eat, let alone any idea which boxes contained the crockery and the pots and pans?

There was only one answer – time to check out the local Indian takeaway.

One of the deciding factors on buying a new place in Cotham wasn't just the proper grown-up reasons such as decent local schools and shops.

In the weeks leading up to the move, I did a couple of dummy runs and worked out that I could walk to my nearest (and a long-time favourite) pub, the Highbury Vaults, in less than two minutes.

In fact, I reckon I could phone the pub and order my pint and still be standing at the bar by time they finished pouring it.

Another deciding factor was that it takes two minutes and ten seconds to get to Tiffins, the unique takeaway and cafe run by husband and wife Nick and Jay Jethwa.

Since I waxed lyrical about this place about two years ago, Tiffins has gained something of a national reputation. In the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards 2010, it was named finalist in the "best takeaway" category, which is pretty impressive considering how many takeaways there are in this country.

Apart from specialising in Gujurati food from western India, Tiffins is different because most of the takeaway food served is cold and straight from the fridge.

If you want to eat hot food in the cafe, there is one table next to a very fetching and colourful mural, but the deal here is take the food home and heat it yourself.

This might not be for everybody, but at least the hot food can't get cold by the time you get home, which is often the case with takeaways in my experience. That, and orange-coloured grease splattered all over your shoes.

Jay Jethwa's cooking is authentic and fragrant, as well as having a lightness of touch. All dishes are cooked in sunflower oil, rather than butter or ghee, and there are no artificial colourings or flavourings.

The menu is small and changes all the time, with the core dishes comprising a chicken, vegetable or minced lamb (kheema) curry.

There is also a selection of up to seven different vegetable curries to choose from, including chickpeas in tamarind, aubergine or potatoes with peanut and coconut.

As time was of the essence and my stomach was rumbling, I simply ordered the chicken curry (£6.50) and the minced lamb curry (£6.50) with sag paneer and rice (£5).

The food is served in either microwaveable plastic boxes or the ovenproof foil containers I opted for.

When I got home, I whacked them into the oven at about 200C for about 30 minutes, which was a little longer than I planned, but I wanted them to be piping hot and it gave us time to find some plates, cutlery and a frying pan. We put a cloth over two of the cardboard boxes for a makeshift table and sat on scatter cushions for the authentic Indian dining experience.

And what a fabulous supper it was. The chicken curry was gently spiced and contained huge, juicy chunks of good quality meat. The lamb mince curry was more fiery and had more complex, gutsier spicing but the lamb flavour still came through. Both meals were mopped up with homemade chapatis (60p), which I warmed through in a dry frying pan.

With a bottle of chilled Champagne that had been left in the fridge by the considerate previous owners, it was the most delicious and memorable takeaway imaginable. A takeaway fit for a king, in fact.

The fact that the food at Tiffins is cold to start with means that you don't have to be a local to enjoy this sublime takeaway experience and many of the regulars drive a considerable distance to stock up their fridges.

With a local takeaway this good, however, the only danger about moving into this place is that I may not want to cook in my shiny new kitchen as much as I first thought.

Wheelchair access: Yes

Prices: Curry and rice from £5; meal deals from £14.50; desserts £1.20

Food: 8

Atmosphere: 7

Value: 8

Service: 8

Overall: 8