SWANSEA: One of the UK’s cheapest cities for a Friday night curry, survey finds

A Friday night curry costs less in Swansea than almost anywhere else in the UK, according to new research ranking the city fifth-cheapest for an Indian takeaway.

The analysis puts the average price of a chicken tikka masala in the city at £10.40.

Only Birmingham (£9.19), Sunderland (£9.74), Leeds (£10.06) and Milton Keynes (£10.37) came out cheaper.

Cardiff ranked eighth at £10.81, leaving Swansea’s curry lovers with change over the capital. Belfast was the dearest city surveyed at £14.99, with London close behind on £13.86.

The figures come from research by credit card firm Aqua, which averaged Uber Eats prices at the five best-rated restaurants open on a Friday evening in each city.

Cheap doesn’t mean corners cut

The prices sit alongside a run of national recognition for the city’s Indian and Bangladeshi kitchens.

Raj Kitchen was crowned Asian Restaurant of the Year at the Welsh Restaurant Awards 2026 in April, doubling up with Fine Dining of the Year at the Asian Food & Restaurant Awards from its home overlooking Swansea Castle.

And in November, Rose Indienne on St Helens Road was named Restaurant of the Year for Wales by the Bangladesh Caterers Association, which represents 12,000 restaurateurs across the UK.

The Friday night habit and the squeeze

The same research surveyed 2,000 UK adults, finding the average person orders a takeaway twice a month at £27 a time, close to £650 a year.

The cost of living is biting into the habit: 59% said they order less often than two years ago, while 39% said each order now costs them more.

More than a quarter order at least three times a month at an average £81, more than the typical monthly commuting bill, the survey found.

Cardiff residents are among the UK’s biggest takeaway spenders, third nationally at £68.25 a month, behind only Belfast and Sheffield.

Chinese remains the nation’s favourite, named by 27%, with pizza second and Indian third, each on 14%, though the survey suggests nearly eight million Britons call Indian their first choice.

Friday is when it happens: 49% of those surveyed said they were most likely to order that night.

Whatever the national squeeze, the numbers suggest the Swansea Friday night curry is holding its own, at a fiver less than Belfast.